Category: 8. Health

Farmers have been advised to remain vigilant for signs of the bluetongue virus in their animals after a sheep tested positive for the disease.

The Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed a ram at a property in Cornwall had tested positive for the disease on Friday.

Defra confirmed the ram had died but other animals on the premises would not be culled since bluetongue virus is mainly spread by biting midges.

The notifiable disease does not pose a threat to human health or food safety but it can affect farmers by making animals sick, reducing milk yields and affecting breeding, Defra added.

A Defra spokesperson said: “We have confirmed the detection of bluetongue virus in a single ram at a premises in Cornwall.

“We urge all animal owners to ensure scrupulous biosecurity standards are in place and to report any signs of infection to the Animal and Plant Health Agency immediately.”

They said bluetongue affects sheep and other ruminants such as deer and goats as well as camelids such as llamas and alpacas and cattle.

In the most severe cases, it can cause death in adult animals.

A restricted zone for bluetongue was put in place across England on 1 July which meant keepers would be able to move their animals without a specific licence or test for the disease.

Publishing recently in Cancer Discovery, a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, the study found that patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer who consumed high levels of sucralose had worse response to immunotherapy and poorer survival than those with diets low in the artificial sweetener.

Strikingly, supplements that boosted levels of the amino acid arginine mitigated the negative effects of sucralose on immunotherapy in mice, an approach that could now be tested in clinical trials.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Stop drinking diet soda,’ but when patients are being treated for cancer, they are already dealing with enough, so asking them to drastically alter their diet may not be realistic,” said lead author Abby Overacre, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Immunology at Pitt and UPMC Hillman. “We need to meet patients where they are. That’s why it’s so exciting that arginine supplementation could be a simple approach to counteract the negative effects of sucralose on immunotherapy.”

Senior author Diwakar Davar, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Pitt and a medical oncologist and hematologist at UPMC Hillman, collaborating with Overacre and their team, used mouse models to show that the negative impacts of sucralose are driven by disruption to gut bacteria.

Sucralose shifted the composition of the mouse gut microbiome, increasing bacterial species that degrade arginine, which reduced levels of this amino acid in the blood, tumor fluid and stool.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies such as anti-PD1 work by ramping up T cell activity so that they can more effectively kill cancer cells. Arginine is essential for T cell function, especially in cancer.

“When arginine levels were depleted due to sucralose-driven shifts in the microbiome, T cells couldn’t function properly,” said Overacre. “As a result, immunotherapy wasn’t as effective in mice that were fed sucralose.”

In mouse models of adenocarcinoma and melanoma, adding sucralose to the diet inhibited anti-PD1 therapy, leading to larger tumors and poorer survival. But when the researchers gave sucralose-fed mice arginine or citrulline, which is metabolized into arginine in the body, the effectiveness of immunotherapy was restored.

To assess the relevance of these findings for humans, the researchers looked at 132 patients with advanced melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer who received anti-PD1 therapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Patients filled out detailed diet history questionnaires that included questions about how often they consumed artificial sweeteners in coffee, tea and diet soda.

“We found that sucralose impeded the effectiveness of immunotherapies across a range of cancer types, stages and treatment modalities,” said Davar. “These observations raise the possibility of designing prebiotics, such as targeted nutrient supplementation for patients who consume high levels of sucralose.”

The researchers hope to launch a clinical trial investigating whether citrulline supplements — which boost arginine levels more than arginine itself — affect the gut microbiome and anti-tumor immune response in patients.

They are also interested in looking at how other sugar substitutes, such as aspartame, saccharin, xylitol and stevia, impact the immune system and response to immunotherapy.

Other authors on the study were Kristin Morder, M.S., Madison Nguyen, Drew Wilfahrt, Ph.D., Zakaria Dahmani, Ansen Burr, M.D., Ph.D., Bingxian Xie, Ph.D., Michael Morikone, Ph.D., Hector Nieves-Rosado, M.D., Ph.D., William Gunn, M.S., Drew Hurd, Hong Wang, Ph.D., Steven Mullett, Kaitlin Bossong, Stacy Gelhaus, Ph.D., Dhivyaa Rajasundaram, Ph.D., Lawrence Kane, Ph.D., and Greg Delgoffe, Ph.D., and Jishnu Das, Ph.D., all of Pitt or UPMC.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (DP2AI177967, S10OD023402, S10OD032141, R01CA206517, R01AI138504, T32GM008208, U01 CA271407, R01 CA257265, U01 CA268806 and P50 CA254865), the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and Gateway for Cancer Research (G-22-800).

A controversial doctor given top billing at the Reform party conference has used his main-stage speech to air a claim the Covid vaccine caused cancer in the royal family.

The speech by Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who was appointed as a senior adviser to the US health secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy, drew sharp intakes of breath in the Birmingham auditorium where he was handed a prime speaking slot.

After setting out what he said were findings showing that vaccines “created havoc” in the human body, Malhotra said he had been asked to share something by a doctor who he described as one of Britain’s most eminent oncologists.

“He thinks it’s highly likely that the Covid vaccines have been a factor, a significant factor in the cancer of members of the royal family,” said Malhotra, who had previously said: “This isn’t just his opinion many other doctors feel the same way.”

The remarks drew immediate condemnation from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and others.

“When we are seeing falling numbers of parents getting their children vaccinated, and a resurgence of disease we had previously eradicated, it is shockingly irresponsible for Nigel Farage to give a platform to these poisonous lies,” said Streeting.

“Farage should apologise and sever all ties with this dangerous extremism.”

