•The human study included 22 participants—14 children and eight adults—and tested plaque changes 30 minutes after they swished their assigned drink.
•A cranberry cocktail with added sugar and plain water were also tested; the reported effects were found with pure, unsweetened cranberry juice.
•Researchers say longer, larger studies are needed to determine whether the short-term changes can prevent cavities or improve dental health over time.
•Among 87,577 adults followed for a median 8.1 years, 741 developed dementia.
•Average daytime exposure above 1,000 lux was associated with 16% lower dementia risk; longer exposure to at least 5,000 lux was linked to further reductions.
•Less than 42 minutes of bright daytime light was a stronger risk predictor than six established dementia risk factors.
•Nighttime light showed no statistically significant association; the study does not show that daylight prevents dementia.
•The firm, now in administration, provided websites, online booking and consultations to just under 10% of practices in England; services in Wales are also affected.
•Patients at affected practices must book by phone or in person; the NHS app remains available.
•More than 40% of GP appointments are now booked online, and NHS England has sent affected practices advice on maintaining services.
•Charles Swift, who is recovering from cancer and has had two heart attacks, was refused non-emergency transport after saying he owned a car.
•The Welsh Ambulance Service reviewed the call and said it had changed its processes and trained call handlers; it said the request would not have been refused with more information.
•Community transport charity Dolen Teifi received 145 calls in two months after hospital transport was cancelled the day before; it helped in about a third of cases.
•Researchers compared 75 vegans with 75 omnivores in an observational study published in Microbiome.
•Protein provided 12% of vegans’ dietary energy, versus 17% for omnivores; vegans with the highest protein intake had diversity comparable to omnivores.
•Vegans also had higher fiber intake, lower blood glucose and cholesterol, and fewer inflammatory markers.
•The study cannot show that protein intake causes differences in gut bacteria, and researchers made no dietary recommendations.
•In a trial of 96 adults aged 18–45 with obesity and early-onset type 2 diabetes, 27 of 50 in the program achieved remission, versus 2 of 46 receiving usual care.
•The program began with 800–900 calories a day and supervised aerobic and resistance exercise twice weekly, plus one independent session.
•No severe adverse events were reported, but side effects were more common with the intensive program; researchers say longer studies must test whether remission lasts.
•Normal-weight mice developed severe reactions to an inflammatory cream after four days on a high-fat diet; obese mice switched to normal food had milder reactions.
•After returning to low-fat food and recovering, mice reacted more strongly to a second dose weeks later; memory T cells remained in the affected skin.
•Researchers also found heightened lung inflammation after a few days of high-fat eating. The study tested mice, not people.
•National Diet and Nutrition Survey data classified nearly one in four 11- to 18-year-olds as deficient.
•A 23-year-old teacher collapsed at work and was later found to have extremely low vitamin D; she is now taking supplements.
•Deficiency can weaken bones and cause fatigue and joint or bone pain, but symptoms may be missed or misdiagnosed.
•Clinicians are calling for a higher deficiency threshold; a professor also urged the UK to consider wider food fortification. Some UK foods are already fortified voluntarily.
•Among 12,772 Brazilian adults followed for about eight years, the highest consumers had 62% faster declines in thinking and memory than the lowest consumers.
•The highest-intake group averaged 191 mg daily; moderate consumers had 35% faster decline than the lowest-intake group.
•Aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, sorbitol and xylitol were associated with decline; tagatose was not.
•The association was stronger in people with diabetes and was not found among adults over 60. The observational study cannot prove sweeteners caused the decline.
•Extern will replace its Royal Avenue service with a “significantly reduced” street-based service; no new premises has been found.
•The charity says it returned nearly 20,000 used needles last year and removed more than 13,000 discarded needles from city streets, about 20% more than in previous years.
•Extern warns the closure could leave vulnerable people without support and increase drug-related litter and visible substance use in the city centre.
•Across Northern Ireland, needle exchanges recorded 32,667 transactions in 2024-25, up 7.4% year on year.
•A review of 20 studies involving 14,884 participants found five therapies could cut health care costs and improve outcomes versus usual care: yoga, cognitive behavioral therapy, self-management support, fear-reduction education and mindfulness.
•Workplace advice combined with graded activity, and diet combined with physical activity, were more cost-effective than usual care at NICE’s £20,000 willingness-to-pay threshold.
•All studies came from high-income countries, and methods for measuring cost-effectiveness varied.
•Rachael Field, 56, has tongue cancer and has been given around three years or less to live. She needs help to wash, dress and use the toilet, and uses a feeding tube.
•Her May application was awarded zero points across all assessed categories. Her family says an appeal lodged several months ago is still awaiting an outcome.
•The DWP says it needs further evidence to complete the claim and will continue trying to contact Field.
•In 2023, 13.2 million people had a first stroke, 6.8 million died and nearly 105 million lived with stroke effects.
•Over the same period, age-standardized stroke incidence fell 25%, mortality fell 52% and disability rates fell 48%.
•People under 70 now account for 52% of strokes; about 1.9 million annual strokes occur among people aged 15–49.
•Uncontrolled high blood pressure accounts for roughly 60% of the global stroke burden; more than 80% of stroke deaths and disability occur in low- and middle-income countries.
•Macrophages released up to 80% of their taurine as NLRP3 inflammasomes formed; restoring taurine stopped downstream inflammation in cells.
•Lowering taurine accelerated NLRP3-driven inflammation in young mice.
•Blood taurine levels were higher in adults aged 60–99 than in those aged 20–40; researchers are investigating whether the findings could help older adults.