A new drug called baxdrostat has lowered blood pressure in patients with a common cause of hypertension, and the benefits lasted up to two years after they stopped taking it. In a small study led by Prof Morris Brown of Queen Mary University of London, some patients no longer needed any hypertension drugs and may have been cured. A larger trial is under way to find out more.
Ben Shelvin, from Salford, was once told he might never walk or talk again after a moped crash on a family holiday in Croatia. He has now made a near complete recovery, built a career in stand-up comedy and completed half-marathons. He encourages others to keep going.
Rhys Evans from Wales became the first person in the UK to receive a new gene therapy in 2001, as a baby who had spent his first year in a medical bubble. Now 26, he is living a full life and works as a sound technician in Minehead, and the treatment has since helped many other children. Doctors say it has now been given to 136 people with a range of illnesses since 2001.
Harry Kay, from Preesall in Lancashire, has kept weightlifting into his 80s, using television advert breaks to fit in repetitions at home. He says strength training has helped him lose weight, lower his high blood pressure and feel good, and he encourages others his age to give it a try.
