Bereavement, bullying, exams and physical health conditions such as acne and asthma are some of the experiences linked to suicide in children and young people according to a new report by The University of Manchester’s National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCISH).

Researchers studied the reports from a range of investigations and inquiries on 130 people under the age of 20 in England who died by suicide between January 2014 and April 2015, extracting information about their personal circumstances that the reports highlighted. This is the first time there has been a national study of suicide in children and young people in England on this scale.

The researchers found that 28% of the young people who died had been bereaved, in 13% there had been a suicide by a family member or friend. 36% had a physical health condition such as acne or asthma, and 29% were facing exams or exam results when they died. Four died on the day of an exam, or the day after.

Internet use related to suicide was found in 23% of the deaths. This was either searching for information about suicide methods, being a victim of online bullying or posting suicidal thoughts online. Bullying overall had occurred in 22% of cases, mostly face-to-face rather than online.

Over twice as many males as females died by suicide and there were five deaths in those aged under 14. Hanging was the most common method, accounting for 63% of deaths followed by jumping from a height or in front of a train - methods that show a strong lethal intent.

Excessive alcohol or drug use was more common in older teens, and 54% overall had previously self-harmed. In the week before they died, 10% had self-harmed and 27% had told someone of suicidal ideas. 43% had no contact with any services.

Professor Nav Kapur, NCISH Head of Suicide Research said: “Self-harm is strongly associated with increased future risk of suicide and is one of the main warning signs. It is crucial that there is improved help for self-harm and access to mental health care. However, with the variety of factors we found with this study, it is clear that schools, primary care, social services and youth justice all have a role to play.”

This study is the first phase, comprising people under 20 years of age in England and a linked academic paper is published on Thursday May 26th in The Lancet Psychiatry. A larger study widened to the UK and including those under 25 years of age will be published in 2017 and include recommendations for services.

In a new University of Manchester study, people with psoriatic arthritis have told researchers about the condition’s deeply damaging mental effects and how healthcare services failed to prepare them for its reality.

In the study, published in the journal Rheumatology, the researchers interviewed 24 people with this type of arthritis that develops in 7-48 percent of people with the skin condition psoriasis. It causes painfully inflamed joints and, in many cases, associated mental health problems for those who develop it.

The study found that the participants sometimes thought of suicide or drank excessive amounts of alcohol as a result of their condition. Many felt resentful of others and socially awkward - citing it as a reason for failed relationships and career prospects. Many felt that the prospect of these feelings was not communicated to them at the time of diagnosis.

from the University’s and led the study. She said: “People in our study were often diagnosed but then left with little or no support for the emotional side of their conditions. These types of studies have been done in conditions like diabetes or cancer, but not in psoriatic arthritis.

“There’s an urgent need for this research though as some of the participants were under the incorrect impression that their arthritis would clear up eventually or were suffering from extremely negative feelings.”

One of the recommendations of the study is that more account is taken of the emotional damage caused by the condition, by improving resources such as websites and leaflets. More psychologists, particularly those with a specialist interest in rheumatism should also be involved during the course of treatment.

Dr Bundy added, “The problems that came to light in this study are all treatable. With the right help and information, people can gain more confidence and recover quality of life. The prevalence of suicidal thoughts among this group is not yet known, but where it exists, effective and timely help could make a difference.”

Paper, ‘. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kew009

Young people with severe acne, atopic eczema and psoriasis are working with scientists to find out how they can stop these conditions having a major impact on their lives.

A moving poem written by a person with psoriasis has been turned into a film by 91Ö±²¥’s Psoriasis Shout Out® initiative, to raise awareness of the inflammatory skin condition on World Psoriasis Day (29 October).

The team from the Faculty of Life Sciences studied how cells in the skin and heart are bound together through structures called desmosomes. They wanted to understand how these junctions between the cells in the tissue are so strong. 

Desmosomes are specialised for strong adhesion. They bind the tissue cells together to resist the rigours of everyday life and their failure can result in diseases of the skin and heart, including sudden cardiac death. 

Contrary to popular scientific thinking the researchers revealed a revolutionary finding – that the desmosomes achieve their strength through flexibility rather than rigidity. Their findings have been published in the journal PNAS.

Dr Lydia Tabernero explains the results: “Scientists had always thought the reason for these incredibly strong connections was because the molecules were very rigid and structured as they are in other, weaker intercellular junctions. However, when we isolated desmosome molecules and characterised them we found that they are actually much more flexible than those of the other junctions – the total opposite to what people had thought!”

Desmosomes contain proteins that have extra cellular regions. These form the adhesion that bind the cells to each other and prevent them from separating. 

To study their structure Dr Tabernero and her team extracted the proteins and accessed the molecules. Using x-ray scattering, biophysical and computational analyses they were able to build a model of what the molecule looks like and reveal its flexible nature. The molecules are much more ordered than in other intercellular junctions and the ordering is crucial for strong adhesion. Curiously, it is this flexibility that enables them to become ordered.

Dr Tabernero comments: “What is really fascinating about desmosomes is that they become weaker during wound healing and embryonic development, and this weakening is necessary to allow cells to move. In contrast, desmosomes are very strong in adult tissues, particularly in skin and heart. It has been incredibly difficult to work out how they do that but our findings shed new light on this.”

She continues: “Conducting this research has been very challenging, but understanding the result was even harder as it went against everything we were expecting.  Seeing the flexibility was a big surprise and we had to retest the molecules using different techniques to confirm our findings.”

Professor David Garrod has studied desmosomes for decades. He says there are exciting implications for these findings: “This is the first time that any structural information has been reported for desmosome adhesion. Understanding these cell junctions will be important for future biotechnology applications. We also hope our research will contribute to studies into wound healing, cancer and embryonic development.”

Notes for editors

The paper “Cadherin flexibility provides a key difference between desmosomes and adherens junctions” was published in PNAS on April 28th 2015. 

For more information and interview requests please contact:

Morwenna Grills
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Life Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: +44 (0)161 275 2111
Mob: +44 (0)7920 087466
Email: Morwenna.Grills@manchester.ac.uk
Tweet: @MorwennaGrills 

A new study from The University of Manchester has revealed that the incidence of dermatitis has increased 4.5 times in health care workers following increased hand hygiene as a drive to reduce infections such as MRSA has kicked in.

Researchers from the University’s studied reports voluntarily submitted by dermatologists to a national database which is run by the University (), between 1996 and 2012.  Sixty percent of eligible UK dermatologists used this database which is designed to report skin problems caused or aggravated by work.

