Tag: Queen’s University Belfast

Queen’s leads consortium to better understand link between healthy living and dementia

Can a healthy lifestyle combat undernutrition and dementia?

 The PROMED-COG (PROtein enriched MEDiterranean diet to combat undernutrition and promote healthy neuroCOGnitive ageing) Consortium brings together unique expertise to better understand how the balance between diet and physical activity could reverse undernutrition during ageing and, ultimately, prevent dementia. 

The research led by Queen’s University Belfast will provide new and critical insight into the role of undernutrition in cognitive health. It will explore how diet and exercise can work to combat undernutrition and the effect of factors – such as age, gender, and genetics -on the risk of dementia in older age. 

One in ten adults aged 60 years+ are undernourished, which means that they have low levels of proteins, calories, vitamins, and minerals caused by reduced food intake or because the body does not process food properly.

Undernutrition has a negative impact on the health of older people as it leads to weight loss and increases the risk of dementia in later life.  

PROMED-COG project co-ordinator, Dr Claire McEvoy from the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Weight loss increases the risk of dementia by up to 40% but occurs a decade or more before the symptoms of memory loss become apparent.

“This gives us an opportunity to intervene early with preventative strategies to counteract undernutrition and, potentially, the onset of cognitive impairment.” 

Dementia is a major health priority. It already affects around seven million people in Europe, a figure set to double by 2030, with socioeconomic costs rising to over €250 billion. 

While factors, such as age and genetics, influence the onset of dementia and cannot be changed, some lifestyle changes could make a difference. PROMED-COG will use existing datasets in Italy to study the links between undernutrition, cognitive decline, and dementia.

The project will also test the effect of adopting a diet and exercise intervention over six months on undernutrition and cognition in older adults living in Northern Ireland. This will inform the recommendations developed to slow down cognitive decline and prevent dementia in older European citizens.  

Dr McEvoy added: “Dementia is a huge problem affecting our ageing population. There is a significant lack of research in this area and this new grant will bring together a range of European experts to develop evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of undernutrition and cognitive impairment during ageing. 

“This will not only prolong the period of life spent in good health but will also reduce the societal and economic burden of dementia.” 

The European Horizon 2020 Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life”, and ERA-NET Cofund ERA-HDHL (GA N° 696295) has awarded a grant of over 680,000 euros to the PROMED-COG consortium. Led by Queen’s University Belfast, the Consortium includes The National Research Council Italy, The University of Padova, University College Dublin, Wageningen University, and The Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. 

New research finds pet dogs can predict owner’s epileptic seizures

New research led by Queen’s University Belfast has shown that dogs can predict epileptic seizures, offering a warning sign to owners that has the potential to save lives.  

Epileptic seizures are associated with a specific smell which is detectable by pet dogs. The study analysed the reaction of dogs to odours and found that the dogs could predict when a seizure was imminent.  

A reliable early warning system to make people with epilepsy aware of an impending seizure has the potential to save lives, reduce injury, provide an opportunity for medical intervention and return a sense of independence to those living with unpredictable seizures. 

Epilepsy is a debilitating and potentially life-threatening neurological condition which affects approximately 65 million people worldwide, of whom 30% (20 million), are unable to control their seizures by medication. There is currently no reliable and simple early warning seizure-onset device available, which means many people with unstable epilepsy live in fear of injury or sudden death and the negative impact of social stigmatization. 

There have been anecdotal accounts of pet dogs predicting their owner’s epileptic seizures by becoming attentive and by demonstrating attention-seeking behaviours, but to date no scientific study has investigated the veracity of these claims. 

Lead researcher Dr Neil Powell (above), from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “We hypothesized that, given the extraordinary sense of smell of dogs, a volatile organic compound exhaled by the dog’s epileptic owner may provide an early warning trigger mechanism to which make dogs react before the seizure. The results have shown pet dogs to be a reliable source to detect an on-set seizure.” 

The study has been published in the journal MDPI Animals. 

The researchers explored how a cohort of pet dogs reacted to the emergence of seizure-associated odours. Using two specially designed pieces of apparatus called the Remote Odour Delivery Mechanism (RODM), the researchers separately delivered epileptic seizure-associated odours and nonseizure associated odours and recorded the reactions of the dogs to each. 

Using 19 pet dogs with no experience of epilepsy, the researchers exposed them to odours that were deemed to be characteristic of three seizure phases, by using sweat harvested from people with epilepsy.

By altering the alternating odours emerging from sweat samples, captured before seizure, during a seizure and after a seizure, and two nonseizure controls, the researchers recorded the response of the 19 pet dogs. 

They found that all 19 dogs demonstrated more affiliative behavioural changes when confronted by seizure-associated odours, compared with their response to control odours.  