A spokesperson for Cancer Research UK said: “There is no good evidence of a link between the Covid-19 vaccine and cancer risk. The vaccine is a safe and effective way to protect against the infection and prevent serious symptoms.”

There had been speculation at the conference from early morning that Malhotra would make the comment in his speech.

A known vaccine sceptic, Malhotra had been listed in the conference programme as speaking on the topic “Make Britain Healthy Again”, a slogan borrowed from the Trump administration. Doctors had urged Farage in advance of the speech not to give him a platform.

Malhotra had garbled the name of the oncologist who he cited in his speech. However, in the past he has used X to link to an interview with TalkTV in which Angus Dalgleish, an oncologist, linked Covid jabs to cancer.

There was no immediate comment from Buckingham Palace, which first announced the king’s cancer diagnosis in February 2024. The Princess of Wales, Catherine, announced her cancer diagnosis in March 2024.

Malhotra has long been a vocal figure for hesitancy about Covid vaccines, claiming they pose a greater threat than the virus itself – a view repeatedly debunked by factcheckers.

In his speech on Saturday, he referred to findings that were aired on a show presented by Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump. At the end of his speech, he went on to claim that the general public were being misled and that Covid vaccines had been responsible for killing and injuries.

Malhotra had appeared on Friday at the Reform UK conference at a fringe panel to discuss free speech, where calls were made for Britain to withdraw from the World Health Organization.

The speech was one of a number of incidents that threatened to generate negative headlines over the course of a two-day conference where Reform, leading Labour and Tories in the polls, tried hard to project an image of professionalism.

Signs that the party was managing to court acceptance in corporate sectors included the presence of a Heathrow International Business Lounge, along with a small number of diplomatic delegations.

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But there were also signs that Reform leadership remains concerned about the potential for divisions to once again cause ruptures. Previous schisms have emerged over its approach to Tommy Robinson’s supporters, while the party’s erstwhile MP for Great Yarmouth Rupert Lowe and its former deputy leader Ben Habib are among those who are now fervent critics of Farage outside the party.

Farage used his closing speech on Saturday to appeal to Reform members to settle disputes in private. He asked: “Can we please exercise discipline and air our disagreements between each other in private?”

However, Malhotra’s speech was not the only one to mark a descent into culture-war controversy that critics have long warned make Reform an unserious proposition for government.

Earlier Sarah Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, who has previously called for the burqa to be banned in Britain, told the conference she wanted to arrive on stage in a turquoise version of the Islamic headdress. She said the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice had said no to this.

The MP was at the centre of a row in Reform UK this year when she called on the prime minister to ban the burqa and was later accused by then Reform chair Zia Yusuf of asking a “dumb” question as it was not party policy.

Pochin also told members she would “not be silenced” by a new Islamophobia definition introduced by the government saying she would “see you in jail” if a new law on the issue was passed.

The comments came in reference to a working group, led by the former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve, which was set up earlier this year by Angela Rayner to provide recommendations on how to tackle anti-Muslim hatred in Britain, including whether to create a new definition of Islamophobia.

The conference also ended with an appearance on stage by Lucy Connolly, the former childminder who was jailed after last year’s riots for a social media post calling asylum seeker hotels to be torched.

Connolly said she would “love” to work with the party in the future, receiving cheers from the audience as she revealed she voted for them at the last election.

There were no further high-profile defections from the Conservative party. The former Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told a fringe gathering at the conference that his teenage daughter, Mary, had joined Reform UK and that he was “having my arm twisted” by her to follow suit.

Scrolling endlessly through your phone might seem harmless, but emerging evidence suggests it could be quietly straining your heart. Cardiologist Dr. Sanjay Bhojraj recently sounded the alarm on Instagram, highlighting how prolonged screen time is increasingly linked to serious heart health risks.

Dr. Bhojraj, founder of the wellness initiative Well12, wrote, “What if your phone wasn’t just draining your time but quietly damaging your heart?” He pointed to findings that spending more than five hours a day on screens can almost double the risk of cardiovascular disease. Constant notifications, disrupted sleep cycles, and long hours of sitting all add up, creating what he calls a “perfect storm for heart disease.”

According to him, the consequences include higher blood pressure, greater inflammation, obesity, insulin resistance, and even reduced flexibility of arteries over time.

Research backs the warning

Dr. Bhojraj’s caution echoes findings from a study published in the Anatolian Journal of Cardiology (Ekici et al., 2016). The research examined 148 healthy participants and found that longer daily mobile phone use was linked to harmful changes in heart rate variability (HRV), an important marker of autonomic balance and cardiovascular risk.

The study reported that individuals using phones for more than an hour daily had lower HRV and higher LF/HF ratios — indicators of heightened stress on the heart’s regulatory system. “Long-term mobile phone use may reduce parasympathetic activity and increase sympathetic activity, tipping the balance toward cardiovascular strain,” the authors concluded.

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The ripple effect on daily life

While the average user might shrug off hours on Instagram or Netflix, cardiologists stress that these habits affect more than just posture or eyesight. They interfere with circadian rhythms, increase cortisol levels through constant alerts, and encourage a sedentary lifestyle. Together, these factors can accelerate risks for hypertension and heart disease. Dr. Bhojraj summed it up with a reminder: “Your habits may feel small, but the ripple effect on your heart is massive. Your heart deserves better than endless scrolling.” Experts recommend regular breaks from screens, digital detox hours before bed, and intentional movement throughout the day. As Dr. Bhojraj put it, “Perfect your heart. Log off.”

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