They found that out of 7,138 cases of irritant contact dermatitis reported 1,796 were in healthcare workers. When the numbers were broken down by year, health workers were 4.5 times more likely to suffer from irritant contact dermatitis in 2012 as in 1996. In other sectors, cases declined or did not change.

Prevention of healthcare associated infections, such as MRSA and C difficile, became an NHS priority in 1999, and successive campaigns have emphasised the washing of hands with soap or alcohol hand rub by staff, patients and visitors.  This has been a success, with a reduction of infections reported and a greatly increased use of cleaning products.

, who led the research, said: “Campaigns to reduce these infections have been very successful and many lives have been saved.  However, we need to do all we can to prevent skin irritation among these frontline workers.”

The implications of increasing levels of irritant dermatitis are potentially counter-productive to the aims of infection reducing campaigns.  Other studies have identified that infections can remain present for longer on damaged and broken skin and having irritated skin can put people off washing their hands.

Dr Stocks said: “Obviously we don’t want people to stop washing their hands, so more needs to be done to procure less irritating products and to implement practices to prevent and treat irritant contact dermatitis.”

The paper, ‘’, was published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

Skin ageing is influenced by our environment, such as sun exposure and smoking as well as the natural ageing process. Researchers also believe stress can influence skin ageing and this is the purpose of this study, which is being carried out in partnership with .

The researchers from the University’s and Research Centres are looking to recruit Caucasian (white skinned) women, aged 25-40 years to have their skin analysed in detail with this new equipment.

is leading the research in 91Ö±²¥ and Wai Yeung, from the University’s Centre for Dermatology Research is organising recruitment.  He said: “People are increasingly leading stressful lives with disrupted sleep patterns and we believe that this could have specific and measurable effects.

“The results from the research should allow us to understand the skin ageing process better and could lead to new treatments and products.”

The study involves completing an online survey and a single one hour visit to the Dermatology Centre in Salford. All participants will be reimbursed for their time. More information is available here:

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

Researchers led by the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Genetics and Genomics at The University of Manchester have identified genetic variants that are associated with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) but not with psoriasis, in the largest study of PsA ever published.

PsA is a common form of inflammatory form of arthritis causing pain and stiffness in joints and tendons that can lead to joint damage. Nearly all patients with PsA also have skin psoriasis and, in many cases, the skin disease is present before the arthritis develops. However, only one third of patients with psoriasis will go on to develop PsA.

The researchers, who are part of a European consortium, say that their work, which took three years to complete and is published in Nature Communications, is a breakthrough because genetic changes have been identified that increase the risk of PsA but not psoriasis.

Until recently opinion was divided as to whether psoriatic arthritis was a disease in its own right, or psoriasis combined with rheumatoid arthritis.

The findings could, in future, lead to the identification of people with psoriasis who are at risk of developing psoriatic arthritis.

, who led the analysis of the work, said: “Our study is beginning to reveal key insights into the genetics of PsA that explain fundamental differences between psoriasis and PsA. Our findings also highlight that CD8+ cells are likely to be the key drivers of inflammation in PsA. This will help us to focus on how the genetic changes act in those immune cells to cause disease.”

The gene identified by the research team lies on chromosome 5 and is not the first PsA-specific gene to be identified. Patients who carry the HLA-B27 gene are also more likely to develop PsA.

, a rheumatologist and senior author on the study explained: “By identifying genes that predispose people to PsA but not psoriasis, we hope in the future to be able to test patients with psoriasis to find those at high risk of developing PsA. Excitingly, it raises the possibility of introducing treatments to prevent the development of PsA in those individuals in the future.”

Dr Stephen Simpson, director of research at added:” This is a significant finding. Not only does it help establish PsA as a condition in its own right, but it could have major implications in the way that patients with this condition are treated and lead to the development of drugs specifically developed for PsA, which are greatly needed.”

The research was funded by .

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

Systemic lupus erythematosus (also known as SLE or lupus) is a condition which affects around 16,000 people in the UK – 90 percent of these are women and it is particularly common amongst people of African, Indo-Asian and Chinese origin. 

For reasons that are poorly understood, in sufferers, the immune system attacks healthy cells, organs and tissues causing severe inflammation. This inflammation can cause a range of problems including rashes, hair loss, arthritis, kidney involvement and blood disorders.

Long-term complications in SLE can include chronic fatigue, cataracts, early onset heart attacks and strokes, as well as kidney failure.

The new project, launched today by George Freeman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences, is called MAximizing Sle ThERapeutic PotentiaL by Application of Novel and Stratified approaches (MASTERPLANS). It will seek to improve on the current ‘trial and error’ approach to treatment as many studies show that only 40-50% of patients will respond well to any particular treatment.

from The University of Manchester’s and Director of the said: “We will be studying a whole range of factors which can influence the success or failure of treatment.  By examining the genetic profile, immune response and clinical data of groups of patients we aim to identify key factors that predict more accurately the right treatment to offer to individual patients.”

By getting the right treatments to patients first time the new approach will reduce the time needed to get SLE under control and also reduce long-term complications which are often related to poor control of disease as well as the long-term use of steroids in this population. Such an approach will also be a better use of healthcare resources.

The new project is a field of study, known as stratified medicine, involving the study of large numbers of patients to identify smaller groups for more personalised treatment based on their particular genetic and biological characteristics. The team envisages that this approach will increase the success rate of treatments for individual patients.

As well as The University of Manchester, the consortium also includes the Universities of Bath, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and Cambridge, alongside King’s College London, Imperial College London, University College London and the Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit.

These institutions will work alongside industry partners including Aeirtec Limited, Aurinia (Vifor), The Binding Site, Epistem, GSK, Imagen Biotech, Medimmune, Myriad RBM, Roche/Genentech, UCB and Pfizer.

The project will last four years and is majority funded by a £4.2m grant from the . Professor Sir John Savill, the MRC’s chief executive, said: “The goal of stratified medicine is to provide patients with the best treatments by ensuring that existing medicines are targeted at those who will derive most benefit but also by accelerating the development of new therapies. Achieving this goal requires partnerships that harness the diverse mix of knowledge, expertise and commitment of academia, industry and patients.

“Here in the UK, we’re ideally placed to be at the forefront of this field because we can combine excellence in research with access to some of the highest quality clinical resources and data in the world. This is attracting small, medium and large companies from across the UK and internationally to partner with us. The consortia we are supporting are keen to work with new partners and we shall be considering further disease areas that might benefit from this approach.”

