Latest news with #AstonUniversity
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
The near-2.5m Brits with ADHD are not making it up: Calling it a scam is a disgrace
New NHS England data has estimated that almost 2.5m people in England are likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Some degree of salt-pinching is needed here as figures were developed using pre-existing estimates from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which suggests that around three to four per cent of adults and five per cent of children and young people have ADHD. The new data also suggests that more than half a million people (549,000) in England were waiting for an ADHD assessment at the end of March 2025. This is up from 416,000 a year earlier at the end of March 2024, so we can probably expect further ' villain of the week ' headlines about how the 'worried well' are wasting NHS resources and how 'everyone wants a diagnosis' these days. In March, a study by the University of Huddersfield and Aston University showed that ADHD prescriptions had risen 18 per cent year on year since the pandemic which led to headlines of a 'scam' around ADHD diagnosis, and the usual sympathetic calls for people not to be so pathetic and to Just Get On With It. This is despite there being a 50 per cent rise in prescriptions between 2007 and 2012 – coincidentally, around the time the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence released its new guidelines on ADHD. Awareness and understanding usually lead to an increase in treatment. The response is the same as that around the rise in treatment for depression in the 2010s when the likes of Stephen Fry were jeered at for speaking up. ' We're all a little bit [insert name of condition here],' is often rolled out, to which I am always tempted to reply, stop being childish about stuff you can't be bothered to learn about like an adult. This applies to reading beyond the headlines, to our dear orange friend in the White House, and it certainly applies to health conditions. We all go to the loo, but if you're going to the loo 100 times a day, there's a problem. This response makes me especially cross as the same day that study was released, I had been speaking to recipients of PIP – personal independence payments – about the government's benefits reforms, which include a slightly mystifying determination to Get Everyone Back Into Work (I have yet to hear a genuine explanation of what can be done for people who cannot work) and freezing PIP. These payments are not related to work but are used to help offset the additional costs of being disabled. They also have a zero per cent fraud rate. A young powerchair user, also an Oxford finalist, described a cognitive dissonance: 'They can't conceive of somebody that they deem to be productive in society – getting a degree or working – also doing something they deem to be unproductive – requiring support and benefits.' This seems to be what happens here. Without physical 'evidence', some people think they are making it up, or that people with difficult health conditions should only be living saints in hospital beds, rather than people getting on with their lives in our communities. People with ADHD differ in whether they consider it a disability, usually because how much it impacts their lives depends on the structures they already have in place. Part of the huge rise in people seeking assessment since the pandemic is that the lockdowns instantly removed people's coping mechanisms. Middle-aged adults are also often assessed when their children go through assessment and every question sets off alarms for themselves. When people say, 'There wasn't all this in my day,' the answer is usually: there was, but it wasn't considered 'nice' – so people didn't admit to it. ADHD has been described in medical literature since the 1700s. As recently as the 1950s, autism in children was blamed on mothers being 'cold and distant'. People were named unmentionable words or kept apart from society. (We cannot feel too lofty about our progress here. A 2024 investigation by Mencap and ITV found that the NHS was spending over half a billion pounds a year locking up 2,000 autistic people or with a learning disability in England – many of whom should have been in community care.) I compare the rise in ADHD diagnoses with the stats around left-handed people, which averaged around 3 per cent in the 1900s – and rose sharply from the 1910s and stabilising in the 1960s – coincidentally, around the time that left-handed children stopped having their hands tied behind their back. Discrimination against any vulnerable community stems from fear: 'I don't want this near me because I know how society treats them.' Well, what if this were you, or your family? As The National columnist Paul Kavanagh told me this week: 'The disabled are the only minority group that anybody can become a part of at any time.' Kavanagh was perfectly fit and healthy until he suffered a stroke in October 2020. Due to ambulance shortages from Covid, he suffered life-changing injuries which have left him with limited mobility, unable to use one arm, and with multiple lifelong conditions. He was still turned down for PIP at first, and when he rang to appeal, he was given the veiled threat that his appeal risked him losing his benefits. Peer support through social media can help but it has limits, which is why people are waiting for up to 10 years for an assessment. That said, I 'self-diagnosed' with hip problems and went to