Mind & body, in brief

The UK's official Covid inquiry published its report on adult social care on Tuesday, the sixth of its ten reports. [1][6]

It found that UK government failures let Covid 'spread like wildfire' in care homes. [1][6]

More than 43,000 deaths involving Covid were recorded in UK care homes between March 2020 and July 2022. [1][7]

Matt Hancock, England's health secretary in 2020, had said a 'protective ring' was put around care homes. Baroness Heather Hallett, who chairs the inquiry, called that claim unfounded. [3][6]

The main aim of the UK government and of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was protecting hospitals, Hallett said. Adult social care was 'something of an afterthought'. [1][6]

About 25,000 hospital patients in England were moved into care homes between March and mid-April 2020 to free beds, before testing them all became the rule. [3][6]

Guidance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland did not tell homes to keep these new arrivals apart from other residents. Hallett called that 'perhaps the only, truly effective precaution' homes had. [2][3]

Paul Sexton says his mother Cathleen, who died at 85 in a Durham care home, would still be alive if new arrivals had been kept apart sooner. [4] A care home manager in Scunthorpe recalls staff working 24-hour shifts and sleeping at the home. [5]

Care staff were so short of protective kit that some wore bin bags, festival rain ponchos and painters' overalls. [2][6]

Many care workers are on zero-hours contracts, with no set hours or pay, and with no financial help it was hard for them to stay off work when they might be infected. [2][3]

By September 2020 evidence showed visitors were only a 'marginal risk', but many homes kept visits heavily restricted, which harmed residents. [2]

Do not resuscitate orders, which tell staff not to restart a stopped heart, rose from 16,800 to 26,500 in the first nine months. [2] The inquiry heard of family doctors putting blanket orders on care home residents. [2][3]

Why it matters. The next test is the UK government's 'full response', which Health Secretary Yvette Cooper promised 'in due course', and whether it pays for care staff to stay home when infected. [1][6][9]

Researchers at the University of Sydney say about 1 in 4 people with depression in a large study have a type linked to the body clock. [10][11] The body clock is the inner timer that sets when we feel awake and sleepy, and morning light resets it each day. [10] Of 11,380 Australians, mostly with severe depression that keeps coming back, 23% had at least three of six signs. [11][12][13] The signs include being a night owl, waking exhausted and sleeping very differently on free days. [10][11] The study is in The British Journal of Psychiatry. [11]

Why it matters. People with this type said common first-choice antidepressants worked less well and caused more side effects. [10][11] Other experts say the type is not yet proven, and the study included only people of European ancestry. [11]

US actor Christina Applegate said on her podcast on Tuesday that she does not have multiple sclerosis, five years after she was told she did. [15][16] MS is a disease in which the body's immune system attacks the nerves, including parts of the brain. [14] She was diagnosed in 2021 after scans showed almost 40 spots of damage in her brain. [14] A few years ago her doctor paused her MS infusions to see how her body reacted, and it did not react the way it would with MS. [15]

Why it matters. Her symptoms have got worse, and an investigation into their real cause begins next week. [15] There is no single test for MS, and a 2024 review found about 15% of MS diagnoses were wrong. [14][17]

An inquest, a court hearing into a sudden death, found that five-month-old Esta High might have lived if doctors had tested her for meningitis sooner. [18] She was taken to Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023 with a fever over 40C and vomiting, and tested positive for Covid. [18] Doctors stuck with that diagnosis, and her bacterial meningitis was found too late. [18] She died on 6 November. [18]

Why it matters. The jury found neglect contributed to her death, and the hospital trust said serious failures occurred. [18] Her mother said staff seemed more concerned with isolating Esta for Covid than with listening to her parents. [18]

The UK government plans to let only trained professionals carry out high-risk cosmetic procedures in England from 2027. [19] Liquid Brazilian butt lifts, where filler is injected into the buttocks, would count as surgery that only doctors may do. [19] Today anyone may carry out these 'no scalpel' treatments. [19] Alice Webb, a mother of five, died hours after one in 2024. [19] Under-18s would be banned, and rogue providers could face fines of up to 4,000 pounds. [19]

Why it matters. The Royal College of Surgeons of England calls the consultation long overdue and warns that cosmetic surgery itself must not end up with weaker rules. [19] Scotland passed its own law in March, while Wales and Northern Ireland have no dedicated rules. [19]