Dr Powell added: “Our findings clearly showed that all dogs reacted to the seizure-associated odour whether this was through making eye contact with their owner, touching them, crying or barking. There is a unique volatile smell linked to epiletic seizures, detectable by dogs who can in-turn warn their owner a seizure is likely to occur.  

“Our research was based on pet dogs with no prior training. If we can train dogs, this has the potential to make a big difference to owners who experience unpredictable seizures and should go a long way in improving not only their safety, but also their quality of life.”  

The research was funded by and conducted in partnership with Epilepsy Ireland and Disability Assistance Dogs. 

Peter Murphy, CEO of Epilepsy Ireland, said: “A reliable method of seizure prediction and detection is the holy grail for many people living with epilepsy as well as the parents of children with the condition.

“This is especially the case where seizures involve the loss of consciousness, with a high risk of injury. While recent efforts have focused on technological solutions, it is exciting and very welcome news that anecdotal reports of dogs’ ability to predict seizures have now been backed up by scientific evidence.

“We have been immensely proud to support Dr. Powell’s work and we hope that the findings will lead to new approaches alongside ‘man’s best friend’ that promote safety and offer reassurance for people living with epilepsy.” 

New £7m consortium funded to boost research on urban spaces and tackling health inequalities

The University of Edinburgh, Queen’s University Belfast and University of Liverpool have been awarded over £7.1 million from the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) as part of a consortium to investigate the impact that nature can have in helping to prevent and reduce health inequalities in urban areas. 

The Consortium, ‘GroundsWell: Community-engaged and Data-informed Systems Transformation of Urban Green and Blue Space for Population Health’ will explore how transforming cities with nature can reduce health inequalities, primarily around chronic and non-infectious diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and mental health.  

Over the five-year project, the interdisciplinary team will develop innovative approaches to work with communities where there are high levels of health inequalities. They will work with communities as key partners to develop and implement ways to improve health inequalities and prevent a range of chronic illnesses through harnessing the positive impact of nature.   

Dr Ruth Hunter, from the Centre of Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast and Groundswell Co-Director, said: “There is strong evidence that natural environments within urban areas, such as parks, woodlands (green spaces) as well as lakes and beaches (blue spaces), have positive impacts on health. 

“These urban green and blue spaces could be huge assets for protecting and equalising health if they were available, accessible, valued and well-used, particularly by less advantaged groups. The problem is that they are not, which is what this project aims to address.” 

Dr Hunter added: “We are delighted to receive this funding from UK Prevention Research Partnership. Working with a range of experts across health, data and community engagement, over the next five years we will seek solutions to improve our urban environment that will in-turn improve population health.” 

UKPRP supports multidisciplinary teams looking at ways to prevent non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, poor mental health, obesity, cancer and diabetes. Non-communicable diseases make up the majority of illnesses in the UK and account for an estimated 89 per cent of all deaths.   

Professor Kevin Fenton, London Regional Director for Public Health England and Chair of the UKPRP Scientific Advisory Board, said: “UKPRP is an important and timely programme that we need to address health inequalities and prevent the onset of non-communicable disease.  

“The projects funded under this programme are pushing the boundaries of prevention research by taking multidisciplinary approaches to addressing the complexities of population health, with the aim of improving people’s lives and health.  

“As we look to build back fairer from the pandemic, the creation of healthy communities and places is a key priority.” 

The project will use a range of approaches to ensure that communities, including residents, businesses and organisations, are fully represented. 

The Consortium will comprise of active, equal and embedded members and partners at all stages of decision making and will involve co-designing solutions that will benefit communities. 

Professor Sarah Rodgers, from the University of Liverpool and GroundsWell Co-Director, said: “Working with local authorities and charities, we will record how our environments change through time.

“Knowing when parks were adapted to encourage new visitors and how this subsequently impacts health outcomes will help provide robust evidence on what works and for whom. Everyone should have access to the right environments to support their health and wellbeing.” 

Professor Ruth Jepson, from the University of Edinburgh and Groundswell Co-Director, added: “We propose a new way of working which encourages communities and citizens to work with our partner organisations to plan, design and manage urban green and blue spaces so that they benefit everyone, especially those who need it most. 

“Through our partnerships and with the active involvement of our communities, we will identify small and large scale projects which can be developed and evaluated. We will involve communities and citizens in all stages of the work; from planning and prioritizing, to collecting data through citizen science apps, to writing, speaking and blogging on what is working well and what is not.” 

Promoting physical activity is key to achieving U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, says study

A new study by Queen’s University Belfast and Washington University in St. Louis shows that promoting physical activity is key to achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).  

The research provides new evidence to show that integrating strategies to promote increased physical activity is a key part of the action plan for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

The study, ‘Physical Activity Promotion and the United National Sustainable Development Goals: Building Synergies to Maximize Impact’ was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. It is the first study to systematically explore the links between the seven strategies known to be effective for promoting physical activity at scale or a population-wide level, and the 17 U.N. development goals  (SDGs).  