my GP, which led to my hip replacement. Nobody said a word about that. Nobody says anything about going to your GP if you're worried about a lump, quite rightly. We know people with cancer. We know people with depression. You probably know someone with a lot more going on too. And for anyone doubtfully saying, 'There's no smoke without fire.' There is if there's someone with a socking great gas canister going, 'Look over there!' Our society distrusts difference. We have long stigmatised differences as a sign of the Devil or God, rather than old Barbara down the street who likes a good cheese. It's only by providing support, by advocating, explaining, and bringing these stories into people's homes, as Strictly Come Dancing does every year and Heidi Thomas with Down syndrome actors in Call the Midwife – even as Princess Diana did with Aids patients and landmine victims in the 1990s – that we see others as people and stop being afraid. Afraid of them, and our own shortcomings.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Delicious Orie, Olympic heavyweight, announces shock retirement from boxing after just one pro fight
Delicious Orie has hung up his gloves after just one professional fight. () Delicious Orie is hanging up his gloves after just one professional fight. The 2024 Olympian for Team Great Britain announced his unexpected decision to retire from boxing on Tuesday morning in order to pursue a career in the corporate world. Orie has an Economics and Management degree from Birmingham's Aston University. Advertisement Orie, 27, had a decorated amateur journey, winning heavyweight gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 European Games, however his Olympic run was cut short after losing a controversial split decision to Davit Chaloyan in the first round. Orie was mulling over an offer from the WWE shortly after his Olympic spell, however the 6-foot-6 heavyweight turned down the lucrative proposal to instead turn professional in boxing with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions this past February. The West Midlands-based heavyweight made his one-and-done appearance in the pro ranks on the Joe Joyce vs. Filip Hrgovic undercard at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester in April. Orie won a four-round points decision over Bosnian journeyman Milos Veletic in an unimpressive showing. Advertisement Orie's statement read: "After much reflection, I have decided to hang up my gloves and retire from boxing to follow up on my degree and enter the corporate world. "This sport has given me so much — incredible memories, unforgettable experiences travelling the world and many opportunities to represent my country at the biggest stages in the world. Forever grateful for the journey. "Over time, I've come to recognize that the same fire and love I once had for boxing has gradually faded. As I've grown, I've come to value clarity and honesty with myself above all. I hoped that turning professional would reignite the passion, but the truth has become clear: It hasn't. Every fighter knows you need a deep love for the craft to reach the top — and without it, there's no path forward. "Out of respect for the sport and for myself, it's time to step away with honesty.
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Delicious Orie announces surprise boxing retirement after just ONE pro fight
Olympian Delicious Orie won his professional debut last month but the 27-year-old heavyweight is now stepping away from the ring to pursue a corporate career Delicious Orie has announced his surprise retirement after just a single professional bout with the heavyweight saying his love for boxing has disappeared. Olympian Orie, 27, defeated Bosnian Milos Veletic on points in his pro bow last April but has struggled to find the motivation to continue. And the 2022 Commonwealth Games champ now plans to pursue a corporate career after confirming he will not step back into the ring. Orie has a first-class honours degree in Economics and Management from Aston University. "I have decided to hang up my gloves and retire from boxing to follow up on my degree and enter the corporate world," he said on Instagram. "Over time, I've come to recognise that the same fire and love I once had for boxing has gradually faded. "As I've grown, I've come to value clarity and honesty with myself above all. I hoped that turning professional would reignite the passion, but the truth has become clear: it hasn't. "Every fighter knows you need a deep love for the craft to reach the top - and without it, there's no path forward. Out of respect for the sport and for myself, it's time to step away with honesty." Orie, who was born in Moscow before moving to England aged seven, was the favourite to win gold in last summer's Paris Games but he suffered a shock first-round defeat to Armenian Davit Chaloyan. "I don't think I will ever emotionally recover from it," Orie said last month. But he was still hot property when entering the professional ranks and signed a deal with promoters Queensberry. Orie, who earned comparisons with Anthony Joshua when rising up through the ranks, also turned down an offer to join WWE so he could focus on the sport after the Olympics. "I thought it was a scam, one of those spam DMs [direct messages]," Orie told BBC Sport of the offer to join the entertainment group. "I checked the account and it was legit, millions of followers and verified. It was real, it was very serious. They wanted me to go out to Florida and try out."
