A stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis is to be tested on patients in the UK for the first time. A year-long trial, funded by Arthritis Research UK, will mix stem cells with cartilage cells in the lab and inject them back into damaged knee joints. The new treatment could be an alternative to joint replacement surgery, experts hope.
A jazz dancer who fraudulently claimed nearly £20,000 in disability benefits has been given a community order. Terence Read, of Manchester, said he was crippled by arthritis and barely able to walk, but was filmed teaching dancing at a swing music night.
Dee Doocey reveals shocking problems facing disabled people travelling to the "most accessible Games ever" and calls for Olympic road lanes to be open to disabled people
The government has not ruled out introducing a compulsory payment scheme for social care, sources say. During the election campaign the Conservatives campaigned against the so-called "death tax" to pay for social care.
Young children with autism can be identified by listening to the noises they make, say US scientists. Research suggests the babbling of infants with autism differs from that of children without it. The differences were spotted with 86% accuracy using automated vocal analysis technology. Vocal characteristics are not currently used for diagnosing autism, even though the link has been suggested before. The study is in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Regularly using a mobile phone may increase the risk of tinnitus, which involves constant ringing or buzzing in the ear, a small study suggests. Austrian researchers recruited 100 people with the condition and 100 without, and compared mobile phone use. They found tinnitus was over 70% more likely in those averaging 10 minutes' daily phone use, reported Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal.