The Thin End

New research indicates that taking vitamin D supplements may help prevent a potentially serious side effect of a revolutionary form of anti-cancer therapy. The findings are published early online in CANCER , a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS). An important capacity of the immune system is its ability to distinguish between normal cells in the body and those it sees as “foreign.” This lets the immune system attack the foreign cells while leaving the normal cells alone. To do this, it uses “checkpoints.” Immune checkpoints are molecules on certain immune cells that need to be activated (or inactivated) to start an immune response. Immune checkpoint inhibitors help the immune system recognize and combat cancer cells, and although these treatments have helped many patients and have prolonged lives, they can cause side effects such as colitis, an inflammatory reaction in the colon.  “Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis can limit the use of such life-sav...

As I write, it is 3.0 am, and I cannot sleep. Several images I remember in my life flash before me as in one of those old newsreels they used to show in cinemas. These images arise from the 'Black Lives Matter' protests at the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in America. Here in the United Kingdom, we must confront our racist past and present, as statues of prominent slave traders are taken down or pulled down. In 1970, on a cold, wet December day in Warsaw, the then West German Chancellor Willy Brandt laid a wreath at the memorial of the Jewish ghetto. I remember it. The lasting image of that day was a photo taken when Brandt unexpectedly fell to his knees in front of the memorial and remained still for half a minute on the wet stone floor - that half a minute seemed an eternity. Somehow, the world seemed to pause and take a deep breath. Willy Brandt said, 'No German is free of History'— and nor are we. We will only defeat racism if we acknowledge r...

The UK government incompetency has cost lives.   So many voters invested their hopes in Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  That hope has been cruelly dashed.  It will take time for this to impact in opinion polls, although the first signs of shifting public opinion are there. The Leader of the Labour party, Keir Starmer, now offers a different style of leadership.  The contrast is stark.  The rambling, incoherent dishonesty of Boris Johnson, or the clear, inciteful, yet compassionate approach of Sir Keir.   The one evokes doubt and uncertainty; the other, confidence in an ability to deliver. Faithfully doing as they were advised, UK citizens have been suckered into a strategy to protect, not the NHS, but the Tory government. Thousands of lives have been lost in so doing.  That is the tragedy. So many voters put their trust in Mr Johnson as the Prime Minister to deliver Brexit.  However, it is now apparent, he had little else to offer.  Of c...

When people regain weight after having weight loss surgery you might think that any benefits would be lost if they subsequently regain the weight. But this is not the case. Curiously many of the benefits persist, such as metabolic improvements and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. How could this be so? Researchers have now found some of the answers. Altered gene expression in fat tissue may help explain why individuals who have regained weight after weight loss surgery still experience benefits such as metabolic improvements and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. The findings come from a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine . The study included women who underwent weight-loss surgery, and gene analyses were conducted before and two and five years after surgery. Analyses were also conducted in women who did not undergo surgery. Most gene expression changes in fat tissue occurred during the first two years after surgery; however, a subset of genes encoding protei...

The Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, was right to question the Prime Minister on Care Home deaths. Our loved ones in care homes should have been kept safe.  A new report today finds that the number of people dying from COVID-19 in care homes is double the figure given by the government. The government's advice up to 13th March was that there were unlikely to be infections in care homes. This conclusion could not have been based on scientific advice.  What logic were they applying? There is no reasoning in science why a virus would behave differently because it is in a care home! A virus has no idea it is in a care home! Did they think older people were immune if they were in care homes? The government was slow to understand the problem we faced, slow to act, and still refuses to publish the advice it receives. The consequence in our care homes has been catastrophic. The government should come out of its self-congratulatory mode and start listening. The j...

Test, track and treat must be an essential ingredient coming out of COVID-19 lockdown.  This was acknowledged by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in his statement to the House of Commons today spelling out a little more detail of the strategy moving forward.  With more testing, it will be possible to predict at a more localised level in the community where infections will spread and target both community testing and more social interventions on high-risk areas in the future.  This might then prevents further national lockdown in response to any rebound of the virus.  The Prime Minister rightly refers to the R-value in informing strategy. It represents the rate of infection - or how many people can be infected by another.  At the outset, this was above 3, and anything above one means a dramatic increase in infections and deaths.  The Prime Minister also, on that basis, is right that there might be a need for differences in approach in di...