The experts' guide to the probiotics that work
Until now consumers had no way of telling if the probiotic pill they were popping was worth taking or better left on the shelf. 'The probiotic market has exploded, but choosing the right product remains incredibly challenging,' says Dr Gemma Walton, a researcher at the University of Reading's department of food and nutritional sciences. 'Well-researched products sit on the shelves next to others that may have very little research behind them.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Blood tests could reveal early signs of Alzheimer's disease, research suggests
Signs of Alzheimer's disease could be detectable in the blood as early as middle age, a study has found, raising hopes that routine tests could eventually help identify those at risk of the condition long before memory problems appear. A large Finnish project, which is part of the long-term 'Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns' study, found elevated levels of brain-related biomarkers in adults aged 41 to 56, suggesting that biological changes linked to Alzheimer's begin decades before symptoms usually arise. The study also reported that a parent's biomarker levels, particularly in mothers, may be associated with similar patterns in their children, highlighting a potential hereditary component. A total of 2,051 individuals took part in the study: 1,237 were middle-aged adults aged 41 to 56, and 814 were their parents aged 59 to 90. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Turku and published in The Lancet 's 'Healthy Longevity'. 'In clinical practice, detecting beta-amyloid pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease currently requires imaging studies or cerebrospinal fluid sampling,' said Suvi Rovio, senior researcher at the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Turku. 'However, recently developed ultrasensitive measurement technologies now allow the detection of Alzheimer's disease-related brain biomarkers from blood samples.' Researchers found that certain factors, such as increasing age and kidney disease, were associated with higher levels of biomarkers even before cognitive decline set in. They also found that the APOE ε4 gene, a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, was linked to higher biomarker levels in older individuals - although it did not yet appear to influence levels in those under the age of 60. But the researchers cautioned that blood tests are not yet suitable for diagnosis. 'In order to reliably use blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in the future, more research is needed across different populations and age groups to standardise reference values,' Ms Rovio said. Marja Heiskanen, another senior researcher involved in the project, said the findings offer new insight into brain health from middle age onwards. 'Until now, brain biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease have mainly been studied in older individuals. Our study provides new insights into biomarker levels and associated factors starting from middle age,' she said.
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
NHS Fife tribunal over nurse's changing room row with trans doctor to resume
An employment tribunal involving a female nurse and a transgender doctor, which has become the latest front in the battle over gender policy, is resuming in Peggie was suspended from her role as a nurse with NHS Fife last year after she objected to Dr Beth Upton, who is a transgender woman, using a female changing Peggie claims her treatment was unlawful under the 2010 Equality Act and has brought a case against the health board and Dr Fife and the doctor are defending their actions – at a cost to the public purse so far of at least £220,000 – arguing that they complied with NHS policy. Ms Peggie, who has worked at NHS Fife for more than 30 years, told the tribunal she had felt uncomfortable around Dr Upton in a changing room at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital on three occasions between August and December said the issue came to a head on Christmas Eve when Dr Upton started to undress in front of Peggie told the tribunal she had felt "embarrassed and intimidated".The pair then exchanged words - although the details of their conversation are disputed. After the exchange, Dr Upton complained to NHS Fife about Ms Peggie's behaviour and the nurse was suspended on 3 January her evidence, Ms Peggie said she had "felt more shocked than anything" when she learned there was a complaint against board has described Ms Peggie's case as "unnecessary and vexatious" while Dr Upton has accused the nurse of bullying and harassment."I'm not interested in vengeance and I'm not interested in retribution – I'm interested in justice," the doctor told the tribunal."Trans people are not predators by nature of being themselves." The tribunal sat for 10 days in February and was then adjourned until now.A separate disciplinary hearing, which had also been scheduled for February, was postponed at the request of Ms Peggie's legal that case, the nurse is facing allegations – which she denies – of misconduct, failures of patient care and misgendering Dr is now reported to have taken place although the outcome has not been made public. Supreme court ruling The wider issue of gender has provoked years of debate in includes arguments about the case of a transgender rapist known as Isla Bryson and an attempt by politicians in Edinburgh – ultimately blocked by Westminster – to make it easier to legally change gender.A pivotal moment came in April when the UK Supreme Court clarified the law on gender, unanimously ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under the Equality Act."The concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man," wrote the judges, adding that "the ordinary meaning of those plain and unambiguous words" was self-explanatory and required "no further explanation".The 88-page judgment was a repudiation of the SNP's interpretation of the Scottish government responded that it had acted in good faith by arguing in court that trans women were Peggie has since called on NHS Fife to respond to the Supreme Court by acting immediately to "stop permitting any man who identifies as a woman" access to female-only Fife says work is underway to "identify areas where any adaptations may be required and schedule any work that may be necessary," as a result of the added that it was waiting to review a new code of practice expected to be issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which advises public bodies on the a statement, the EHRC said it was "currently working at pace" on the new advice but it added that organisations should "comply with the law" now by "looking at what changes, if any, need to be made to their policies and practices".The Scottish government says it "accepts the Supreme Court ruling" adding that "detailed work that is necessary as a consequence" is ongoing.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Couple feel vindicated by critical report into maternity care
