Elisabeth Mahase

Adults over 40 with overweight or obesity now have similar blood pressure and cholesterol levels to their normal weight counterparts, researchers have found.They said that the change was likely due to the increased use of medication such as statins.A research team from Imperial College London analysed 110 datasets from across seven countries—England, the US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Finland.1They looked at blood pressure, cholesterol, and use of drugs for hypertension and lipid lowering in almost one million people with normal body mass index (BMI 20-25), overweight (BMI 25 or above), or obesity (BMI 35 or above) between 1990 to 2024.They found that over the past 30 years, the gap in cholesterol and blood pressure levels between those with normal BMI and those who are overweight or obese has decreased across most high income countries, including England and the US.Experts have welcomed the findings as a “public health success story” but warned that they should not be used to suggest that obesity does not harm health or as an argument not to focus on obesity prevention.In England, the prevalence of obesity in adults (BMI of 30 or over) increased from …

The death of a man taking the unapproved next generation GLP-1 weight loss drug retatrutide made headlines in the national press last week.However, the situation may be less clear cut than the articles suggest.The reports were based on data recorded on the UK drug regulator’s adverse events reporting system, the Yellow Card scheme.So far, 77 cases involving retatrutide have been reported to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). As retatrutide is not available to be prescribed in the UK, all cases would theoretically involve patients who have purchased the drug from the black market or been involved in clinical trials.Of the 77 cases, 59 were reports of serious harm, and one concerned the death of a man in his 30s.1 The only details available are that the death was reported by a healthcare professional in 2025 and was related to “drug …

Doctors and health unions have urged the government to halt the development of the highly anticipated NHS workforce plan, warning that it is overly reliant on assumptions that AI will be a “silver bullet.”The concerns have been raised in an open letter to the new health and social care secretary, James Murray, signed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), Royal College of Nursing, BMA, Society for Acute Medicine, …

Jersey is set to become the first of the UK and Channel Island jurisdictions to roll out an assisted dying service, after its proposed law was granted royal assent.With the Assisted Dying (Jersey) Law 2026 given the green light, the service could begin operating late next year, according to the Jersey government, with work already under way to recruit staff for key roles.1Jersey’s minister for health and social services, Tom Binet, said: “There is still a lot of work to do, but I’ve every …

Palestinians have described being raped, beaten, and attacked by dogs at the hands of prison staff in a graphic new report by Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem.1The Israel Prison Service (IPS) has been described as a “network of torture camps,” in which more than 10 000 Palestinians, including 350 children, were being held as of the end of September 2025.At least 84 identified Palestinian detainees and prisoners, including one child, died in Israeli facilities between October 2023 and January 2026, B’Tselem found.“Israel has released only four bodies and continues to hold the remaining 80,” the report said. “As part of its efforts to conceal crimes committed in detention facilities, Israel often blocks reliable autopsies, preventing clarification of the circumstances and …

MPs and health experts have urged the soon-to-be prime minister Andy Burnham to withdraw from the US-UK drug deal after an analysis in The BMJ showed its deadly cost.The deal has committed the UK to doubling the proportion of gross domestic product it spends on new branded medicines from 0.3% to 0.6%.It has also forced the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to increase its cost effectiveness threshold for drugs from £20 000-£30 000 to £25 000-£35 000.1Researchers calculated that the agreement could lead to 229 000 excess deaths over the next decade. This is because the NHS will have to make cuts to existing services to pay for the increased drug costs—estimated at £45bn for England alone.2Speaking to The BMJ at a parliamentary event on the deal on 13 July, Sally Gainsbury—senior policy analyst for think tank …

Two new pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) with lower carbon emissions have been approved by the UK’s drug regulator in a world first.1The inhalers aim to reduce the devices’ environmental impact without affecting the treatment.Such pMDIs are the most commonly used inhalers in the …

Hot weather can seriously affect medications—and some of them can make you more susceptible to the heat. As the UK prepares for its fourth heatwave of the year, here’s what you need to knowMost medicines that don’t require refrigeration, such as tablets, inhalers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) patches, and epinephrine, need to be stored at around room temperature: between 15°C and 25°C.This is because high temperatures can start to break down the active ingredients, reducing the drug’s effectiveness.While many people living in usually cooler climates may not have thought about this before, recent heatwaves in the UK, and across Europe and the US, have brought the issue to the fore.The UK has experienced three heatwaves since late spring and could be …

“The days of Whitehall fighting the devolution of power into the regions and nations are over, for good,” the former Greater Manchester mayor told a room full of journalists and politicians.

Over the past decade new health secretary Yvette Cooper has taken almost half a million pounds from a donor linked to healthcare recruitment, or from companies ultimately owned and controlled by him, The BMJ can reveal.The donor in question was businessman Peter Hearn, who for years held a significant stake in NHS and private healthcare recruitment firm Odgers.Odgers was involved in the appointment of former TalkTalk executive Dido Harding as the lead for the heavily criticised NHS Test and Trace programme during the covid-19 pandemic.1 2A quick search by The BMJ found many other senior NHS jobs for which Odgers was listed as the “recruitment partner.”3 4Despite doctors’ concern over Cooper’s acceptance of these donations, she has declined to rule out taking further donations from donors or companies with commercial ties to the NHS or those linked to private healthcare while in post as health secretary.Between 2015 and 2024 the MP, who previously served as foreign secretary and home secretary, took £248 619 from Hearn directly as well as £220 623 from two of his companies, MPM Connect5 and OPD Group (box 1).6Neither of these companies have a public website but both are registered with Companies House at the address of an accountancy firm in Hertfordshire. In 2023 Sky …