UCL in the media
British pharmacies vie for weight-loss patients with drug price cuts
Professor Nick Finer (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science) warned that retail marketing of the weight-loss drugs could trivialise their side-effects and the medical imperative to stay on the therapy long-term.
Sleep resets brain connections – but only for first few hours
During sleep, the brain weakens the new connections between neurons that had been forged while awake – but only during the first half of a night’s sleep, according to a new study in fish by Professor Jason Rihel (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology).
Running around a 'wall of death' could keep moon settlers fit
Professor Ilan Kelman (UCL Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction) said: ‘considering the limited space in any lunar settlement, this experiment is a helpful and needed contribution to understanding time and cost-efficient ways of keeping moon settlers healthy.’
Make classrooms more creative again
Professor Dominic Wyse's (IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education & Society) soon-to-be released book ' The Balancing Act' is quoted by The Guardian to suggest that the version of phonics currently taught in primary schools all over the world is overly narrow.
Gaza war protests are modern-day Vietnam – and could open the door to Trump
Dr Nick Witham (UCL History) said Republicans are particularly frustrated by the fact it is a Democrat president who is putting in place the foreign policies that mean Israel is being supported the way it is.
Decline in smoking stalled after pandemic, study reveals
A decade-long decline in the number of cigarettes a smoker has per day has stalled, with some people actually smoking more, according to a new study by Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care).
Read: The Telegraph (£); More: Daily Mail (1), Daily Mail (2), Independent, Shropshire Star; UCL News
Don’t sack Cambridge academic for race views, say colleagues
Dr Adam Rutherford (UCL Biosciences) said the concept of race was socially constructed, with categorisations used to describe people of different ethnicities not reflected meaningfully in genetics.
Women are 40% more likely to experience depression during the perimenopause
Women are 40% more likely to experience depression in the perimenopause than those who aren’t experiencing any menopausal symptoms, finds a new study led by UCL researchers, including Dr Roopal Desai (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences).
Read: The Telegraph (£); More: The Guardian, Independent, Daily Mail, CNN, My Science, Shropshire Star, The International News, Medical Xpress, US News & World Report, UCL News
New screening trial to save thousands of men’s lives from prostate cancer
Professors Mark Emberton and Caroline Moore (UCL Division of Surgery & Interventional Science) will co-lead Prostate Cancer UK’s new £42m screening trial, which aims to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer and double the number of lives saved.
Read: The Times (£); More: Evening Standard (1), Evening Standard (2), Mirror (1), Mirror (2), Wales Online, The Sun, Mirage News; Listen: BBC Radio 4 ‘PM’ (from 45 min, 2 sec); UCL News
Withdrawal of stop-smoking pill could lead to thousands of avoidable deaths
The disruption to the supply of a prescription medicine that helps people stop smoking may have led to thousands fewer people quitting each year in England, which will lead to avoidable deaths in future, suggests Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health).