Professor Bruce who is also Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at , said: “From my own clinical experience of treating SLE patients, it is clear that SLE is a condition ripe for a stratified medicines approach. A number of new treatments are coming through for SLE and we desperately need better ways to target treatments to the patients most likely to benefit from them. 

“Our consortium brings together a number of leading UK universities with pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. The combined strength of our research expertise will help us to quickly translate results into clinical practice for the benefit of SLE patients, not only in the UK, but also in other parts of the world.”

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

The consensus statement was announced on Thursday 4 December by t (ILDS) and as a response to the growing skin problems associated with ageing. These include infection, skin fragility and ulceration, intractable dryness of the skin and itching and skin cancer which have a health, psychological and economic impact on millions of people.

"Skin is our first line of defence, but as we age, it becomes less elastic, dryer and thinner and therefore less protective," said , Foundation Professor of Dermatology at The University of Manchester and Board Member of the ILDS. 

"For too long, skin health has been neglected on the global ageing agenda.  Our collective vision is one in which a life course approach to skin health leads to wellness, improved quality of life and enhanced social value."

One in every three cancers diagnosed is skin cancer.  One in two people over the age of 65 suffers from intense dryness of the skin, which can lead to infection and wounds.  Dermatological side effects occur in up to 80 percent of patients receiving cancer treatments.  In addition to the physical effects and medical costs, these conditions have psychological effects and impact quality of life.  

As a result of the 2014 ‘’, experts in ageing and dermatology have developed a consensus statement outlining their commitment to furthering global leadership in skin health, particularly in skin ageing, as there will be 1 billion people over 60 globally by 2020. 

"As lifespans increase and birth-rates decrease, conditions that are widely associated with growing older, including the deterioration of our skin, become more prevalent," said Dr Michael Hodin, Executive Director of the Global Coalition on Aging.

"Twenty-first century demographics demand a new approach and call for a new diverse group of partners to focus on keeping us healthy and active at each stage of life and as a result drive efficiencies in healthcare costs and contribute to a more fiscally sustainable economy."

The consensus statement calls for analysis of the economic and fiscal impact of skin ageing if no action is taken, development of a research agenda, establishment of a network of global Centres of Excellence on skin health, and collaboration and partnership among the dermatology and ageing communities across regions globally. This call-to-action will promote the importance of skin health, with the goal of making skin health a top priority on the global ageing agenda.  

The commitment of the Life Course of Healthy Skin Global Partnership began during the first-ever gathering of academics, global thought leaders and cross-sector business stakeholders on the topic of healthy skin and active aging in 91Ö±²¥, in June 2014.  91Ö±²¥ is now at the forefront of this 21st-century demographic revolution, helped in no small part by the work of the University.

This includes the University’s which comprises clinical and basic scientists investigating skin cell physiology and disease, alongside associated research carried out by health psychologists.  The consensus also involved researchers from which promotes interdisciplinary research on all aspects of ageing with access to a network of over 1,200 academics, practitioners, policy makers and older people.

"The 91Ö±²¥ Summit was the first bold step to align medical, business, government, NGO and academic communities to create and implement local and global strategies to encourage healthy skin ageing," said Humberto C. Antunes, President and CEO of Galderma and the Summit's supporting partner.

"We encourage other companies and organisations to join us in our commitment to pursuing this innovative agenda and welcome the opportunity for diverse interdisciplinary partnerships and dialogues."

The full global consensus statement and press release is available (PDF).

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Mob: 07887 561318
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

The funding for the University is part of a total package of £230 million designed to support innovation in clinical research across three areas – stratified medicine, dementia and single cell functional genomics.

91Ö±²¥ has been successful in all three areas of the new scheme, overseen by the Medical Research Council (MRC), including an individual award of £13 million to set up a Clinical Proteomics Centre. 

This new facility will be able to measure many proteins within a sample – such as blood, urine, or from tissue such as a tumour biopsy – in a single step. These techniques will allow clinical researchers to see the differences between samples from, for example, healthy people and people with a specific disease - giving opportunities for earlier treatment and better understanding of who will respond to specific drugs.

In addition, measuring the effects of these drugs will, in the future, help patients by reducing side effects and making it more likely that a patient will benefit from a particular treatment. This will have huge benefits for sufferers of psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, for example and for economic use of medicines.

A further £6 million of capital funding has been awarded to 91Ö±²¥ as part of the (UKDP). The UKDP is a radically new approach to dementia research.

A network of PET/MR scanning facilities across the UK (one in 91Ö±²¥) will be created to enable studies on the molecular processes in the brain that cause dementia. The UKDP will also bring together as many different types of data as possible and optimise how researchers and clinicians use them.

91Ö±²¥ will specifically manage projects on physical activity monitoring and in the field of stem cells, the network will take cells from adults with and without dementia to find out how they change as the dementia process begins and progresses.

The third award of £5 million will set up the 91Ö±²¥ Single Cell Research Centre (SCRC).  The human body contains trillions of cells of many different types and functions, yet all are descended from the same embryo.

The lack of detailed understanding about their similarities and differences is a huge barrier to the design of all therapies that need to target particular cells within the body. The MRC award will put in place a pipeline from sample collection, through to identification and characterisation of single target cells within each sample, to the design of treatments that target these specific cells.

Researchers will focus on characterising a group of rare cells (called circulating tumour cells, or CTCs) that give rise to drug-resistant cancers such as certain lung cancers, and specific stem cells that can enable the regeneration of damaged tissues such as muscle, joints, skin and blood vessels.

Professor Ian Jacobs, Vice-President and Dean of the University of Manchester’s , said: “These awards reflect the breadth of expertise within the University and the way we have organised our research effort to best take advantage of them.

“They will allow our researchers to work on new solutions to some of the biggest health and medical problems in outstanding research facilities.”

Speaking of the awards, Chancellor George Osborne said: “The funding will go to 23 truly innovative projects from across the UK today that represent the best of British ingenuity and scientific exploration. The Government, charities, universities and industry will be working together to advance our knowledge in combatting the biggest medical challenges of our time.”

For more information about the overall funding announcement, please visit the MRC .

Notes for editors

For media enquiries, please contact Jamie Brown | Media Relations Officer | The University of Manchester | +44(0)161 275 8383 | Jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk |

Around 2% of school children in the UK are allergic to peanuts. Severe eczema in early infancy has also been linked to food allergies, particularly peanut allergy.