Lawyers for more than 70 bereaved families asked the Lampard inquiry on Tuesday to recommend stopping Oxevision across England. [20] Oxevision is an infrared camera system in patients' bedrooms, used in about half of England's mental health wards. [20] The inquiry is looking into more than 2,000 mental health deaths in Essex over 23 years. [20] It heard that five patients died in two years while being watched by the system at one Essex trust. [20]

Why it matters. One lawyer said the cameras were too often used instead of nurses checking on patients in person. [20] Lio, the Oxford company that makes the system, told the inquiry last week that it has helped staff step in during emergencies. [20]

Fewer people in the UK now back the NHS being free, open to everyone and paid for by taxes than in 2021, a King's Fund analysis found. [21] The King's Fund is a health think tank, and it used the British Social Attitudes survey, a long-running poll of public views. [21] Among people born before the Second World War, support for an NHS open to everyone fell from 87.1% to 73.2%. [21] Among Gen Z, support for tax funding fell 11.2 points, to 74.1%. [21]

Why it matters. Its analyst links the fall to hard times and changing views on migration, though she says there is no single explanation. [21] Weaker support could make it harder for ministers to justify a bigger NHS budget. [21]

Overweight people who lost at least 5% of their weight in their 40s and 50s had heart health at 62 much like people who were never overweight, a study found. [22] Researchers at University College London used data on more than 6,000 people born in Britain in 1958. [22] At 62 both groups had similar blood pressure, cholesterol and signs of inflammation, the body's swelling response. [22]

Why it matters. The study only observed people, so it cannot prove that losing weight caused the better health. [22] Gaining more weight in midlife was linked to the fastest decline in heart and metabolic health. [22]

Middle-aged Canadians who ate the most ultraprocessed food were more likely to show silent damage to the brain's blood vessels on scans, a study in JAMA Network Open found. [23] It looked at 8,783 adults aged 35 to 69 with no known heart disease. [23] About 1 in 9 in the highest-eating group had this damage, against about 1 in 12 in the lowest. [23] Ultraprocessed foods are factory-made foods with many added ingredients. [23][24] They make up at least half the average diet in the US and the UK. [24]

Why it matters. Diet and brain scans were measured at the same visit, so the study cannot show which came first, and memory tests showed no clear gap between the groups. [23] Other recent work suggests the sugar, salt and fat in these foods may matter more than the processing. [24]

Seeing someone break a rule made people more likely to break it too, a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B reported on 21 October. [25][26] 750 Americans, split between Republicans and Democrats, had to pick the brightest square on a screen but were paid more for squares further right. [25] With no information about others, 23% picked the top-paying square. [25] After seeing a member of their own party do it, almost 40% did. [25]

Why it matters. Just over 4% went further than the person they had watched, and in simulations that small group could push a whole group into heavy rule-breaking. [25][26] Stephen Reicher, a psychologist at the University of St Andrews, says the task had no penalties, so its link to real life is unproven. [26]

A 10-minute dose of ultrasound aimed deep into the brain eased delusions for at least a week in a small trial at New York University. [27] Delusions are false beliefs a person cannot shake, and they are a common symptom of schizophrenia. [27] Ten patients had both the real treatment and a fake one, a week apart. [27] The waves were aimed at a deep structure called the globus pallidus. [27]

Why it matters. Hallucinations and thinking did not change, and the researchers say much larger trials are needed. [27] Because it acts on one spot in the brain, it might avoid side effects of antipsychotic drugs such as weight gain and high blood pressure. [27]

Social media influencers are drawing followers to 'free birth', giving birth at home with no midwife or doctor, NPR reported. [28] US home births nearly tripled between 2004 and 2024, the CDC, the US public health agency, says. [28] It does not track whether a trained person attended them. [28] Natalie Krueger, in a small Nebraska town, had her last two children this way, and her county has no birthing unit. [28]

Why it matters. Caitlin Linscheid, a doctor who delivers babies, says emergencies such as a stuck shoulder or heavy bleeding happen fast and need trained help at once. [28] She also said her profession has not always listened to patients. [28]

Eight in ten disabled people surveyed for a Disability Rights UK report worried that being seen exercising could cost them their benefits. [29] The research, led at Durham University, surveyed more than 200 disabled people. [29] Much of it focused on personal independence payment, a UK benefit for the extra costs of disability. [29] Nearly three-quarters said they would be more active if they knew their benefits were safe. [29]

