UCL in the media
Calls for MPs to prioritise health equity and wellbeing
Professor Sir Michael Marmot (UCL Institute of Health Equity) has written a damning letter to party leaders and MPs across the country after a new UCL IHE report confirmed that UK government policies are cutting people’s lives short.
Read: Sky News; More: Independent, ITV News, Northern Echo, East London Advertiser, Lancashire Telegraph, Express & Star, Hackney Gazette, Oxford Mail, CambsTimes, Western Telegraph, MyScience, Mirage News, Daily Mail, About Manchester, Chronicle Live, Listen: BBC Radio 2 news bulletin (from 58 min, 48 sec); UCL News
One in five 10-year-olds experience physical punishment
More than one in five 10-year-olds experienced physical punishment in 2020 and 2021 in the UK, reports new research briefing by UCL researchers, led by Dr Anja Heilmann (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health).
Only those with the sharpest eyesight can solve this brainteaser in under 9 seconds
Dr Yuntao Chen (UCL Epidemiology and Public Health) said: “It is shocking to think that the number of people living with dementia by 2040 may be up to 70% higher than if dementia incidence had continued to decline.”
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).
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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
Vaping exposes teenagers to lead and uranium that could affect the brain, study shows
Professor Lion Shahab (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health) said the study underscored “the need to carefully monitor exposure in e-cigarette users and highlights the fact that e-cigarettes are not risk free, and therefore should not be used by people who have never smoked".
Read: The Times (£); More: The Telegraph (£), The Sun, Independent, Metro, Daily Mail (1), Daily Mail (2), Mirror, Express, CNN, Newsweek, iNews (£), Irish Independent, Express & Star, Science Alert, Medical Xpress, STV News, New York Times Post, WalesOnline, My London, Daily Record, Watch: LBC ‘Tonight with Andrew Marr’ (from 53 min, 41 sec)
Why the new FLiRT group of variants is expected to bring a new wave of Covid
Professor Christina Pagel (UCL Mathematics) says she expects the prevalence of infections to increase over the coming weeks. She said: ‘JN.1 has mutated further and several of its children have found mutations that help them spread much faster that their parent’.
People diagnosed with cancer in prison more likely to die from the disease
Cancer patients diagnosed in English prisons do not receive the same level of curative treatment as those in the general population, meaning they are at increased risk of death, according to a study led by Professor Rachael Hunter (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care).
Women should give up vaping if they want to get pregnant, study suggests
Dr Helen O’Neill (UCL EGA Institute for Women's Health) said: ‘Most people are not aware of any link between lifestyle vices and fertility. But it’s important people understand there is so much that can be done to increase your chance of having family’.
Read: The Guardian; More: The Telegraph (£), Daily Mail, Evening Standard, The Times (£)
Thinking doesn't have to feel so hard
Dr Matthew Botvinick (UCL Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit) explained most people don't contemplate whether or not to make coffee in the morning. They just go ahead and brew a cup because it's part of their routine.