One vaccine to beat COVID, Sars, Mers and common cold – possible?

PhotobyTawat/Shutterstock SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – belongs to the family of betacoronaviruses that cause everything from the common cold to Mers (which kills about one in three people infected). Despite causing a wide range of symptoms, these viruses all share similarities. If they’re similar enough, could oneContinue Reading

Ten tips for looking after your back while you're sitting down

Shutterstock/LightField Studios Working from home is challenging. Apart from reduced social interaction and the domestic juggling involved, homes are not usually designed to replicate a workplace environment when it comes to employees’ health. Instead, improvised work stations have become the norm for many people, whether it’s a dining table, aContinue Reading

How parasitic worms could lead to new treatments for asthma

Vector Mine/Shutterstock The UK has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world – around 9% of the population – with 60,000 emergency hospital admissions every year. This translates on average to three people dying from asthma in Britain every day. Asthma is a condition characterised by difficultyContinue Reading

Antibiotics could be repurposed as a treatment for depression

People with depression have higher levels of inflammation in their brains – which antibiotics might be able to treat. tadamichi/ Shutterstock Depression is common, affecting an estimated 264 million people of all ages worldwide. While the causes of depression are varied and complex, genetics, changes in brain chemistry, and environmentalContinue Reading

How to help someone you live with who has depression

Mindmo/Shutterstock The coronavirus pandemic has meant sudden changes to our daily lives, with restrictions on free movement, imposed lockdowns and social distancing. Many of these measures will have taken a toll on people’s mental health. These changes have increased our exposure to known risk factors for developing depression, such asContinue Reading

Do cricket balls really spread coronavirus?

Cricket is now back on in England, despite Boris Johnson declaring cricket balls a “natural vector of disease”. His statement has frustrated cricket fans and players, but has also raised the wider question of which activities spread COVID-19. After all, unlike other activities that the UK government is actively encouraging,Continue Reading