Public health

Topic description and stories

Putting public health research into practice has had major impacts worldwide, resulting in longer, healthier lives.

Genetic studies reveal new causes of severe obesity in childhood

07 Dec 2009

Scientists in Cambridge have discovered that loss of a key segment of DNA can lead to severe childhood obesity. This is the first study to show that...

The Cambridge BioResource: the study of health and disease

01 Sep 2009

Cambridge BioResource provides a new approach to understanding why some of us suffer from certain common diseases while others don't.

Decrease in delivery-related infant deaths in Scotland

14 Aug 2009

A study has shown that over the last 20 years there has been a sharp decline in infant deaths during delivery for pregnancies which went to term. The...

Genetic link to increased risk of ovarian cancer found

03 Aug 2009

Scientists have located a region of DNA which – when altered – can increase the risk of ovarian cancer, according to research published in Nature...

Myths dispelled on age-related Alzheimer’s

28 May 2009

Having the brain changes of Alzheimer's disease is not necessarily associated with dementia in very elderly people, according to a new study.

Obesity and diabetes in pregnancy: a vicious circle?

01 Apr 2009

A complex interplay of prenatal and postnatal factors determines the risk of childhood obesity and diabetes during later life.

metastatic breast cancer in pleural fluid

Cambridge gene hunters find two new breast cancer genes

30 Mar 2009

Two new regions of the human genome linked to breast cancer have been found by an international team of scientists led by Cambridge University...

Improving cognitive ability through education and health may cut dementia risk

27 Mar 2009

Improvements in education and health could reduce the number of elderly people who suffer from dementia, according to the first study in England to...

Second-hand smoke linked to cognitive impairment

12 Feb 2009

Exposure to second-hand smoke could increase the risk of developing dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment, according to research published...