A major break-through in our understanding of eczema has been made with the discovery of the FLG gene which codes for the skin barrier protein, filaggrin.

Mutations in the FLG gene result in an impaired skin barrier which is thought to allow allergens to penetrate the skin and sensitise the body.

The study, published this month in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was carried out in 557 children from the 91Ö±²¥ Asthma and Allergy 91Ö±²¥ (MAAS) – a flagship study from the University of Manchester and University Hospital of South 91Ö±²¥ led by Professors Adnan Custovic and Angela Simpson – who have been followed from birth (1996/7) to the present day.

The children in MAAS, who are representative of the normal population, have been thoroughly assessed for peanut allergy with skin prick tests, blood tests and in some cases oral food challenge tests and peanut allergy was diagnosed in 3% of them.

They have undergone genetic tests and 9% of them carry mutations in the FLG gene. In addition, dust samples were collected from their home environment in early life, in which it was possible to quantify peanut protein.

Peanut protein is present on hands and in saliva for up to three hours after peanuts or peanut-based food has been eaten, and can persist on table surfaces and sofa or pillow dust even after routine cleaning.

By combining information on genetics and the environment, it was possible to gain insights on risk factors for peanut allergy. For children who did not carry an FLG mutation, the amount of peanut protein in the house dust had no significant effect on whether or not the child developed peanut allergy.

For children with an FLG mutation, higher levels of peanut protein in household dust in infancy increased the likelihood of peanut allergy in childhood. For example, a three-fold increase in house dust peanut exposure during infancy was associated with a three-fold increase in risk of peanut allergy.

Professor Angela Simpson, from The University of Manchester’s Institute of Inflammation and Repair, said: “This is yet another example of how both genes and the environment are important in determining whether or not individuals develop allergic diseases. It is only because we were able to follow these children from before birth and take samples from their home environment in early life that it was possible to identify these effects.

“Gaining a better understanding of risk factors for diseases is the first step towards developing methods of prevention that are targeted to individuals at risk, which can be tested in clinical trials.”

Notes for editors

For media enquiries, please call Jamie Brown | Media Relations Officer | The University of Manchester | 0161 275 8383 | Jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

‘Peanut allergy: Effect of environmental peanut exposure in children with filaggrin loss-of-function mutations’ by Brough et al is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and can be accessed at .

The 91Ö±²¥ Asthma and Allergy 91Ö±²¥ was supported by Medical Research Council grants, JP Moulton Charitable Foundation, North West Lung Centre Charity and National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Facility at the University of South 91Ö±²¥ NHS Foundation Trust. The Centre for Dermatology and Genetic Medicine at the University of Dundee is supported by the Wellcome Trust.

The study was funded by Action Medical Research and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Facility at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Kings College London.

Cancer Research UK scientists at The University of Manchester found that some melanoma cells are particularly fast growing, but not very good at invading the surrounding tissue, while other melanoma cells are the opposite – highly invasive but slow-growing. 

Notes for editors

For media enquiries please contact Alan Worsley at Cancer Research UK on 020 3469 8252 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059.

Alternatively contact The University of Manchester Press Office on 0161 275 8383.

A video about the research can be viewed .

Paper title: Chapman, A et al. Heterogeneous tumour-subpopulations co-operate to drive invasion (2014). Cell Reports

91Ö±²¥ Cancer Research Centre –
The 91Ö±²¥ Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) is a partnership founded by The University of Manchester, including the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Cancer Research UK. The MCRC brings together the expertise, ambition and resources of its partner organisations in the fields of cancer treatment and clinical research and provides outstanding facilities where researchers and clinicians can work closely together. The aim of the MCRC is to improve understanding of how cancer develops, in order to translate basic and clinical research into new diagnostic tests and treatments that benefit cancer patients. 

The collaboration will explore potential applications of probiotic extracts for prevention and treatment of skin, oral, and respiratory conditions.  

Notes for editors

For further information, please contact Alison Barbuti, Media Relations Officer, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences 

The research explains more about the mechanism by which UV light leads to melanoma and also explores the extent to which sunscreen is able to prevent UV light from damaging healthy cells.

Scientists at the Cancer Research UK 91Ö±²¥ Institute, based at the University of Manchester, have revealed the MLK family of four enzymes ‘undoes’ the tumour-shrinking effects of vemurafenib**.

Notes for editors

For media enquiries please contact Simon Shears on 020 3469 8054 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059.

We spend our lives covered head-to-toe in a thin veneer of bacteria. But despite a growing appreciation for the valuable roles our resident microbes play in the digestive tract, little is known about the bacteria that reside in and on our skin. A new study suggests the interplay between our cells and these skin-dwelling microbes could influence how wounds heal.

“This study gives us a much better understanding of the types of bacterial species that are found in skin wounds, how our cells might respond to the bacteria and how that interaction can affect healing,” said Matthew Hardman, a senior research fellow at The University of Manchester Healing Foundation Centre who led the project. “It’s our hope that these insights could help lead to better treatments to promote wound healing that are based on sound biology.”

Chronic wounds—cuts or lesions that just never seem to heal—are a significant health problem, particularly among elderly people. An estimated 1 in 20 elderly people live with a chronic wound, which often results from diabetes, poor blood circulation or being confined to bed or a wheelchair.

“These wounds can literally persist for years, and we simply have no good treatments to help a chronic wound heal,” said Hardman, who added that doctors currently have no reliable way to tell whether a wound will heal or persist. “There’s a definite need for better ways to both predict how a wound is going to heal and develop new treatments to promote healing.”

The trillions of bacteria that live on and in our bodies have attracted a great deal of scientific interest in recent years. Findings from studies of microbes in the gut have made it clear that although some bacteria cause disease, many other bacteria are highly beneficial for our health.

In their recent study, Hardman and his colleagues compared the skin bacteria from people with chronic wounds that did or did not heal. The results showed markedly different bacterial communities, suggesting there may be a bacterial “signature” of a wound that refuses to heal.

“Our data clearly support the idea that one could swab a wound, profile the bacteria that are there and then be able to tell whether the wound is likely to heal quickly or persist, which could impact treatment decisions,” said Hardman.

The team also conducted a series of studies in mice to shed light on the reasons why some wounds heal while others do not. They found that mice lacking a single gene had a different array of skin microbiota—including more harmful bacteria—and healed much more slowly than mice with a normal copy of the gene.

