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Top stories
Note from Clint
If obesity, type 2 diabetes and dementia are the biggest health threats the world faces, executives at Novo Nordisk must be smiling. The Danish pharmaceutical company has developed a blockbuster drug for weight loss (Wegovy), one for type 2 diabetes (Ozempic), and the same active ingredient in these drugs (semaglutide) is being tested to treat dementia.
Obesity is a known risk factor for dementia, so reducing rates of obesity should have an impact on rates of dementia. But that’s not the only way semaglutide might reduce the risk of developing dementia. Chronic brain inflammation is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of dementia) and vascular dementia. And semaglutide has been shown to dampen brain inflammation – at least, in mice. We’ll have to wait till 2026 before we know if it works in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, but the promise is tantalising.
Plus, find out how French president Emmanuel Macron may have been undone by the populism that helped put him in office. And why – in real life – cars don’t explode when they crash.
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Clint Witchalls
Health + Medicine Editor (UK edition)
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Marie Odgaard/EPA
Tim Viney, University of Oxford; Barbara Sarkany, University of Oxford
The much-discussed weight-loss jab may be good for treating Britain’s biggest killer: dementia. Trials are underway.
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Politics + Society
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Charles Barthold, The Open University
Macron rose to power as an anti-establishment politician but has he now gone too far.
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Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, Durham University; Jordan A. Parsons, Keele University
Our research suggests that remote consultations can offer appropriate safeguarding and improve access to abortion.
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Elizabeth Chappell, The Open University
The heads of the some of the most powerful countries in the world would be wise to listen to the devastating testimony of Hiroshima survivors.
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Arts + Culture
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Hal Sosabowski, University of Brighton
Exploding cars are a staple feature of the Fast & Furious films. Entertaining, yes. But realistic - not so much.
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Matthew Higgins, University of Portsmouth
Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t hand hold, with the narrative full of abstract and surreal moments that keep players guessing.
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Business + Economy
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Tom Simcock, University of Huddersfield
An expert breaks down the new proposals.
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Morteza Abolhasani, The Open University
It’s a matter of taste.
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Education
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Maxime Perrott, University of Bristol; Ioanna Bakopoulou, University of Bristol; Liz Washbrook, University of Bristol
The advantages and disadvantages of summer-born children entering school outside their peer group.
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Sam Illingworth, Edinburgh Napier University
Digital poverty could put some students at a disadvantage.
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Environment
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Emiel de Lange, The University of Edinburgh; Jocelyne Sze, University of Sheffield; Robert Fletcher, Wageningen University
Our research estimates the cost of giving money to people in conservation areas as between $351 billion and $6.73 trillion annually.
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Louise Gentle, Nottingham Trent University
The natural world is awash with liars – here are nature’s best.
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Health
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Samuel J. White, Nottingham Trent University; Philippe B. Wilson, Nottingham Trent University
Sublingual immunotherapy reduces hay fever symptoms by changing the immune system’s response to allergens.
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Science + Technology
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Jordi Paps, University of Bristol
The question of how difficult it is for life to emerge is interesting – not least because it can shed some light on the likelihood of finding life on other planets.
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