Breast cancer enzyme may slow tumour growth
"Cancer cell enzymes shown to act as 'good cops'," is the headline on the BBC News website. The BBC reports on laboratory research into an enzyme called MMP-8 and its effects on breast cancer…
24 May 2013
Could open plan offices be bad for your health?
Open plan offices make employees “less productive, less happy, and more likely to get sick” reports the Mail Online website. The article is actually based on a number of studies…
24 May 2013
Research could lead to 'universal' flu vaccine
“Scientists create new flu vaccine that works against many different strains of the virus,” The Independent reports. This headline, and several others like it, is based on early stage research into the development of alternative flu vaccine technologies…
23 May 2013
Do iPads and electric lights disturb sleep?
"Terrible night's sleep? Blame your mobile phone" is the advice on the Mail Online website, as "exposure to artificial light 'fools' the brain into staying awake." This – and similar headlines in the Daily Express, The Guardian and Metro…
23 May 2013
Cold weather may increase blood pressure
'Bad weather could raise your blood pressure and even kill you,' is the unnecessarily alarmist headline in the Daily Mail. It reports on a large, complex study that looked for any association between changes in weather and blood pressure…
22 May 2013
Could a mother's lack of iodine harm her child's IQ?
“Mothers’ diets may harm IQs of two babies in three,” warns The Independent. The newspaper reports on its front page that iodine deficiency is widespread among pregnant women…
22 May 2013
Claims vitamin B prevents Alzheimer's are unproven
'Should you be taking vitamin B to protect against Alzheimer's?,' asks the Daily Mail. Its question is prompted by new research into whether a daily dose of vitamin B could reduce the loss of brain tissue in people with mild cognitive impairment…
21 May 2013
Sharing a bed with your baby ups risk of cot death
"Bed-sharing 'raises cot death risk fivefold'," BBC News reports. The news has featured in much of the media, with headlines based on a large study that analysed previous studies into the risk of cot death…
21 May 2013
Job stress may raise our 'bad cholesterol' levels
'A stressful job really can kill you – by raising your cholesterol,' reports the Mail Online website. This headline is based on Spanish research that looked at the relationship between job stress and lipid (fat) levels in the blood of more than 90,000…
20 May 2013
Vitamin D may help treat severe asthma
”Sunshine vitamin 'may treat asthma'”, BBC News informs us, as a new lab-based study suggests vitamin D could help control symptoms of severe asthma. Asthma is caused by inflammation of the airways, related to malfunctioning…
20 May 2013
Rise in number of unpaid carers and young carers
"Children are picking up the caring roles the state has abandoned," The Guardian says, while The Independent says that 180,000 children work as unpaid carers. These new figures come from the Office for National Statistics…
17 May 2013
Time-lapse technique may boost success rate of IVF
“IVF advance triples couples' chances of having a baby”, The Daily Telegraph reports. The innovation in question is actually based on an old imaging technique called time-lapse photography, where a camera is set to record a series of images…
17 May 2013
Absent fathers linked to depression risk in girls
“Study shows girls with absent fathers more likely to develop depression," the Mail Online has revealed. It reports on a large UK study that found that girls whose biological fathers were absent during the first five years of their childhood…
16 May 2013
Human embryo stem cells cloning breakthrough
"Human embryonic stem cells created from adult tissue for first time," The Guardian reports, while the Daily Mail's front page leads with the somewhat fanciful warning that new research raises the "spectre of cloned babies"…
16 May 2013
Drug combination offers hope for osteoporosis
“Double drug hope for brittle bone sufferers”, reports the Daily Mail. This headline follows a small but well-designed trial of treatments for postmenopausal osteoporosis…
15 May 2013
'Broken' body clock may be linked to depression
"Depressed people are out of sync with the rest of the world because their body clocks are broken," reports the Mail Online website, while The Independent claims that depressed people live in a "different time zone"…
15 May 2013
Is the rise in neurological deaths due to modern life?
'Technology, food additives and air pollution are causing people to develop dementia earlier than ever,' reports the Mail Online website. But this is a claim with little to no evidence to support it. The study the Mail reports on looked at...
14 May 2013
Angelina Jolie's surgery to 'reduce breast cancer risk'
Writing in the New York Times, actress Angelina Jolie has announced that she has recently undergone a preventative double mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction surgery, as genetic testing showed she had a high risk of developing breast cancer…
14 May 2013
Could a good mood make you eat more food?
‘Research has found emotional eaters tend to eat more when happy’, reports the Mail Online website. The news is based on a small study looking at whether experimentally altering mood has an effect on the amount of calories a person eats…
14 May 2013
Novel coronavirus 'limited' spread between people
The World Health Organization has released a statement warning that the new SARS-like coronavirus, first detected in the Middle East, is likely to be able to spread through close person-to-person contact…
13 May 2013