The gene, which has been linked to Chrohn’s disease, is known to help cells recognise and respond to bacteria. Hardman said the findings suggest that genetic factors influence the makeup of bacteria on a person’s skin, which in turn influences how they heal.

“Presumably, the mice’s defect in the ability to identify bacteria means that they aren’t able to mount the right type of response,” said Hardman. “Taken together, our studies in humans and mice offer good evidence that the skin microbiome has a direct effect on how we heal.”

Much of the current research on chronic wounds focuses on improving antibiotic dressings to prevent infection. Hardman says further insights into the roles of skin bacteria could help inform new treatment approaches that protect against harmful bacteria without eliminating bacterial communities that may play a beneficial role.

Notes for editors

Matthew Hardman will presented his findings during the Experimental Biology 2014 meeting on Monday, April 28 at the Inflammation: At the Crossroads of Regeneration and Repair symposium in Room 7B, San Diego Convention Center. 

, organised by The University of Manchester and , takes place from 28 April to 2 May and will highlight three key innovative academic studies into the debilitating skin condition. 

Notes for editors

If photographers  or reporters would like to attend any of the events, please contact Alison Barbuti, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester 0161 275 8383 alison.barbuti@manchester.ac.uk 

A world-leading taskforce led by The University of Manchester has begun work to create a new test to help medics work out which treatment plan is most likely to improve the disabling skin condition psoriasis, based on a patient’s individual biological make-up.

Notes for editors

For further information or to request an interview with Professor Chris Griffiths, please contact: Alison Barbuti | Media Relations Officer | The University of Manchester

Staff from The University of Manchester and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust’s dermatology research team will be ensuring Salford City Reds fans don’t let their skin match the club’s name at their game on Friday 9 August.

Their latest sun safety awareness event takes place at the Salford City Stadium before the Reds play Leeds Rhinos.

Members of the dermatology research team are teaming up with the British Association of Dermatologists to share top tips on how to keep your skin safe in the sun and to provide sunscreen samples.

, Professor of Dermatology at The University of Manchester and Consultant Dermatologist at Salford Royal, will also be leading a mole education event on Monday 5 August with players from the Salford City Reds team. He will be encouraging them to check their own skin and will be explaining the signs to look out for.

He is urging fans to follow the players’ example by checking their own skin.

Professor Griffiths said: “Most skin cancers can be cured if detected early. The best way to detect skin cancer is to check your skin regularly, from top to toe. You should tell your doctor immediately about any changes to a mole or patch of skin.” 

Some sunshine can be good for us, helping the body produce Vitamin D, but according to

Professor Griffiths over exposure to the sun can lead to a range of skin problems. “We may associate a tan with looking healthy, but it’s actually the opposite – a tan is a sign that skin has been damaged. Sunlight contains different wavelengths of ultraviolet light. UVA rays attack the tissues that give our skin its elasticity, leading to premature ageing and wrinkling, while UVB rays affect the top layers of our skin, causing sun burn and, in the worst cases, skin cancer.

“However, it is still possible to enjoy the sunshine this summer by taking a few important steps to protect the skin, such as using a SPF  30 with the UVA circle sunscreen daily.”

Tips for looking after your skin in the sun include:
• Protect skin with clothing, including a hat, T-shirt and UV protective sunglasses.
• Spend time in the shade between 11am and 3pm when it’s sunny.
• Use a sunscreen of at least SPF 30 (SPF 50 for children or people with pale skin) which also has high UVA protection.
• Keep babies and young children out of direct sunlight.
• Sunscreens are not an alternative to clothing and shade, they merely offer additional protection. No sunscreen will provide 100% protection.
• Tell your doctor about any changes to a mole.

Salford Royal and The University of Manchester are two of the partners in MAHSC, the 91Ö±²¥ Academic Health Science Centre, which recognises excellence across research, innovation, education and patient service. 

ENDS

Notes for editors

For further information, please call Communications Officer Claire Mooney on 0161 206 8161 or claire.mooney@manchester.ac.uk or alison.barbuti@manchester.ac.uk

Images available on request.

Image caption: SKIN CHECK: Professor Chris Griffiths gives advice to Salford Reds' Ashley Gibson Photo by Bill McLaughlin

• Prof Griffiths will be at the Salford City Stadium at 2pm on Monday 5 August if you wish to to take pictures of him or film him with the players.
• Salford Royal and the University of Manchester are two of the partners in MAHSC, the 91Ö±²¥ Academic Health Science Centre.

Ten year survival has reached 80 per cent in men and 90 per cent in women, compared to 38 per cent in men and 58 per cent in women 40 years ago. The improvements in survival are likely to be down to improvements in treatment, early diagnosis and awareness of the symptoms.

Nearly 13,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year in the UK, that’s around 35 people every day.

Professor Richard Marais, director of the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Manchester, said: “Forty years ago, only around half of those diagnosed with skin cancer were surviving, so eight out of 10 is a massive improvement. More and more people are beating skin cancer but we can’t stop there and we need to develop better treatments for the two out of 10 where things don’t look so good.

“Obviously we’ve come a long way in the fight against skin cancer and that’s largely down to the generosity of supporters who have funded research to help us to understand the disease better and find new ways of beating it. Research funded by Cancer Research UK has underpinned the development of new drugs like vemurafenib. Although these drugs do not cure skin cancers, they can give patients with advanced melanoma valuable extra months and show the progress we are making.”

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Our research is revealing more about skin cancer: what causes it, how we can better prevent it and how we can develop targeted treatments to help more people beat the disease. By funding more research we can bring forward the day when even more people survive.

“Cancer Research UK research was behind the discovery that faults in a gene called BRAF contribute to over half of all cases of melanoma. Since then, our scientists have led efforts to develop drugs that target this gene.

“Skin cancer is one of the fastest rising cancers in the UK, which is likely to be down to our sunbathing habits and the introduction of cheap package holidays in previous decades. But the earlier cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat it and the more likely the treatment is to be successful. That’s why it’s important to get to know your skin and if you notice anything unusual, such as a change to a mole or a blemish that still hasn’t healed after a few weeks, then get it checked out by your GP.”

ENDS

Notes for editors

For media enquiries please contact Greg Jones, CRUK, on 020 3469 8311 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059

Notes to Editors:
* Cancer Research UK (2013) Cancer Statistics Report: Skin Cancer - UK. A copy of the report is available on request and can be accessed online from Monday 15 July at . 

