The prospect of a drug to treat autism has been raised after symptoms of the condition were reduced in experiments on mice that were performed by the US National Institutes of Health. There is no cure for the condition. The results published in Science Translational Medicine showed increased social skills and less repetitive behaviour in animals taking a drug.
Rates of stroke and kidney failure in people with diabetes have surged in England, according to new analysis by Diabetes UK. An audit of 1.9 million people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes found more than 13,000 had a stroke in 2009-10, a 57% rise from 2006-7. And more than 7,000 had kidney failure, up 31% from 2006-7.
Extra funding for research into dementia forms a central plank of the government's attempts to tackle the "national crisis" in care. David Cameron said he wanted to see the UK become a world leader in the field. In a move widely welcomed by campaigners, the prime minister promised the research budget would be doubled to £66m by 2015.
As Channel 4 News launches No Go Britain, an investigation into transport for the disabled, the UK's most successful disabled athlete reveals how she was recently left stranded on a train. Baroness Grey-Thompson, who with 16 Paralympic medals to her name is Britain's most decorated athlete ever, is calling for renewed efforts to make travelling on public transport easier for mobility-impaired people.
The government must ensure new welfare assessments planned for disabled people are "accurate and fair" before they are rolled out nationally, MPs have said. The Work and Pensions Select Committee said the tests for the new Personal Independence Payment, coming in from 2013, could cut funds people relied on.
Three members of staff from a care home near Bristol have pleaded guilty to the ill treatment of residents. The case follows secret filming by the BBC's Panorama TV programme at the Castlebeck-owned Winterbourne View hospital near Hambrook.