A mother who played a key part in pushing for change in a health board's maternity care said she felt vindicated following the publication of a report highlighting Channon's son Gethin was disabled due to failings made during his birth in 2019."It's been a long journey for us, battling to get acknowledgement for what has been going on at Swansea. All the way up to Welsh government level we have been fighting."An assessment of all maternity services in Wales will now have an independent chair following the head of the Birth Trauma Association said it needed to take a thorough look at the culture of maternity units. Mrs Channon said she and her husband Rob "have frequently been brushed off" and ignored, however they now feel the health board has added that an unreserved apology "goes a long way to mend bridges with families who have felt adrift".Rob Channon added: "We do have faith that the new leadership want to make change, we just have to give them time. "If they don't make changes, we will have to hold them accountable for that."Maternity services across the UK have come under the spotlight, with the health secretary in England announcing "a rapid national investigation" into NHS maternity and neonatal services, following a series of maternity scandals going back more than a who support families that have experienced birth trauma argue the same mistakes were being made, with little sign that lessons were being learned. Julia Reynolds heads up legal firm Leigh Day in Wales, and as a medical negligence specialist said the issues had not changed in years."I see cases from all of the health boards across Wales and the issues we see are similar," she said."I have significant concerns about the quality of maternity care across Wales."The review of care in Swansea found that debriefs with families and responses to complaints lacked Reynolds said after losing a baby many families struggle to deal with being told "it was one of those things"."While staff might feel they're doing the right thing by potentially offering reassurance to families, what that really does is just leave those parents without answers, and really nagging doubts.""I do believe it's a disservice to families and I think it's really important for families to have answers, to understand what went wrong and even more importantly, for those children to get that early treatment to get the better outcome." The independent review into care at Swansea Bay included testimony from women who felt vulnerable, brushed off when they raised concerns, and as a result felt guilty for not speaking up for themselves women spoke of a lack of compassion, others felt belittled, and birthing partners felt powerless or called for improvements to the complaints process in Wales to make it less rigid and more Bay health board apologised unreservedly "to all women and families whose care has fallen well below the expected standard" and was working on an improvement Welsh government also apologised, and accepted all recommendations in full. Director of the Royal College of Midwives in Wales, Julie Richards, said the written policies, frameworks and statements from the Welsh government set out positive intentions."However, they cannot be achieved without investment and proper workforce planning."Over the past number of years reports and reviews into maternity services in Wales are sadly flagging the same key issues that are impacting the delivery of safe care, understaffing, underfunding, working culture and not enough emphasis or time for crucial multi-disciplinary training."Our members are seeing a rise in more complex pregnancies, with women requiring more specialist support during pregnancy so it's never been more important to get this right." A big theme from the report into care given in Swansea Bay was that women were not listened to."It's very easy sometimes for staff to dismiss a woman who's distressed as being over-dramatic," said Kim Thomas, from the Birth Trauma Association."We hear quite a lot that women are told they're making too much of a fuss. But when they try to remain calm there's an assumption there's probably nothing wrong."It creates real problems for women. This is where listening comes in - if a woman says she thinks something's wrong, then actually listen to her."The issues were all the more pressing given the disparities experienced by black women across the mortality is almost four times higher than that of white women, with significant disparities for Asian and mixed ethnicity women too. Umyima Sunday said she experienced good care when she delivered her second child at Singleton hospital two years ago, but her labour progressed so quickly she delivered her daughter on the ward."Even in pain, I'm really calm," said the 33-year-old, who moved to Swansea from Nigeria to study a post-graduate course in public health three years ago."I would say they were looking at me thinking, 'she's not in so much pain'."But a woman that has gone through that before knows how her body reacts. They didn't really understand that I was really in pain and needed them at that time."She said that while staff were listening, they lacked urgency, meaning no one was there to guide her through contractions and when to push."I just wanted the baby out and couldn't think properly - if I had someone beside me, guiding me through the process, I would have avoided the tears I had during the process." Perpetua Ugwu, 34, also considered her labour to be "smooth and straight forward" for her second child, and "nurses and midwives attended to me very well".Though she was initially told over the phone to "exercise a little bit of patience" when she told staff labour had started."If I had waited a little longer I would have given birth at home. If I hadn't taken that step to go into the hospital I would have delivered at home, because they didn't believe that my labour was there."But I knew what I was feeling and I knew that my labour is not long, it's usually short."Her waters broke in the taxi to hospital and her baby was born around 30 minutes said if she could change one thing it would be to "take away that stereotype of black women being able to tolerate pain more."We all go through labour in different ways, but if someone complains she is feeling pain or not feeling well, the best they can do is give the person attention. Don't let them wait a little longer."
