An old-fashioned breathing and relaxation technique could help those with asthma, research suggests. In a trial of 85 people with mild asthma, the symptoms of those using the Papworth method alongside drugs were significantly eased, Thorax reports.
Scientists have discovered how mutations in two key proteins may lead to autism. They have shown one protein increases the excitability of nerve cells, while the other inhibits cell activity. The University of Texas team found that in normal circumstances the proteins balance each other out. But the study, published in Neuron, suggests that in people with autism the balance between the proteins is knocked out of kilter.
Symptoms of mental retardation and autism have been reversed for the first time in laboratory mice. US scientists created mice that showed symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome - a leading cause of mental retardation and autism in humans. They then reversed symptoms of the condition by inhibiting the action of an enzyme in the brain. The study, by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A council and two taxi firm operators have been fined more than £15,000 over the death of a man whose electric buggy fell from the back of a minibus. James Hunt, 85, was fatally injured when the lift on Hartlepool Council's dial-a-ride bus malfunctioned.
Thousands of people in England are likely to receive more help towards their care costs, a minister has said. Ivan Lewis, the care services minister, was unveiling a national framework for funding NHS continuing healthcare. The aim is to standardise decisions on who is eligible for continuing care, making the process faster, fairer and more simple to understand.
As part of their major summer campaign on the NHS, the Liberal Democrats have launched a new website - www.nhssos.com
