In this issue:

A day in the life: Callum’s story gives hope to others

At just 10 months old, little Callum Pollock had a bone marrow transplant. The donor was his seven-year-old sister Chantelle.

Brain damage in newborn babies

Giles Kendall’s new project — funded to the tune of £154,086 over 3 years — will investigate the role of infection in causing brain damage in newborns

Ectodermal dysplasias

An Action Medical Research is investigating a debilitating genetic disorder that affects sufferers’ teeth, nails, skin and hair.

Folic acid may combat cleft lip and palate

Action Medical Researchers have found that pregnant women who take folic acid supplements may be doubling the health benefits for their unborn babies.

Growing your own knee cartilage!

To most of us growing bits of your own body sounds like something from a science fiction film. But at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore in London science fiction has become a reality.

Helping children with the world’s deadliest toxin

It wouldn’t seem immediately obvious that children might be helped with a potentially lethal toxin, but an Action Medical Research project has proved just that.

Language impairment after stroke

A new project aims to identify changes in the brain’s organisation of speech processing after stroke

New hope for coeliac sufferers

Wheat is a staple part of the Western diet — but it has a lot to answer for. Wheat flour, rye, barley and possibly oats, contain gluten (a type of protein) and are the cause of coeliac disease, which affects one in every 100 people in the UK.

Pre-eclampsia makes headlines

Recently, the BBC reported the results of a study which indicated that taking the anti-oxidant vitamins C and E early in pregnancy halved the rates of pre-eclampsia in women with a high risk of developing the condition.

Rheumatoid arthritis — investigating the properties of tendons

Action Medical Research is funding a new project to better understand why loss of tendon function occurs with rheumatoid arthritis

Successful results from stroke project

Severe constipation and bowel leakage are common and distressing problems faced by people who have had a stroke.

The unpredictable disease

An Action Medical Research project has been looking at the biggest cause of stroke in children: sickle cell disease (SCD). Our medical press officer, Louise Brown investigates.

Ultrasound scanning

The fuzzy black and white image of a baby in the womb produced by ultrasound scanning is now familiar to everyone. For expectant parents it provides an exciting first glimpse of their child.