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'No path forward' - Orie announces shock retirement
Heavyweight Delicious Orie has retired from boxing after a short stint in the professional ranks. Orie, 27, made his pro debut in April, beating Bosnian Milos Veletic on points, but has now decided to walk away from the sport. The Russian-born Briton won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and represented Great Britain at the Paris Olympics. "I have decided to hang up my gloves and retire from boxing to follow up on my degree and enter the corporate world," Orie said on Instagram. "Over time, I've come to recognise that the same fire and love I once had for boxing has gradually faded. "As I've grown, I've come to value clarity and honesty with myself above all. "I hoped that turning professional would reignite the passion, but the truth has become clear: it hasn't." Alongside boxing, Orie also has a first-class honours degree in Economics and Management from Aston University. Orie had 39 amateur fights and turned down an offer from the WWE to continue boxing. He added: "Every fighter knows you need a deep love for the craft to reach the top - and without it, there's no path forward. "Out of respect for the sport and for myself, it's time to step away with honesty." He was a hot favourite for the heavyweight gold in Paris, but suffered a shock early exit from the Games. The Briton, once dubbed the next Anthony Joshua, was tipped to fight for world honours in the coming years. He signed with promotional outfit Queensberry earlier this year having been pursued by all the major promotional companies in the UK. Boxing schedule and results 2025 Watch every Born to Brawl episode Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
The £600 scan that could tell you how old your brain is
It has never been easier to understand the health of your own body. Want to find out how many calories you burn each day, or how much deep sleep you get at night? Wear a fitness tracker. Curious about the state of your gut? Send a stool sample off to a health company like Zoe, and you'll receive an inventory of the microbes jiving away in your intestines. Yet despite all of these advances in personal medicine, our brains remain largely unexplored territory. That was until now. A team of British-based scientists and inventors have developed a system that could reveal more about the health of your brain than any other tool, next to the serious MRI scans you might be offered by your doctor. Myndspan, partnered with Aston University's Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment, is a company that promises to provide you with an accurate brain 'age' based on a reading of your brain waves and a series of cognitive tests, along with a consultation to explain all of the findings, for a total of £600. Most of the service's users so far have been 'the worried well, who want to understand what's going on in their brains but have no cause for concern when they come in for a scan,' says Caitlin Baltzer, Myndspan's founder and chief executive. Its technology is of most use to those whose concerns for their brain health are immediate, however. Combat veterans, sports people and people diagnosed with PTSD or other serious mental illnesses have used Myndspan too, 'to track the health of their brains over time and understand how close they are to recovery'. Like most of us, I had absolutely no idea what was going on inside my head. I try my best to live healthily, but I do have a family history of dementia, and the earliest signs of cognitive decline can appear in your 20s. Was my brain still ship-shape, or were things already going wrong? I wanted to know, so I booked myself in for an assessment. How it works What you get from a scan at Myndspan is different from what you'd find in a hospital scan. For one, most of us only get to explore what's inside of our heads when there are symptoms of a serious problem such as brain damage or a tumour. For the average person, one of Myndspan's tests is an explorative measure that's meant to help you learn more about its function day-to-day. There are two parts to a 45-minute appointment. First you're asked to do a series of cognitive tests on an iPad, in a room by yourself. These are games measure the 'cognitive output' of your brain as it chugs away, says Baltzer. This also requires you to give up some 'metadata': age, weight, height and sex, so that you can be compared with the some 600 people who have undergone Myndspan's testing before, along with some data from the wider population. The second is the actual scan or MEG (magnetoencephalography). Unlike an MRI scan, which uses magnetic fields to generate an image of your brain, an MEG 'directly measures the electronic activity generated by your brain, by picking up the magnetic fields that this creates,' says Dr Ben Dunkley, Myndspan's chief scientific officer. Also unlike an MRI, MEG machines are silent, you can sit upright in them and there are none of the unpleasant noises you have to deal with inside of an MRI machine. MEG scans have been used for decades for research into how our brains function, and are also used in medical settings across much of the world, though they are less commonly found on the NHS. This data is combined with your cognitive tests to map what's going on inside your brain. The reading took just 10 minutes. Here is what I learnt. How old is my brain? My brain is 26.9 years old. The doctor explains that this is a good outcome compared with my actual age of 24. 'Some people can have discrepancies as big as 20 years,' says Dr Dunkley. 'That could be indicative of very poor lifestyle habits, of brain damage, or of illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder. He explains that the way you treat your body will ultimately shape the health of your brain. And the aim is to have a brain age that's 'as close as possible to your biological age'. The age of your brain isn't static, however. 