News
Scotland will roll out ECG patch monitors to 8,000 stroke patients each year after £1.9m in government funding. The investment will expand access to ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) patch monitors for patients recovering from stroke, ministers confirmed. Government research suggests the monitors could prevent 689 secondary strokes and save 319 lives over five years. [...]
A charity which supports children and young people with disabilities to live their lives has grown to work with over 100 families every week. Breaking Barriers North West was founded in 2012 by the parents of three children with disabilities, who found specialist support in the community difficult to access. Since then, the Bolton-based charity [...]
Former Arsenal academy forward Billy Vigar has died aged 21 after sustaining a brain injury during a non-league match. Vigar was placed in an induced coma after an incident in the 13th minute of Chichester City’s Isthmian League Premier Division game against Wingate and Finchley on 20 September. He underwent surgery on Tuesday to aid [...]
Scientists have created tiny capsules that deliver anti-inflammatory proteins to reduce brain inflammation linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease. The system, named AstroCapsules, encloses human astrocytes – star-shaped brain cells that support healthy nervous system function – inside small, biocompatible hydrogel containers. When equipped with an anti-inflammatory protein called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), the encapsulated [...]
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, in collaboration with Altera Digital Health and Healthcare Innovation Consortium (HIC), has completed a trailblazing benefits realisation review in tissue viability. Breakthrough improvements have been delivered through the adoption of the Sunrise™ Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system, as part of the review to understand and optimise the impact of introducing [...]
Turkish doctors are using interventional neuroradiology to treat strokes, aneurysms and spinal disorders without surgery, helping patients recover faster. The minimally invasive methods use needles and catheters instead of surgical incisions, avoiding general anaesthesia and long hospital stays while treating conditions including herniated discs, spinal fractures, spinal tumours and brain aneurysms. Interventional neuroradiology – which [...]
A leisure centre boss using a wheelchair is aiming for a world record by completing a marathon on a ski simulation machine for a spinal injury charity. Richard Cartwright hopes to be the first to cover 26.2 miles (42km) on a SkiErg machine in the SIT 3 category – for people with no core function [...]
Scientists have found that fibroblasts – healing cells usually active elsewhere in the body – also help repair brain injuries and could form the basis of new treatments. The cells move from protective membranes around the brain into damaged tissue, where they form scars and help manage immune responses during different stages of recovery. The [...]
Gene therapy slowed Huntington's disease progression by 75 per cent in a recent trial, in what researchers describe as the first effective treatment for the condition. The therapy means that decline expected in one year would instead take four years, potentially giving patients decades of better quality life, researchers said. Researchers from University [...]
Oral bacteria that settle in the gut may produce chemicals that damage brain cells and play a role in Parkinson's disease, researchers have suggested. Scientists found that Streptococcus mutans – the bacterium responsible for tooth decay – was more common in the guts of Parkinson’s patients than in healthy people. The finding adds to the case for [...]
