Author: Healthcare Propulsion Staff

The first drug that can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes is being made available on the NHS in England and Wales.Teplizumab is a form of immunotherapy that can give people three extra years before they develop symptoms and need lifelong insulin treatment.The NHS medicines body described its decision as “genuinely exciting”, with hundreds of children and young people likely to benefit each year.Type 1 diabetes can develop at any time, but the most common age of diagnosis is in early teenage years.Groups representing patients describe the potential impact of the drug as “momentous”, after decades of work to…

A trial examining the risks or benefits of drugs that can delay puberty for gender-questioning children will help reduce harm, according to the author of a landmark review.Dr Hilary Cass said she was “absolutely convinced that more children will be harmed if we don’t do the trial than if we do.”Her comments follow pressure from campaigners and some politicians to have the research programme scrapped after it was announced children as young as 11 could be recruited onto the trial.The Pathways clinical trial will be run by researchers at Kings College, London (KCL). In addition to setting a minimum age,…

During 2022 – which saw the highest recorded temperature in England at 40.3C – there were an estimated 2,985 so-called “excess deaths” as a result of the heat, external, the most recorded in any given year. There were an estimated 1,311 heat-associated deaths, external during summer 2024, and an estimated 1,504, external during summer 2025. Most heat-related excess deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes caused by the strain of trying to keep body temperatures stable.The higher death rate starts to kick in once the thermometer passes 25C-26C.However, evidence suggests the deaths tend to be caused by higher temperatures…

For months, Edward (Ed) Waldner knew something wasn’t right. At 55 years old, he felt constantly drained, no matter how much or how little he had done during the day. He wondered whether sleep apnea might be to blame. He also noticed subtle changes in the way he walked, including times when his heels seemed to drag. When his symptoms became particularly severe one day, Waldner went to the Emergency Department to get checked out. “The doctor said I had a mass on my brain and needed to see an oncologist,” says Waldner. The mass turned out to be glioblastoma,…

Heat exhaustion happens when your body becomes too hot and struggles to regulate its temperature.An obvious sign is excessive sweating, as well as feeling very hot and unwell – which is your body’s way of warning you to cool down, fast. Other symptoms include:headachedizziness and confusionloss of appetite and feeling sickcramps in the arms, legs and stomachfast breathing or pulsetemperature of 38C or abovebeing very thirstyYoung children, who might not be able to tell you about how they are feeling, may become floppy and sleepy.Heat exhaustion can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people – especially if they have done…

A group of tropical butterflies may have evolved an extraordinary way to stay healthy for longer by slowing the aging process itself, according to a University of Bristol-led study published June 16 in Nature Communications. The butterflies belong to the Heliconius tribe, a group found across the rainforests of Central and South America. Researchers say these insects rank among the longest-lived butterflies ever documented and could become an important model for studying the biology of longevity. Most butterflies live only a few weeks as adults. In contrast, the study found that some Heliconius species survive about three times longer than…

Ebola virus disease and hantavirus have attracted renewed attention in recent weeks because of the serious risks they pose to public health. Although they are very different diseases, both can begin with similar symptoms and require strict infection prevention and control (IPAC) measures to limit the risk of transmission. Recent articles published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) highlight key information about these diseases for healthcare professionals. Hantavirus Cases and Risks Hantavirus is a nationally reportable disease in Canada. Each year, approximately 4 to 5 cases are confirmed and reported to public health authorities. Most infections occur after exposure to…

But whilst access to swimming pools remains a problem, the focus is being turned to teaching children how to be safe in the water. Currently, children are taught how to swim 25 meters in a swimming pool as part of the curriculum in primary schools.Though compulsory not all schools do it and it’s hard to monitor. The hope is that with the new Water Safety Code included in the curriculum, children will be taught key safety messages such as “Stop and Think,” “Stay Together,” “Float,” and “Call 999.”Mike Tipton, professor of physiology at Portsmouth University and chair of the National…

Researchers are taking a closer look at how different types of dietary fat may influence the risk of type 2 diabetes, a disease that affects millions of people worldwide and is linked to serious health complications and premature death. A new review published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism (Cell Press) explores the contrasting effects of two major fatty acids found in the diet: palmitic acid and oleic acid. The work was led by teams from the CIBER Area for Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM) at the University of Barcelona. “Palmitic acid, a saturated fatty acid widely found in…

People age differently. Some remain free of major diseases well into old age, while others develop serious health problems much earlier. Understanding why this happens is becoming increasingly important as populations grow older around the world. Although life expectancy has risen dramatically over the past 200 years, the number of years people spend in good health has not increased at the same pace. Researchers have long known that exceptional longevity (longevity) often runs in families and is linked to a later onset of chronic illnesses. However, the genetic factors that help protect these families remain poorly understood. Most previous studies…