Why it matters. More than a quarter of those on benefits said support had been removed because of physical activity, though the survey cannot show why each decision was made. [29] The report comes as the UK government reviews the payment. [29]

Three Democratic US senators, Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren and Raphael Warnock, called for tougher standards on companies that run Medicaid's computer systems. [30] Medicaid is the US health cover for people on low incomes or with disabilities. [30] Most states pay contractors such as Deloitte to run the systems that decide who qualifies. [30] Errors in those systems have cut eligible people off their cover, KFF Health News has found. [30]

Why it matters. From next year millions of adults in more than 40 states must prove 80 hours a month of work to keep their cover, through the same systems. [30] With Republicans in control of the US Congress and the federal agencies, the senators' ideas face long odds. [30]

Most Americans in both parties are confident the polio and MMR vaccines are safe for children, a poll by KFF, a US health research group, found. [31] MMR protects against measles, mumps and rubella. [31] Covid vaccines split people sharply: 77% of Democrats are confident they are safe for children, against 21% of Republicans. [31] About half of parents think spacing out children's shots is healthier, a claim with no evidence behind it. [31]

Why it matters. Spacing out shots is a key part of President Trump's order on childhood vaccines. [31] Most adults are unsure whether a Covid shot in pregnancy raises the risk of miscarriage, a false claim revived by some Republican senators. [31]

The ACGME, the US body that oversees doctors' training, has proposed cutting the rest trainee doctors must get between shifts. [32] It would drop the rule of eight hours off between shifts. [32] It would also cut the time off after a 24-hour shift from 14 hours to 12. [32] The 80-hour working week would stay, and public comments close on 22 October. [32]

Why it matters. Arifeen Rahman, a surgeon writing against the change in STAT, says it could allow three 24-hour shifts a week with 12 hours between them. [32] She points to studies linking tired doctors to burnout and medical errors. [32]

More than half a million male mosquitoes carrying a bacterium called wolbachia have been released in Barcelona since mid-August, the first large release in Europe. [33] When females mate with them, their eggs do not hatch. [33] The target is the Asian tiger mosquito, which can spread dengue and is now settled in 16 European countries. [33] Rentokil, a pest-control company, runs the releases with Debug, a Google project. [33]

Why it matters. Earlier small trials in Rome cut the number of eggs that hatch by nearly 90%, the two companies say. [33] Releases stop in mid-November and start again in May. [33]

Judicial police in Guinea-Bissau, a small West African country, searched the offices of the Bandim Health Project on Monday and seized doses of hepatitis B vaccine, officials said. [34] The group plans a trial, part-funded with $1.6 million from the US public health agency, that would hold back the vaccine from 7,000 newborns for six weeks. [34] Officials said the seizure did not point to any problem with the vaccines' safety. [34] Guinea-Bissau's health minister, Quinhin Nantote, denies the trial will go ahead. [34]

Why it matters. About one in five adults in Guinea-Bissau carry hepatitis B, and a dose within 24 hours of birth is safe and highly effective, the Guardian reports. [34] A spokesperson for the WHO, the UN's health agency, called any study that withholds the vaccine unethical. [34]

Sleep researchers asked European governments to tackle what stops people sleeping well, in a paper in the Journal of Sleep Research. [35] They name hotter nights, round-the-clock work, unequal access to sleep doctors and misleading advice online. [35] About 21% of workers in Europe do shift work, and night shifts clash with the body's natural sleep-wake cycle, the paper says. [35] It also warns that social media trends such as 'sleepmaxxing' push rigid routines and unproven remedies. [35]

Why it matters. People in poorly insulated or crowded homes, and those who cannot afford cooling, find it hardest to sleep as nights warm, the authors say. [35] They want more predictable work schedules and protected time for rest. [35]

The Care Quality Commission, England's health care regulator, is prosecuting Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust over the deaths of two girls with sepsis, the BBC reported. [36] Zadie Ajetunmobi, three, died within 10 hours of reaching Broomfield Hospital in November 2022, and waited more than seven hours for antibiotics through a drip. [36] Selina Samarina, two, was sent home by a doctor in April 2024 and died two days later after her parents brought her back. [36] The trust is due to enter pleas to three charges on 3 December. [36]

Why it matters. Zadie's family were told that staff had not updated the hospital's local sepsis guidance since 2017. [36] A coroner said a doctor senior enough to see Selina was not available for two and a half hours, and a very junior doctor sent her home. [36]