In the absence of effective therapies against Alzheimer's disease (AD), the identification of modifiable risk/protective factors is important.

Some degree of nerve compression is likely when there is a prolapsed or herniated intervertebral disc although the extreme compression that causes CES is very unlikely. However if it does occur it is a medical emergency.

Endometriosis is estimated to affect 176 million women worldwide and there is a significant unmet requirement for treatment options for this condition.

Adenovirus based COVID-19 vaccines and blood clot risk. Phase I trial results for a new vaccine released from IAVI (International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) and the Scripps Research Institute in the U.S. appear promising.

Endometriosis affects 10% of women (or 1.5 million people in the UK) and yet bizarrely takes an average of seven to eleven years to diagnose.

The latest research on healthy eating is by the American Heart Association proves that eating about five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, in which 2 are fruit and 3 are vegetables, appears to be the optimal required for a longer life.

Gene therapy for chronic pain could offer huge benefits and potential because it would deliver a safer, non-addictive alternative to opioids.

In June 2019 in great secrecy ‘Little Foot’ was transported to the UK to be examined in microscopic detail using the ‘Diamond Light Source’ at the national synchrotron facility in the UK.

A key scientific holy grail has been to accurately predict and understand how proteins fold and tangle themselves into the shapes that hold the key to how they carry out their vital functions (like Watson and Crick’s double helix).

Many more people will die in Africa from malaria than COVID-19 in 2021. Malaria killed 409 000 people in 2019 and 411 000 in 2018, most of them babies and toddlers in sub-Saharan Africa.

COVID-19 has stimulated our surveillance of any other possible future threats to our well-being. As we wage war against viruses and bacteria there is also a third organism which is emerging.

The South African variant emerged after the first epidemic wave in a heavily infected metropolitan area, Nelson Mandela Bay, located on the coast of the Eastern Cape Province.

With what is a small population, highly digitized health system, and quick, military-assisted Pfizer vaccine rollout, Israel’s real-world data is an extremely useful addition to clinical trials that can be used by researchers, pharmaceutical companies and policymakers.

The EU Commission, responsible for vaccine procurement, has come under fire, particularly from Germany.

There have been positive scientific breakthroughs that provide new hope for millions of people living with multiple sclerosis.

According to the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) the new variant, which has two names, B.1.1.7 or VUI 202012/01, is 71% more transmissible than any other variant.

Plant metabolites have a huge range of biological functions and more than 60% of drugs with anti-cancer activity are derived from plants. More recently the brassica family has been an area of strong scientific enquiry.

This week in the UK there was a landmark legal case that identified air pollution as a cause of death.

mRNA vaccine production is simple and laboratory based, can be easily adapted and is more cost-effective, which are important considerations for a global pandemic.

Most vaccines are refrigerated at around 2-8°C but Pfizer’s vaccine, which uses messenger RNA, has vastly different requirements. Messenger RNA (or mRNA) vaccines have never been used before but unfortunately they are not thermostable.