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
Working with hearing or visually impaired colleagues can mean rethinking the way you communicate. But finding a common language is easier than it seems.
Almost half of the 990 epilepsy-linked deaths in England each year are avoidable, says a parliamentary report. Nearly 70,000 patients do not get drugs they need, while even more are given medication unnecessarily, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy said. It described the figures as a "national scandal", arguing that misdiagnosis of patients was costing £134m annually. The Department of Health said it took epilepsy "very seriously" and would study the report carefully.