'It's amazing how plastic your brain is, even into your 50s, 60s and beyond,' Dr Dunkley says. People who find that their brains are much older than they had imagined can bring that number down over time, by exercising, getting enough sleep, and avoiding sugary or processed foods that can cause inflammation. As part of my report, I was given a score out of a hundred for my diet, and out of 27 for my sleep quality, based on a short quiz at the start of my appointment. I get 'just enough sleep' on average each night to be healthy, around seven hours, notes Dr Dunkley, a sign that I should really get more rest. My nutritional index score of 63 showed that I broadly eat about as well as the average person, but that I do have a sweet tooth, and the inflammation this causes can damage your brain's health over time. I resolved to cut down on sugary treats and prioritise a full night's sleep more often. How good is my memory? In the 10 minutes that my brain activity was measured, I showed slightly above-normal gamma wave activity, which is the sort that happens when you're trying to process information and remember things, and slightly sub-normal beta wave activity, which takes place when you're trying to think clearly and solve problems. But none of that was unique enough to move me out of the 'average' category, said Dr Dunkley. That's no bad thing. When it comes to the sort of waves that your brain generates in a resting state like an MEG scan, it's best to be as 'average' as possible. This is an indicator of good health (even if you might be disappointed not to discover that you have extra-nimble thinking skills, as evidenced by above-average connectivity across the whole of your brain). A marked abnormality in one part of your brain here can show that 'someone has experienced brain damage, or that a part of lifestyle is putting their brain health at risk, like playing rugby or another contact sport,' says Dr Dunkley. Someone who has experienced a traumatic event might have more activity in the parts of their brains that process fear or anxiety than the average person. Someone with a concussion or brain damage to a specific part of their head might show less. At times, this is crucial validation for people who've 'had a concussion, and are told that they're fine but don't quite feel normal again,' explains Dr Dunkley. MEG scans can also go where doctors can't: they can reveal to veterans 'which of their symptoms are because of the post-traumatic stress they're enduring, and which are because of an event that might have happened at the same time that caused brain damage too,' Baltzer says. Am I clever? Ever wondered how smart you are compared to other people? In some ways, Myndspan reveals this too. My tests generated a very middling cognitive score of 102 (in a range of 61 to 139). Apparently, I have better-than-average grammatical reasoning skills, but when it comes to my working memory, concentration and visuospatial processing abilities, I'm bang on average again. Dr Dunkley says that your first attempt at these tests will usually generate 'an underestimate of your cognitive function,' as when people come in they're often tired from travel and a bit stressed out by the environment. The previous night I'd slept less well than usual, and was tired after a train journey up from London, both of which 'would have negatively impacted' my results here. But the real usefulness of a Myndspan scan is that you can come back and check your results in six months' time, to measure improvement in your brain health or, alternatively, to catch any cognitive decline. This is where an MEG-test combo differs from an IQ test or an online intelligence quiz. Your scores can go up if you eat well, exercise and get enough sleep, and go down if you're chronically stressed, pulling all-nighters and drinking heavily. All of these contribute to your brain's age and your test performance. 'These scores also account for the effect of practice, so that people can get an accurate picture of their changing brain health when they come in for further scans,' Dr Dunkley explains. A first baseline reading gives you a mark 'from which you can measure any early cognitive decline', he adds. 'If you start at a higher brain age but make healthy lifestyle changes, you can come back in six months, do another scan and see if they're paying off.' One scan alone can give some important clues. While there's no way to know how I might have scored five years ago, even my one 'baseline' scan is reassurance that I'm not experiencing any cognitive decline that could be an early warning sign of dementia. 'From this test, it certainly doesn't look like you have cause for worry,' says Dr Dunkley. For others, however, 'normal' can be the information they need to prove that something has gone wrong. 'We have seen very high-performing people, for example who are high up in the military and should be exceptional across the board, who are told that their brain health is fine because their scores are good, yet they know that something has changed,' Dr Dunkley says. 'Using technology like this could help them to prove a cognitive decline, by evidencing the fact that previously, they scored in the highest percentiles for their cognitive function.' The verdict Yes it's expensive, but information is power. Understanding how well my brain is functioning has made me realise how important a healthy lifestyle is if I want my brain to continue working effectively as I age. If, like me, you have an increased risk of dementia, it could motivate you to change your bad habits. We all have periods of heavy stress, bouts of depression, phases of drinking too much and eating too few vegetables. All of these are reasons why your brain could be elderly before its time. Seeing the cold facts of their impact on your most important organ is hugely enlightening. We all spend plenty of time worrying about how well our heart is pumping, and whether we're overweight. Surely it's time we give our brain the attention it deserves.
