Louise Basham

Did you know that appendicectomy is a valid treatment in ulcerative colitis? This is what you need to know about the recent ACCURE trial ✂️

- 9yo boy referred to A&E by GP with suspected appendicitis - Never seen by a doctor. The hospital says it ‘couldn’t identify who saw the patient’ - Discharged - Getting worse, his father calls 111 (non-emergency line) - No answer for 2h, is triaged to get a call back from a clinician - Gets even worse. Parents take him back to A&E. - Diagnosed with a ruptured appendix and dies of septic shock. leighday.co.uk/news/press-rel…

How many doctors realise that high serum B12 can coexist with functional B12 deficiency? This simple question from a medical student two years ago led to the paper below - and sparked quite a conversation on Twitter. It was fascinating to see practitioners and patients from across the world chip in with their thoughts and experiences. I’m delighted that the main author of this paper - @HamzaAMahmood21 - a bright @uclmedsci alum and now a doctor at @FrimleyHealth, has joined X/Twitter. Hopefully he’ll take this important conversation further with his upcoming systematic review on elevated #B12. @dr_pratimasingh

@BBCHughPym @BBCFergusWalsh @NickTriggle @nikkijfox 55% ICBs refuse to follow NHSE guidance on Liothyronine. Tens of 1,000s thyroid patients (almost all women) left extremely unwell, unable to work. This scandal needs highlighting urgently. Please contact @campaign_itt

@BBCHughPym Meanwhile @BBCHughPym most hypothyroid patients are STILL refused Liothyronine (T3) they need in order to function. This isn't about weight; it affects evry aspect of our lives. The scandal began in 2016. Thyroid groups/charities fighting hard. Please can we discuss with you?

My wife Jen tells me that my friend @BenBikmanPhD is tweeting on recent evidence indicates that adding metformin to exercise antagonizes the exercise-induced improvement in insulin sensitivity and cardiorespiratory fitness. Here is a paper that backs Ben up pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30548390/ @ProfTimNoakes @grantsnz @nnedpro @AKoutnik

Lithium deficiency might underpin Alzheimer's Lithium levels are low in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and – in mice – replacing lithium (with a particular salt, lithium orotate) helps clear amyloid plaques and improve cognition

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

The story of JERMAIN DEFOE is worth reading: "I remember during my second season at Sunderland, Louise Wanless, the press officer, told me one day: 'There’s a boy who wants to meet you.' She explained that Bradley Lowery had neuroblastoma and that I was his favorite player. I was like, 'Alright, of course. No worries.' But I had no idea what he would be like. From her description, I assumed he’d be super shy and quiet. But as soon as he walked into the dressing room, he ran straight to me, jumped on my lap, and hugged me with a big smile on his face. After that first meeting, I asked Louise to put me in touch with the family so I could visit him at the hospital. At first, I went with other players, but then I started going alone. I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. We had this natural connection, this bond. I still don’t know how to explain it. I got so used to having him at Sunderland that I really struggled after he was gone. He taught me to appreciate life and the people around me so much more. He changed me, my whole perspective."

A moment of stillness today for this. Every lost child, every child surviving without their friend, every parent, every grandparent, every teacher, every rescue worker, every emergency service worker.

Please re-Tweet if you agree that the confusion, frustration, anger, and loss inflicted by dementia sometimes becomes overwhelming. #Alzheimers #dementia #quote

For every retweet of this post, I will donate £1 to the @VC_and_GC_Assoc up to £50,000. Time is running out following @I_W_M’s decision to close the Lord Ashcroft Gallery. Visit while you still can, to honour the bravery of those who risked so much to protect our great nation.

Neuralink will do live-changing good for ultimately millions, maybe billions, of people. Imagine your loved one being able to walk again or your parent with dementia being able to recognize their child again.

Neuralink's implant could help Alzheimer's by interfacing with the brain to stimulate neurons, bypass damaged areas, and potentially restore cognitive functions like memory recognition. Elon Musk envisions it aiding dementia patients to recall loved ones, though it's still in early development focused on motor restoration.

The theory now is that longer wavelengths of light specifically from sunlight restore membrane potential in your mitochondria, whereas shorter wavelengths of light (such as from LEDs) reduce it. This needs testing, but it’s intriguing & brings together a lot of data.

Immune Dysfunction May Drive Alzheimer's Progression A new study reveals that immune system dysfunction may play a central role in the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers used RNA sequencing in an animal model to show that neuroinflammation, innate immune memory, and cellular reprogramming are tied to disease mechanisms. Their findings suggest Alzheimer’s may function partly as an autoimmune disorder, triggered by maladaptive immune responses to internal molecules like amyloid-beta and tau. This adds a new dimension to traditional views that focus mainly on amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Chronic immune activation appears to sustain damaging inflammation, accelerating brain degeneration. These insights open new avenues for potential therapies targeting immune pathways rather than focusing solely on amyloid or tau.

I’ve been quietly investigating water contamination in the UK’s supply chain requesting the data from the past five years. Today, I started receiving data back from a few water companies — and some of the figures they’ve disclosed are shocking. These include statistics on heavy metals, bacterial contamination, and I’ve also requested data on pharmaceuticals and microplastics in the drinking water supply, which is proving to be a difficult task for them to handle. And let me be clear: I’ve not even received half of the total data yet, and what I have seen is deeply concerning. All I’ll say for now is this — you should seriously consider investing in a proper water filter for your taps at home. Some companies are still holding back. One even asked me for £187 just to release the statistics. Once I’ve gathered everything and cross-checked it, I’ll be putting together a full report and presentation for you all to see.

Shingles vax appears to prevent dementia! Our Nature paper is first of many from my group to show this. We use a really neat natural experiment to provide causal (not just correlational!) evidence. Paper: nature.com/articles/s4158…; video (👏 @DrMayaAdam): bit.ly/4ciRfLh

Fantastic study published in @Nature. In times of anti-science and anti-vax movement, more evidence points to viruses affecting your brain and contributing to dementia, and vaccines sometimes can help prevent this. This is the type of research we are cutting in the U.S.