Health & Wellbeing

Researchers are listening to earthworms to monitor soil health, in what could be a major innovation for maintaining soil health.

In the first study of its kind, scientists are using a technique called ecoacoustics to listen to the activity of earthworms and other invertebrates in the soil. The theory is that a noisy soil is a healthy soil – and that the sounds generated in soil can be recorded, measured and used to evaluate soil condition.

Menarini Silicon Biosystems (MSB), a pioneer in liquid biopsy and single cell technologies, have announced the availability of its new CELLSEARCH CTC lab service to detect expression of the Delta-Like Ligand 3 (DLL3) protein in tumour cells circulating in the bloodstream. This biomarker is mainly expressed in difficult-to-treat cancers. The new MSB lab service opens the door to the development of further minimally invasive tests that leverage the prognostic and predictive value of biomarkers in medical settings with high unmet needs.

Nearly four in five (79%) disabled employees in the West Midlands earn less than £15 an hour, according to new analysis of official statistics published by the TUC. The analysis – published ahead of the TUC’s disabled workers conference which started in Bournemouth – finds that disabled people are much more likely to be paid less than £15ph than non-disabled peers.

Across the UK, around seven in 10 (69%) disabled employees earn less than £15 an hour. Half of non-disabled employees (50%) earn less than £15ph. In the North East and Wales (92% and 94%), more than nine in 10 disabled employees earn less than £15 an hour, compared to around two in five (37% and 42% respectively) non-disabled workers.

Durham and Salford have been named the best cities in the UK for fitness enthusiasts, according to new research. 

Sports nutrition experts at Bulk.com analysed eight factors they felt contribute to a city being attractive to fitness fanatics and scored the 62 most populated UK cities out of 100 to create their Fitness Index. The factors analysed within the index included the number of gyms, healthy restaurants according to TripAdvisor, pools, CrossFit facilities, as well as hiking, jogging, road cycling, and mountain bike routes relative to the population size of each city.

The Prince and Princess of Wales met the first person born under the National Health Service, at a tea party celebrating the NHS's 75th anniversary.

Aneira Thomas told them she had been born in Carmarthenshire at 00:01 on 5 July 1948, the same day as the NHS. She was named after the NHS founder and then Health Minister Aneurin Bevan.

Wolverhampton soul singer, Jaki Graham, has pledged her support for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity by challenging her daughter, BBC West Midlands radio presenter, Natalie Graham to a night behind bars for the charity’s ‘Jail or Bail’ event.  

A vision for a mentally healthier West Midlands in which residents thrive at school, college and work, and in their own communities is set out in the final report of the region’s second Mental Health Commission. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) convened the independent Commission last year to gather evidence into the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing, and to draw up a set of collective actions that can be taken regionally with partners to respond to those wide and deep impacts.

DentalMonitoring announces their latest innovation, ScanAssist, the only AI-guided scan process available in orthodontics, designed to provide a fun, engaging patient experience, while also providing unprecedented photo quality for clinical analysis. 

ScanAssist helps patients complete their scans quickly and efficiently with AI guided instructions and real time feedback. Providing a 3D model of a mouth that follows patients as they scan, this in-app system guides patients through scan movements to ensure high-quality pictures and detailed analysis of their treatment progression and oral health. The feature provides patients with a game-inspired experience, including visual and audio cues designed to increase motivation and compliance.

A new study reveals that the North East and North Cumbria integrated care board is the painkiller capital of England. The study conducted by private healthcare experts MyTribeInsurance analysed Open Prescribing data on the number of times analgesics, also known as painkillers, have been prescribed per month within each NHS integrated care board (ICB) across England per one thousand patients. 

People in the West Midlands are invited to join Parkinson’s UK at Sutton Park, Birmingham on Saturday 22 July 2023 for a fundraising walk to help fund vital research to find better treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s. 

There are 145,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the UK. Every hour, two more people in the UK are diagnosed. Walk for Parkinson's is the charity's national community fundraising series, and everyone is encouraged to get involved to get active, meet new people, and help fund life-changing research.

Dr Elle Boag, Associate Professor in Applied Social Psychology at Birmingham City University, explains why the world was consumed with the search for the Titanic submersible, and why grieving for others – even persons unknown to us - is a natural human response.

Dr Boag says: “There are a myriad simple and complex reasons why we were hyper-focussing on the fate of the five crew members onboard the missing OceanGate underwater vessel.

A new food and music festival is coming to Solihull – and you won’t believe where it’s taking place. On Friday 30^th June, from 10am-4pm, Care UK’s Blossomfield Grange, on Worcester Way, is set to hit the right note by setting mouths watering as it opens its doors to local people to visit a brand-new food and music festival – Blossfest.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has started the $150m expansion and modernisation of the Jamaica Hospital Medical Centre Emergency Department in the US. The project will create a Level One trauma centre and two critical care units with 22 beds each, as well as an advanced emergency department.

Governor Hochul said: “For too long, underserved communities like the ones Jamaica Hospital tends to were neglected, and the State failed to deliver the resources and support they need. As Governor, my administration is committed to righting the wrongs of the past, prioritising health equity and working to strengthen health care systems across the state.

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the Emirate, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AbbVie Biopharmaceutical and M42 to elevate collaborative efforts in tailoring personalised medicine and genomics in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). M42 is a first-of-its-kind, tech-enabled, integrated healthcare company created through the coming together of G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health.

Gray Healthcare, was celebrating following industry recognition at the prestigious Health Investor Awards 2023, where they were announced as winner of the 'Complex Care Provider of the Year' Award.  Held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, Jonathan Gray, Founder and CEO, Neil Berrington, Clinical Director and Rachael Robertson, Director of Operations accepted the award from Sue Perkins, TV presenter and comedian, on behalf of the Gray Healthcare team.

The findings from collaborative work between a University of Wolverhampton academic and a Midlands based charity has resulted in exciting new menopause initiatives for Deaf and hard of hearing people. 

During 2018, Sarah Bown, Senior Lecturer in Interpreting and Deaf Studies, approached BID Services Birmingham, a regional and national charity for Deaf people to propose a pilot study to ascertain the experiences and needs of Deaf sign language users and hard of hearing individuals during the menopause.  

In November 2018 two pilot workshops were conducted by Sarah in partnership with BID Services, focusing on the menopause as experienced by Deaf and hard of hearing individuals in Birmingham and Solihull.