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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Natural conception nearly 50% more likely after weight loss, study
Obese women who participate in weight loss programmes before starting in vitro fertilisation (IVF) are 47% more likely to conceive naturally than those receiving minimal or no weight loss support, according to a recent University of Oxford-led research, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, analysed 12 international trials involving 1,921 study also found the interventions increased the odds of any pregnancy - naturally or by IVF by 21%.But research lead, associate professor Nerys Astbury, said there was a need for "larger, high-quality trials to confirm the effect on live births". The researchers said the findings were particularly significant as NHS commissioning bodies across England restrict access to NHS-funded IVF for women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over from a wide range of interventions were used, including diet programmes, exercise and weight loss average, women in the intervention groups lost 4kg (9lbs) more than those in the comparison the researchers stressed that while the review provided "the clearest picture yet of the benefits for conception", the effect on the ultimate goal – a healthy baby - "is still unclear".Prof Astbury said the evidence on live birth rates "was of very low certainty because many studies did not follow the pregnancies through to birth and report this outcome"."It was also interesting that when we restricted the analysis to low-energy diet replacement programmes, which lead to greater weight loss, there was an increase in live births, but this needs to be confirmed in larger trials," she said."Policymakers should consider whether integrating structured weight loss support into fertility services could improve outcomes for patients, while potentially reducing overall costs by increasing the number of women who conceive naturally."Dr Moscho Michalopoulou, lead author from Oxford's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, said the findings "suggest that offering structured weight loss support could improve the chance of conceiving naturally, which may avoid the need for IVF treatment"."Programmes that help women achieve greater weight losses have the potential to help more women achieve a successful outcome, and should be tested in larger high-quality trials." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
NHS to pilot AI prostate cancer tests
An AI tool to spot prostate cancer earlier is being piloted by the NHS. The two-year scheme involving more than 3,000 men aims to speed up diagnosis of the disease, which is the most common form of cancer in men. Every year around 55,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 12,000 die from it. But just half of cases are caught at an early stage, when treatment is most effective. Trials suggest the technology can help radiologists detect around 11 per cent more early-stage cancers by highlighting suspicious regions in MRI scans. The software by Quibim uses advanced AI, trained on real pathology results, to segment the prostate into zones and highlight areas most likely to contain aggressive disease. The two-year pilot, backed by £2.6 million in NHS funding, will be rolled out to seven hospitals in England. Clinical trials suggest it can raise detection rates from 80 per cent to more than 90 per cent. Early detection dramatically improves survival rates. Almost all men who are diagnosed with stage one or two of the disease are alive five years later, compared with rates of less than 50 per cent for those with late-stage disease. As well as looking at detection rates, the pilot will examine the cost-effectiveness of the approach to see if the NHS can save money by catching the disease sooner. It will also examine the impact on inequalities in heath, with black men twice as likely to get prostate cancer. Prof Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, said: 'The NHS is funding and testing this exciting AI technology to help us diagnose and treat prostate cancer patients as quickly as possible and offer them the best chance of survival. 'As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, the NHS is taking advantage of our unique position to test state-of-the-art technology like this, and rolling it out as fast as we can to make the NHS fit for the future.' Dr. Ángel Alberich-Bayarri, chief executive of Quibim said: 'This NHS rollout is a major milestone in our mission to improve cancer diagnostics through AI. 'We're proud to support the NHS in advancing early detection and addressing health inequalities in prostate cancer care. By empowering radiologists with AI, we can help ensure more men are diagnosed earlier, when their chances of survival are highest.' Screening could cut deaths by 40 per cent The findings come as The Telegraph launches a campaign calling for the introduction of targeted screening for prostate cancer. Currently, men are not offered tests, even if they have a family history of the disease. Experts believe there is a growing case for targeted screening, meaning that PSA blood tests would be offered to those at heightened risk of the disease. Even though prostate cancer is the most-common male cancer in the UK, it is the only major cancer with no screening programme. The UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) is currently considering whether to recommend the rollout of testing. In the past, it has rejected the idea because of concern that PSA tests are too unreliable, and would result in too many men undergoing needless procedures. In recent years, however, the back-up technology used to confirm a diagnosis has significantly improved, with hopes that further advances being tested, could mean that in the future, screening could cut deaths by 40 per cent. Prof Shonit Punwani, Professor of magnetic resonance and cancer imaging and consultant radiologist at UCLH, said: 'Initial studies have shown that the tool helps radiologists to enhance their diagnostic accuracy through identifying subtle early stage lesions that are sometimes not obvious on scans. 'Ultimately, QP-Prostate aims to improve patient outcomes by assisting radiologists in creating more accurate and reliable MRI reports.'
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
CrowdScience How long does light last?
When listener Rob from Devon, UK, heard of a newly detected planet light years away, he was struck by the sheer scale the light must travel to reach us here on Earth. It got him wondering: How long does light last? What's the oldest light we've ever observed? And does light ever die? To find out, presenter Anand Jagatia calls on some of the brightest minds in astronomy and physics. Astronomer Matthew Middleton from the University of Southampton describes himself as 'a kid in a sweet shop' when it comes to physics, and that enthusiasm comes in handy, because scientists still struggle to define exactly what light is. What we do know is that light comes in many forms, and choosing the right kind can peel back the cosmic curtain, revealing the universe's deepest and darkest secrets. That knowledge will prove vital in Anand's search for the oldest light ever observed. At the European Southern Observatory in Chile, staff astronomer Pascale Hibon gives Anand a behind-the-scenes look at the Very Large Telescope, one of the most advanced optical instruments on Earth, perfectly placed under some of the clearest skies on the planet. Light from the objects Pascale studies has often travelled for billions of years, making her images snapshots of the distant past. In a sense, she's pretty much a time traveller. If light has crossed the vastness of the universe to reach us, it must be unimaginably ancient. But what will become of it in the far future? Could we trap it and preserve it forever? 'If we knew what light is, that might be an easier question to answer,' says Miles Padgett at the University of Glasgow, who has spent his career trying to pin it down. As Anand discovers, physics can be more philosophical than you might expect. From redshifted galaxies at the edge of the observable universe to exotic materials that can slow light to walking pace, CrowdScience explores whether we can catch light, how it changes over time, and why truly understanding it remains one of physics' most stubborn challenges. Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Harrison Lewis Editor: Ilan Goodman (Image: An area of deep space with thousands of galaxies in various shapes and sizes on a black background. Most are circles or ovals, with a few spirals. More distant galaxies are smaller, down to being mere dots, while closer galaxies are larger and some appear to be glowing. Red and orange galaxies contain more dust or more stellar activity Credit:ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Östlin, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, J. Melinder, the JADES Collaboration, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb))