The study found strong links between physical activity promotion strategies and eight out of the 17 SDGs: good health and well-being (SDG 3); gender equity (SDG 5); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); reduced inequalities (SDG 10); sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); climate action (SDG 13); and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16). 

Deborah Salvo, Assistant Professor of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis and lead author on the study, said: “Physical inactivity has been characterized as a pandemic, accounting for 7% of all premature deaths per year globally and resulting in billions of dollars spent on health-related expenditures.”  

The international research team applied a modelling method to simulate the effects of large-scale physical activities strategies to gain insights on the potential impacts of widespread scale-up of active transport systems and active urban design strategies on three different city types of high-, middle- and low-income countries. 

The simulation results indicated that expected physical activity gains are greater for low- and middle-income countries. In high-income countries with high car dependency, physical activity promotion strategies may help to reduce air pollution and traffic-related deaths, but shifts toward more active forms of travel and recreation and climate change mitigation may require complementary policies that disincentivize driving. 

Dr Leandro Garcia, from the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast and co-author, said: “The simulation results reveal context-specific relations. In terms of physical activity increases, low- and middle-income country cities stand more to gain from urban transformations that prioritize equitable access to walking, cycling, public transport, and recreational infrastructure.

“As for high-income country cities, findings suggest that to observe meaningful improvements in physical activity levels and climate change mitigation, these types of strategies may need to be further complemented by policies that increase the cost of driving.  

“Our research provides strong evidence to illustrate the multiple benefits of promoting physical activity on a large scale, not just for specific areas or populations. The benefits are huge for individuals, communities and to the planet and goes a long way in contributing to the U.N. sustainable development agenda.  

“As well as helping to prevent chronic disease, promoting physical activity at scale can reduce traffic deaths and pollution. It helps to create more equitable societies and reduce climate change.

“Physical activity promotion strategies can bring benefits beyond health and bring us closer to a more equitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly future.” 

Life could exist in the clouds of Jupiter, says new study

Jupiter’s clouds have water conditions that would allow Earth-like life to exist, but this isn’t possible in Venus’ clouds, according to the groundbreaking finding of new research led by a Queen’s University Belfast scientist. 

For some decades, space exploration missions have looked for evidence of life beyond Earth where we know that large bodies of water, such as lakes or oceans, exist or have previously existed. However, the new research shows that it isn’t the quantity of water that matters for making life viable, but the effective concentration of water molecules – known as ‘water activity’. 

The new study also found that research published by an independent team of scientists last year, claiming that the phosphine gas in Venus’ atmosphere indicates possible life in the sulphuric acid clouds of Venus, is not plausible. 

Through this innovative research project, Dr John E. Hallsworth from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s and his team of international collaborators devised a method to determine the water activity of atmospheres of a planet. Using their approach to study the sulphuric acid clouds of Venus, the researchers found that the water activity was more than a hundred times below the lower limit at which life can exist on Earth. 

The research also shows that Jupiter’s clouds have a high enough concentration of water, as well as the correct temperature, for life to exist there. The study has been published in Nature Astronomy. 

Dr Hallsworth said: “Our research shows that the sulphuric acid clouds in Venus have too little water for active life to exist, based on what we know of life on Earth.

“We have also found that the conditions of water and temperature within Jupiter’s clouds could allow microbial-type life to subsist, assuming that other requirements such as nutrients are present.

“This is a timely finding given that NASA and the European Space Agency just announced three missions to Venus in the coming years. One of these will take measurements of Venus’s atmosphere that we will be able to compare with our finding.” 

Co-author of the report, an expert on physics and chemical biology of water, Dr Philip Ball, commented: “The search for extraterrestrial life has sometimes been a bit simplistic in its attitude to water.

“As our work shows, it’s not enough to say that liquid water equates with habitability. We’ve got to think too about how Earth-like organisms actually use it – which shows us that we then have to ask how much of the water is actually available for those biological uses.” 

Co-author of the report, NASA-based planetary scientist Prof Christopher P. McKay, said: “We derive water activity of atmospheres without a model of any sort, based only on direct observations of pressure, temperature, and water concentration.” 

Dr Hallsworth added: “We have also performed calculations for Mars and Earth and show that these calculations can be done for planets outside our solar system.

“While our research doesn’t claim that alien (microbial-type) life does exist on other planets in our solar system, it shows that if the water activity and other conditions are right, then such life could exist in places where we haven’t previously been looking.” 

