Health

10 October 2018

Studies linking green space to lower suicide risk are ‘just a snapshot’

Research suggests that where we live can affect our mental health but Dr Marco Helbich, an urban geographer at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, believes these studies only offer a limited snapshot of our lives. Using a smartphone app and register data, he is tracking people through their daily routines and their residential history to see whether mental health is affected by where we live, work and socialise. His findings could change how we design our cities.

Kidney disease often lacks symptoms until it is at an advanced stage. Image credit - Kristoffer Lindskov Hansen, Michael Bachmann Nielsen and Caroline Ewertsen, licensed under CC BY 4.0

health

02 October 2018

Tissue engineering is no quick fix for kidney disease, but early intervention can help

Recent advances in kidney research have yielded dramatic headlines touting scientists’ ability to grow kidneys in the lab. But some experts worry that hype about tissue engineering is excessively raising patients’ hopes.

Sensors placed throughout a retirement home helped the ENRICHME robot to keep track of the movements and activities of residents taking part in the project’s trial. Image credit - ENRICHME

ict | health

25 September 2018

Memory-jogging robot to keep people sharp in ‘smart’ retirement homes

A robot that reminds older people where they have put things and helps them exercise has been used by residents in three retirement homes in a trial to combat cognitive decline in later age.

If a tau protein (in red) goes rogue after a head injury, it can lead to cell deaths, memory loss and eventually dementia. Image credit – MAP2 Tau in neurons by GerryShaw is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

health

14 September 2018

What happens inside an injured brain?

Scientists have discovered that a single severe head injury can lead to dementia through a rogue protein that propagates through the brain and corrupts others, giving some much needed insight into what happens inside an injured brain.

Insights into the freeze-fight-flight response are helping researchers to develop techniques for bringing snap reactions under conscious control. Image credit - Margo Wright/ US Air Force. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

health

11 September 2018

How do we make snap decisions?

Decision-making is part of daily life but in many situations, from deciding whether to hit the snooze button on your alarm or reacting to an intruder, choices are made very quickly. Now we’re getting new insight into how these snap decisions are made.

Legionella cells can be detected with a home-printer-size testing machine. Image credit - CDC/ Dr. Barry S. Fields

health

30 August 2018

New tests identify contaminated drinking water in minutes, not weeks

Speedy, affordable water tests that can be used in on location and even run continuously will help scientists identify disease-causing bacteria in under an hour and potentially reduce the spread of common illnesses such as diarrhoea, which kills an estimated 842,000 people every year.

Millions of lives are lost to cancer due to late detection so scientists are working on better ways of diagnosing the disease. Image credit - Signet ring cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder by Nephron is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

health | open innovation

28 August 2018

Family’s grief sparks a quest for better bladder cancer cures

'Invasive and uncomfortable' procedures for detecting if someone has bladder cancer could be replaced by urine tests that not only screen for the presence of the disease but also help doctors choose the right course of treatment for a particular patient.

Spending time near water has even greater health benefits than visiting a forest or park, according to researchers. Image credit - Frederica Diamanta/ Unsplash

environment | health

23 August 2018

Tapping into water’s therapeutic power to cut health costs

Living close to bodies of water such as a river or even a fountain could help people be healthier while also reducing medical costs for governments, according to researchers.

Professor Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg is conducting a series of studies to investigate how hormones affect father-baby bonding. Image credit - Prof. Bakermans-Kranenburg

interview | health

20 August 2018

New fathers may undergo hormonal, neural and behavioural changes

Fathers’ hormone levels and brain activity may change when they spend time with their children, helping them adapt to parenthood in a way that has been overlooked until now, according to Professor Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg, who studies children and family relations at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and was until recently at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She is conducting a series of studies with new fathers, to investigate the role that hormones can play in how they bond with their children.