Historically, incidence of melanoma has always been higher in the more southerly latitudes of England, where the hours of sunshine are longer than in northern regions, especially during the summer season.

However, this latest study has found an alarming reversal in this trend in young women aged 10-29, with the disease for this age group most prevalent in the North West.

A further interesting finding of the study, carried out by researchers at the University of Manchester, relates to the socioeconomic status of melanoma patients. Previous data has long established that the disease is most prevalent in more affluent people, which is largely thought to be due to opportunities for foreign travel to sunnier climates, and other lifestyle factors.

However, among young women in the North, the disease was found to be high among the second most deprived socioeconomic group, as well as the second most affluent groups.

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “This study is interesting as it changes our views on two important risk factors for skin cancer – where we live and how rich we are. Latitudinal position in England has long been associated with risk levels for skin cancer, with southern regions always having the highest rates of the disease. But for young women, the disease is now highest in the North West.

“Previously the disease has consistently been found to be more common amongst the most affluent in society, but in this same group of young women in Northern England, the disease is now also high amongst the most deprived. We know that across England, use of tanning beds is highest among young women in the north and is also high among lower socioeconomic status groups, so this may well be a strong contributing factor to both these findings.” 

Sarah Wallingford, from the University of Manchester’s Institute for Inflammation and Repair who led the research working with colleagues at the University of Manchester's Institute of Cancer Sciences and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia, concludes: “The affordability of sun holidays and high prevalence of sunbed use among young adults, especially young women living in the north of England, may explain these trends. Recent banning of sunbed use in those under 18 years of age in the UK should eventually bring a reduction in harmful exposure to artificial UV in the future, however, this regulation will not completely resolve the issue as it applies only to commercial outlets so private use remains unregulated and its effects may continue to be seen. It is important to monitor both UV exposure patterns and melanoma incidence closely in the wake of these trends and the recently implemented legislation.”

The study examined diagnoses of melanoma over eleven years (1996 to 2006 inclusive). Melanoma is the least common but most deadly type of skin cancer and the primary cause is exposure to ultraviolet light through sunlight or tanning beds.

Earlier this year, another study in the British Journal of Dermatology revealed that nine out of 10 tanning beds in England are breaking safety rules and giving off radiation levels that are up to six times higher than Mediterranean sunlight.

Skin cancer is the UK’s most common cancer, with over 100,000 new cases diagnoses annually. Melanoma, the least common but most dangerous form of the disease, accounts for 12,800 of these new cases every year, and 2,700 deaths. In Britain, melanoma incidence rates have more than quadrupled over the last 30 years, and the numbers continue to rise.

Notes for editors

Notes to editors:
1. For more information and interview requests, please contact:  Nina Goad or Deborah Mason, British Association of Dermatologists, Phone: 0207 391 6355, Email: comms@bad.org.uk, Website: .

To request an interview with Sarah Wallingford, contact Alison Barbuti Media Relations Officer for the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, Phone 0161 275 8383 alison.barbuti@manchester.ac.uk

2. If using this information, please ensure you mention that the study is being released in the British Journal of Dermatology, the official publication of the British Association of Dermatologists.

3. 91Ö±²¥ details: Regional melanoma incidence in England, 1996-2006: reversal of north-south latitude trends among young females
S.C. Wallingford1, 2, R.D. Alston2, J.M. Birch2, A.C. Green1,3
1 Institute of Inflammation & Repair, University of Manchester, 91Ö±²¥ Academic Health
Science Centre, UK
2 Cancer Research UK Paediatric & Familial Cancer Research Group, Institute of Cancer
Sciences, University of Manchester, 91Ö±²¥ Academic Health Science Centre, UK
3 Cancer & Population Studies Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane,
Australia
Print publication date TBC; Draft, unedited version due to appear in Accepted Articles section online. DOI: 10.1111/bjd.12460. Articles in the BJD can be viewed online:
 

Taking omega-3 fish oils could help to protect against skin cancer, according to researchers at The University of Manchester.

The team has just carried out the first clinical trial to examine the impact of the fish oils on the skin immunity of volunteers. Led by Professor Lesley Rhodes, Professor of Experimental Dermatology from the Photobiology Unit Dermatology Centre at the University, the study analysed the effect of taking omega-3 on 79 healthy volunteers.

Results of the study, funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (renamed to in 2015), found that taking a regular dose of fish oils boosted skin immunity to sunlight. Specifically, it also reduced sunlight-induced suppression of the immune system, known as immunosuppression, which affects the body’s ability to fight skin cancer and infection. The findings have been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition this month.

Professor Rhodes, who is based in the Photobiology Unit at the University’s School of Medicine and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, said it was the first time the research had been carried out on humans. “There has been research in this area carried out on mice in the past but this is the first time that there has been a clinical trial directly in people,” she said. “It has taken a number of years to get to this stage and the findings are very exciting.

"This study adds to the evidence that omega-3 is a potential nutrient to protect against skin cancer. Although the changes we found when someone took the oil were small, they suggest that a continuous low level of chemoprevention from taking omega-3 could reduce the risk of skin cancer over an individual’s lifetime.”

Patients who volunteered for the trial took a 4g dose of omega-3, which is about one and a half portions of oily fish, daily and were then exposed to the equivalent of either 8, 15 or 30 minutes of summer midday sun in 91Ö±²¥ using a special light machine. Other patients took a placebo, before being exposed to the light machine. Immunosuppression was 50% lower in people who took the supplement and were exposed to 8 and 15 minutes of sun compared with people who did not take the supplement. The study showed little influence on those in the 30 minute group.

The findings are important in the battle against skin cancer because previous research has shown that sunscreens are often applied inadequately and only worn during holiday periods. However, Professor Rhodes stressed that the omega-3 was not a substitute for sunscreen and physical protection, and that omega-3 should be regarded as an additional small measure to help protect skin from sun damage. The fish oil has already been shown to have many beneficial health effects such as helping with cardiovascular disease, meaning taking the supplement could lead to a range of potential health benefits. Professor Rhodes’ team are now continuing their research with further omega-3 studies being carried out on healthy volunteers at Salford Royal. It comes as The University of Manchester, Cancer Research UK and The Christie Cancer Hospital team up to create a 91Ö±²¥ Cancer Research Centre.

Around 100,000 cases of non-melanoma skin cancer were diagnosed in the UK in 2010, according to the most recent figures available from Cancer Research UK, making it an extremely common cancer.

