This site is intended for health professionals only


New antibiotics need funding, cyclists are less stressed and British men don’t realise how fat they are

Experts leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance are calling on the global pharma industry to invest £2bn in developing new antibiotics, in return for guaranteed payments for the drugs, the BBC reports.

The proposal comes in a report by a UK government-appointed antimicrobial resistance review panel led by economist Jim O’Neill.

Mr O’Neill said: ‘We need to kick-start drug development to make sure the world has the drugs it needs, to treat infections and to enable modern medicine and surgery to continue as we know it.’

If you feel irate before your day has even started it could be worth switching to cycling to work, according to The Telegraph.

Researchers at the Stanford Calming Technology Lab looked at data for 1,000 commuters collected over 20,000 journeys using wearable monitors that track heart rate and the amount and depth of breaths a person takes.

They found people who used motorised transport displayed shallower breathing in the half hour after their journey than cyclists, who were found to be 40% less stressed overall after their commute than others.

Neema Moraveji, head of the Calming Technology Lab, said: ‘By biking to work we know that the physical nature of cycling and physical exertion will engender a more calm and focused state of mind. So while being good for us physically, we also see lots of psychological and emotional benefits.’

Also on the Telegraph, a new survey has revealed that British men ‘don’t realise how fat they are’. Nearly a third of men who said they thought they were a normal weight were actually overweight or obese.