UK Biobank News and Research

RSS

Blood metabolite patterns could reveal dementia risk in midlife

Research shows that blood metabolite profiles can indicate dementia risk, offering a potential tool for early detection and prevention of cognitive decline.

18 May 2026

AI eye scans reveal who may be at higher risk of osteoporosis

RetiAGE, an AI-derived retinal biological age score, was associated with lower bone mineral density and higher fracture risk scores in older Singaporean adults. In the UK Biobank, older retinal biological age also predicted future osteoporosis, suggesting routine retinal imaging could eventually support opportunistic osteoporosis risk screening.

17 May 2026

The Goldilocks sleep zone: study links too little and too much sleep to biological aging

The Nature study introduces “Sleep Chart,” a framework linking self-reported sleep duration with 23 biological aging clocks derived from MRI, plasma proteomics, and metabolomics. Across UK Biobank participants, the lowest biological age gaps generally appeared between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep, while shorter and longer sleep were associated with higher disease and mortality risk.

14 May 2026

Too little or excessive sleep may accelerate organ aging

An analysis of biological clocks throughout the human body suggests that too few hours of sleep-and too many-may speed aging in the brain, heart, lung, and immune system and is associated with a wide range of diseases.

13 May 2026

Faster biological aging linked to higher dementia risk

Having a biological age older than chronological age is associated with a greater likelihood of developing dementia, a new study has shown.

13 May 2026

Long telomeres linked to higher lymphoma risk in families

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Telomere Clinic at Johns Hopkins have identified a genetic syndrome in which unusually long telomeres - the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes - allow immune cells to remain biologically "younger" for longer than normal, predisposing affected individuals to lymphoma and other cancers.

7 May 2026

Research links muscle loss, weaker grip and slower walking pace to higher risk of stroke

Muscle loss, a weaker grip and a slower walking pace were associated with a higher risk of stroke in adults, according to new research published today in Stroke, the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

7 May 2026

New evidence questions the role of brain fog in mental health recovery

Experiences of cognitive problems such as memory loss or difficulty concentrating, known as 'brain fog', may not predict relapse in depression, according to a new study that has confounded researchers' expectations.

7 May 2026

Both low and high heart rates linked to stroke risk

A new study presented today at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) 2026 suggests that both very low and very high resting heart rates are linked with an increased risk of stroke.

5 May 2026

AI creates detailed map of fat and muscle distribution to predict major health risks

Researchers used AI to analyze whole-body MRI scans from more than 66,000 participants to create the most detailed reference map to date of how fat and muscle are distributed in the human body across age, sex and height.

5 May 2026

A new tool that predicts obesity-related disease risk beyond BMI

OBSCORE is a data-driven tool that identifies high-risk individuals for obesity-related diseases, enhancing treatment targeting beyond traditional BMI metrics.

5 May 2026

Study links microplastics in arterial plaque to fourfold increase in stroke risk

In a Perspective published today in the inaugural issue of Brain Health (https://doi.org/10.61373/bh026p.0006), an international team of investigators argues that the human microplastic burden has crossed the threshold from environmental concern to brain health emergency. The article appears alongside the launch of Brain Health, a new peer-reviewed journal from Genomic Press dedicated to the science of lifelong brain resilience.

5 May 2026

New screening tool predicts health risks for people living with obesity

A simple tool, developed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, could help identify which people living with obesity or overweight are most likely to develop serious obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

30 Apr 2026

Loneliness is linked to higher risk of degenerative heart valve disease

Adults who reported feeling lonely had a higher risk of developing degenerative heart valve disease, even after accounting for traditional heart disease risk factors and genetics, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Apr 2026

What happens when more of your exercise is vigorous instead of moderate?

In a large UK Biobank analysis, a higher proportion of vigorous physical activity relative to total activity volume was associated with lower risks of eight major chronic diseases and all-cause mortality, even after accounting for overall activity volume. Device-based data suggested that activity intensity generally offered greater preventive potential than total volume alone across most outcomes.

31 Mar 2026