Dr Helen Rippon, Head of Science at AICR, said: “Skin cancer has been one of the fastest growing types of cancer, and numbers will likely continue to increase. It is always exciting to see research that AIRC has funded generating such promising results, and we look forward to seeing future developments in this area.”

Article amended 22 April 2015 to reflect change in name from AICR to Worldwide Cancer Research.
 

Notes for editors

Professor Rhodes is available for interview.

The research has been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. To view a copy of the journal online, please click .
The randomised-controlled, double-blind nutritional study was funded by almost £200,000 from the Association for International Cancer Research. The omega-3 oil was provided by Croda International plc and the packaging by GP Solutions.

For further information contact:
Alison Barbuti
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8383
Mobile: 07887 561 318
Email: alison.barbuti@manchester.ac.uk
 

About AICR
AICR receives no government grants and relies totally on fundraising for its income. Unlike many UK-based charities, AICR does not confine its support to within this country. It is the leading charity funding cancer research anywhere in the world.

AICR currently funds 182 active projects: 76 in the UK and 106 Overseas. That’s 178 scientists, across 18 countries. The cost of this research is £ 34,677,781. AICR's overall spend on research to date is £159,047,292 - on 1882 projects throughout 32 different countries.

The 18 countries currently holding grants are: Australia (13); Canada (2); Denmark (3); Finland (1); France (8); Germany (5); Greece (3); Israel (4); Italy (25); Netherlands (13); Portugal (1); Spain (15); Sweden (2); Switzerland (5); USA (6);  UK:- England (58); Scotland (15); Wales (3).

For further information about AICR’s work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 01334 477910 or visit . Follow us on FacebookandTwitter
 

Itching is so contagious that simply seeing an image of an itch stimulus – such as ants or an insect bite – can trigger a physical response, new research suggests.

Researchers from The University of Manchester and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) say their findings – published in the British Journal of Dermatology – could be of benefit to patients with skin conditions like eczema.

The team tested whether visual cues could generate feelings of itch and provoke a scratch response. A secondary aim was to assess whether the content of some pictures more effectively evoked these sensations. The study also revealed that simply watching someone scratch may trigger feelings of itchiness, just like seeing someone yawn can be contagious.

Thirty participants viewed static images that could either be itch-related (for example ants, fleas or skin conditions) or neutral (butterflies or healthy skin). The itch-evoking images were further split into three sub-categories: ‘skin contact’ (for example ants crawling on the hand or a butterfly on a finger), ‘skin response’ (scratching an insect bite or washing the hands) or ‘context only’, in which itchy or neutral stimuli were seen in the environment but not on the body (for example viewing midges or birds flying, with no reference to skin).

For each picture, the volunteers were asked how itchy they felt looking at the image, and how itchy they thought the person in the picture felt, where relevant. In addition, the researchers recorded the number of times the volunteers scratched themselves while looking at the images.

The scientists discovered that visual cues alone (without application of any irritant to the skin) do indeed elicit sensations of itch in an observer and provoke a scratch response.

Furthermore, watching something that we associate with itchiness causes us to admit to feeling itchy, but in fact it is watching another person scratch themselves (rather than just seeing the cause of the itch) that causes us to subconsciously scratch ourselves also, without necessarily vocalising this or knowing we are doing it.

Professor Francis McGlone, a cognitive neuroscientist at LJMU and the study’s lead author, explained: “The results of the present study confirm that visual cues pertaining to itch-related events are effective in transmitting the sensation of itch from the visual to the somatosensory domain (the body’s system relating to the sensation of touch) and provoking a scratch response. The results suggest that, whereas the sensation of itch may be effectively transmitted by viewing others experiencing itch-related stimuli on the body, the desire to scratch is more effectively provoked by viewing others scratching.

“Our findings may help to improve the efficiency of treatment programmes for people suffering from chronic itch. Knowing the specific triggers of an individual’s chronic itch and how visual stimuli translate to the physical may also provide insight into the mechanisms of ‘psychosomatic itch’, in which there are no physical triggers.”

Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said: “Itch is often the worst symptom for people with skin disorders, and any research into its causes that may lead to new methods of alleviation will be greatly welcomed by the millions of skin patients. Combining elements of psychology with dermatology is an increasingly important area of research.”

Ends

Notes for editors

The article, ‘?’ by D. M. Lloyd 1, E. Hall1, S. Hall 1 and F. P. McGlone 2, published in the British Journal of Dermatology can be viewed online at:

1 School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester

2 School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University

Photo credit: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

For further information contact:

Nina Goad
British Association of Dermatologists

Tel: 0207 391 6094
Email: nina@bad.org.uk
Website:

Or Aeron Haworth
Media Relations
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8383
Mob: 07717 881563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk

University of Manchester researchers in the Dermatology Unit at will ask 25 adult volunteers to apply the cream to affected areas of their skin for a period of three months.

The scientists will then use internationally-recognised clinical tests to judge how effective the new medicine has been at relieving eczema symptoms.

Dr Neil Gibbs, who is leading the study, said: “Eczema is a long-term skin disease that affects about 20% of infants and 5% of adults in the UK. There is currently no known cure for the disease which results in a variety of symptoms, including redness or swelling and cracked, dry, itchy or bleeding skin.

“In recent years, it has become more widely recognised that one of the most important features of skin conditions like eczema is a reduced ability of the skin to protect against dirt, infections and other nasties that get in and cause inflammation.

“This loss of normal skin barrier function is what our new treatments are targeting; the idea is that if we help the skin of eczema patients to repair itself it becomes less ‘leaky’ and more resistant to potential contaminants.”

The group, headed by world-renowned dermatologist , has attracted grant funding from the University of Manchester Intellectual Property () company and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council () to develop the new treatments and conduct clinical studies.

“Our results so far have been very encouraging,” added Dr Gibbs. “We have developed a once-a-day oral eczema treatment, which has proven very safe and reduces eczema by 35% over a month’s use.

“We have now developed a new cream version of the treatment and we will be conducting a study with eczema patients at Salford Royal Hospital to find out whether the same active ingredient is as effective in the cream formulation.”

A spin-out company, , has been set up to attract further interest in the new treatments. The company was named ‘Biomedical Project of the Year’ in the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s BioNow awards last year.

Ends

Notes for editors

The University of Manchester Dermatology group has an international reputation for research into major skin diseases. The group conducts clinical, problem-led research that is of direct relevance to patient care and treatment.