Co-authors of this paper include planetary scientist Christopher P. McKay (NASA Ames Research Center, CA, USA); atmosphere chemistry expert Thomas Koop (Bielefeld University, Germany); expert on physics and chemical biology of water Philip Ball (London, UK); biomolecular scientist Tiffany D. Dallas (Queen’s University Belfast); biophysics-of-lipid-membrane expert Marcus K. Dymond (University of Brighton, UK); theoretical physicist María-Paz Zorzano (Centro de Astrobiologia [CSIC-INTA], Spain); micrometeorology and aerosol expert Juergen Burkhardt (University of Bonn, Germany); expert on acid-tolerant microorganisms Olga V. Golyshina (Bangor University, UK); and atmospheric physicist and planetary scientist Javier Martín-Torres (University of Aberdeen, UK). 

The research was funded by Research Councils UK (RCUK), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Major research project measures COVID-19 antibody levels in people with cystic fibrosis

A Queen’s University Belfast research team is leading an international study on COVID-19 Antibody Response in Cystic Fibrosis (CAR-CF). 

The study is to be carried out by a team of researchers from the university’s Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine (WWIEM). It will measure COVID-19 antibody levels in thousands of people with cystic fibrosis across 17 European countries and is funded by a $1.5m grant from the CF Foundation (US) over a two-year period.  

The project will also run in Canada and the US, making the research the largest prospective study in cystic fibrosis (CF) to have been carried out to date. 

The coronavirus pandemic has been a worrying time, but it has been particularly stressful for people with long-term conditions such as CF.

CF is a chronic condition that damages the lungs and leaves patients vulnerable to chest infections. There is currently little information about how COVID-19 has impacted people living with CF, however, they may be at particular risk from this new respiratory virus and the various strains. 

Dr Damian Downey, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine from the WWIEM at Queen’s, and Director of the Northern Ireland Regional Adult CF Centre, who is leading the project, said: “Viral respiratory tract infections can be more severe in people with CF than the general population, with an increased risk of complications and a negative impact on lung function. 

“This new research project will explore infection and vaccination rates in those with CF and link to important clinical information over time. We can then understand how COVID-19 has impacted this vulnerable population, how long the antibodies last and the risk of future infections.” 

Dr Downey is the Director of the European CF Society Clinical Trials Network which involves 58 research centres in 17 countries. This network will oversee the project and the WWIEM at Queen’s University will be the central European laboratory that will analyse the research results.

UK-wide study shows antibodies persist for at least two months in children who have had COVID-19

One thousand children from Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, known as ‘COVID Warriors’ have had their levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies measured during the first wave of the pandemic and repeated again two months after initial recruitment. 

The findings have now been published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 

The study is led by Dr Tom Waterfield from the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, in partnership with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Northern Ireland. 

The aim of the study, which began in May and is ongoing, is to assess the number of children who have had COVID-19, the symptomatology of infection and the kinetics of the antibody response in children. 

The researchers have found that antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 persisted beyond two months in all children. Unlike other studies, this is one of the first to report on follow up blood results in children and provides an early insight into how the antibody response evolves over time. 

Dr Tom Waterfield, lead on the study, said: “These results show that the antibody response to COVID-19 infection in children seems to be holding firm at two months and that antibodies are likely to persist for some time. This provides renewed hope that children may develop a lasting immunity to infection.” 

Health and Social Care Research & Development Division (HSC R&D Division) of the Public Health Agency plays an ongoing role in supporting the conduct of high-quality health and social care research and has provided funding to support the delivery of this important study. 

Dr Janice Bailie, Assistant Director of HSC Research and Development said: “Research studies continue to play an ongoing, vital role in the pandemic response; as the COVID Warriors study tests children at multiple timepoints, we now know more about the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response and its behaviour over time. 

“Such findings will be of great value to help inform our decision-making, and planning of appropriate measures to protect our population.”

The study is supported by funding from HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency, The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and is also subsidised by a donation from the Queen’s Foundation thanks to a past graduate of the University through a charitable gift in their will. 

It is being delivered in partnership with The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, the Ulster Independent Clinic, NHS Glasgow and Greater Clyde, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. 

New research shows e-cigarette vape increases the potential for lung bacteria to cause harm

Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have discovered that bacteria often found in the lungs became more harmful and caused increased inflammation when they were exposed to e-cigarette vape. Continue reading New research shows e-cigarette vape increases the potential for lung bacteria to cause harm

Researcher calls on amateur astronomers to help with mission to prevent future asteroid impacts

A Queen’s University Belfast researcher is calling on amateur astronomers to help with a European-wide mission helping to prevent future asteroid impacts.

Professor Alan Fitzsimmons from the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen’s is a senior mission advisor for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera spacecraft. Continue reading Researcher calls on amateur astronomers to help with mission to prevent future asteroid impacts

Researchers discover coffee drinkers could halve their risk of liver cancer

A research team from Queen’s University Belfast has found that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The results were presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) conference in Glasgow this week and was published in British Journal of Cancer earlier this year. Continue reading Researchers discover coffee drinkers could halve their risk of liver cancer