Drugs such as semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) are transforming obesity treatment, but without affordable, healthy food and appropriate support, they could widen health inequalities in the UK, according to researchers at UCL and the University of Cambridge.

A new study in ECNU Review of Education describes the initial development and preliminary validation of the Metacognitive Laziness Scale (MLS), a six-item instrument designed to measure students’ tendency to offload metacognitive tasks to generative AI rather than engaging in self-regulated learning. In a sample of 144 health professions students in Hong Kong SAR, early findings suggest the MLS may help identify AI-dependent learning patterns.

A secondary analysis published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy based on a randomised controlled trial (RCT) shows that the digital insomnia therapy somnovia achieves its clinical effects primarily through the reduction of hyperarousal, a key transdiagnostic process that plays a role in sleep disorders as well as depressive and anxiety symptoms. The findings are particularly relevant given the ongoing under-treatment of adults with chronic insomnia in Germany[3] and elucidate the mechanism underlying somnovia’s broader effects on mental health that extend beyond sleep disorders alone.

The pathogen E. coli K1 is part of many people’s normal intestinal flora and generally keeps a low profile. At birth, however, it can be transmitted to the newborn baby and cause dangerous cases of meningitis. Developing a vaccine against this pathogen is difficult because its outer membrane resembles that of human cells. Researchers have now achieved a breakthrough by harnessing one of its natural enemies: a special virus that they isolated from waste water. This virus forces E. coli K1 to cast off its protective outer shell, making it easier to fight. 

The largest real-world study ever conducted on prostate cancer in Brazil analyzed data from 670,205 patients treated through the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) over a 16-year period, between 2008 and 2023. Published in the Journal of Global Oncology (JCO), the official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the study included researchers from the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) and investigated patterns of diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare costs related to the disease across the country. The results revealed significant racial inequalities, including a higher frequency of advanced disease at diagnosis among non-white men and differences in therapeutic investment.