The group is based in The University of Manchester’s School of Translational Medicine and at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. The team is currently developing safe, novel oral and cream treatments for the common skin conditions eczema and psoriasis.

Further details about the study can be found at:

For media enquiries contact:

Aeron Haworth
Media Relations
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8383
Mob: 07717 881563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk

Scientists testing a cosmetic anti-ageing product sold on the high street have shown it can clinically reduce wrinkles and improve the appearance of skin damaged by everyday exposure to sunlight.

Dermatologists at The University of Manchester carried out a clinical trial on 60 volunteers with typical signs of sun-damaged skin and found that the cosmetic, No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum, could improve some of these clinical features.

The study, published online in the British Journal of Dermatology today (Tuesday, April 28), showed that 70% of individuals using the beauty product had significantly fewer wrinkles after 12 months of daily use compared to volunteers using a placebo.

The research team, headed by Professor of Dermatology Chris Griffiths, reported last year that the original No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum stimulated the production of fibrillin-1, a protein that promotes elasticity in the skin.

For this latest, year-long study, the researchers first wanted to discover whether the new No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum also promoted fibrillin-1 production but also wished to test whether this would result in a reduction in wrinkles, as has been demonstrated with prescription retinoids.

“Very few over-the-counter cosmetic ‘anti-ageing’ products have been subjected to a rigorous, scientific trial to prove their effectiveness,” said Professor Griffiths, who is based in the University’s School of Translational Medicine at Salford Royal Foundation Hospital.

“Although prescription retinoids can have a reparative effect on photo-aged skin, there is scant evidence that any of the plethora of cosmetic ‘anti-ageing’ products can produce similar effects.”

The clinical trial – funded by Boots, the makers of the No7 product range – was carried out using standard scientific protocols. Having established that the No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum did increase fibrillin-1 production, 60 volunteers – 11 men and 49 women aged 45 to 80 years – were recruited to test its efficacy.

The No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum and a control formulation containing no anti-ageing ingredients were supplied in identical, coded packages, so neither investigators nor volunteers were aware as to the treatment of each individual. Thirty volunteers were assigned the No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum and 30 used the placebo formulation.

“Our findings demonstrate that a commercially-available cosmetic can produce significant improvement in the appearance of facial wrinkles following long-term use,” said Professor Griffiths.

“It is rare for such benefits to be reported for an over-the-counter anti-ageing product and this study paves the way for larger studies with more statistical power.”

Ends

Notes for editors

A copy of the British Journal of Dermatology paper will be freely available from Tuesday afternoon at:

For an advanced copy of the paper, please contact The University of Manchester press office.

Broadcast-quality footage of Professor Griffiths discussing the findings can be downloaded from:

If you have problems downloading the footage or would like an edited version please contact The University of Manchester press office.

The Science Media Centre hosted a briefing for national media at its offices in London on Tuesday morning, where Professor Griffiths and Boots Skincare Scientific Adviser Stewart Long reported the findings.

Professor Chris Griffiths is a world-renowned dermatologist and is Associate Dean for Research for The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences. His main research foci are on skin ageing and its treatment, the immunological mechanisms of the distressing skin condition psoriasis and the interactions between the brain and the skin. More details about Professor Griffiths can be found at:

The results of the Boots-funded study would have been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal regardless of outcome. Journalists wishing to speak to Professor Griffiths should contact The University of Manchester press office in the first instance.

For further information contact:

Aeron Haworth

Media Officer

Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences

The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8383

Mob: 07717 881 563

Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk

Lead researcher says the decline in elasticity is what causes wrinkly skin in older age but that it also occurs deep inside our bodies, in blood vessels and lungs, significantly reducing our health. His work is at the forefront of exciting new research that could help fight life-threatening conditions like pneumonia or aneurysm.

Dr Sherratt is a leading scientist on the understanding of ‘fibrillin’. This is the protein that allows our skin, lungs, blood vessels and many other parts to remain elastic and healthy rather than stiff and lifeless.

“Fibrillin becomes less effective as we age, increasing our likelihood of health problems as we grow older,” said Dr Sherratt, who is based in the University’s School of Medicine.

“We can’t replace it and we only have the fibrillin that was made when we were young, so taking care of it is vital. My research aims to increase our understanding of this vital protein, possibly paving the way for solutions such as new treatments or better and earlier diagnosis of problems. Alternatively it may suggest that there are lifestyle choices we can all make to help.”

Scientists already believe that raised sugar levels in diabetes are strongly related to the hardening of proteins, for example, so it is possible that more research could show a wider relationship between sugar consumption and the elasticity of our fibrillin.

Recognising the importance of his research, Help the Aged has announced major financial support for his studies in 91Ö±²¥ through to 2010.

Dr Lorna Layward, Senior Research Manager of the Help the Aged Biomedical Research into Ageing programme, said: “We are very pleased to be funding Dr Sherratt’s work, which could contribute to bring better health and independence to older people in future.

“We normally think about flexibility in terms of exercises like yoga, which can be great for us at all ages, but Dr Sherratt is taking the idea of flexibility at the microscopic level and finding if there are ways to improve it. His findings may literally help us put a spring back into our lungs, arteries and eyes.”

Ends

Notes for editors

Help the Aged is also calling for more donations to its biomedical Research into Ageing programme at 020 7239 1982 or ria@helptheaged.org.uk. These are urgently needed to support important science that can bring us better health and independence as far into later life as possible.

A rare condition where people have problems with the stretchiness of their fibrillin from birth is called Marfan syndrome. Its symptoms include physical deformity and further health consequences can be mild or severe, always worsening with age. The wide range of problems caused by the syndrome indicates the extensive and important role played by fibrillin in our bodies, as well as the urgent need for more research into its role in our health.

Help the Aged is the charity fighting to free disadvantaged older people in the UK and overseas from poverty, isolation and neglect. It campaigns to raise public awareness of the issues affecting older people and to bring about policy change. The Charity delivers a range of services including information and advice, home support and community living that are supported by its fundraising activities and paid-for services. Help the Aged also funds vital research into the health issues and experiences of older people to improve the quality of later life.

For further information contact:

Mike Foster

Public Relations Account Manager

Help the Aged

Tel: 020 7239 1934

Email: mike.foster@helptheaged.org.uk

Or Aeron Haworth

Media Relations Officer

Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences

The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8383

Mob: 07717 881563

Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk