Author | Lightnews

Liam Davenport

Liam Davenport

@liamdjournalist.bsky.social

44 followers 21 following 83 posts

Freelance medical reporter, sharing my news stories and features, and bits that interest me.

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Reposted by Liam Davenport

Cancer Therapy Advisor @cancertherapyadv.bsky.social · 15d

Enzalutamide plus leuprolide reduces the risk of death by more than 40% in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer compared to leuprolide alone, according to research presented at #ESMO25 by @sfreedlandmd.bsky.social of @cedarssinaicancer.bsky.social. #pcsm #gucsm #ESMO2025

shorturl.at/H6RtB

Reposted by Liam Davenport

Cancer Therapy Advisor @cancertherapyadv.bsky.social · 14d

Adjuvant ensartinib improves disease-free survival compared to placebo following complete resection of ALK-positive NSCLC, according to research presented at #ESMO25. #lcsm #ESMO2025

shorturl.at/XHWQh

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · 23d

A toxin that arrests cell division sounds terrifying—but it might also lead to breakthroughs in cancer and antibiotic development.
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social dives into the strange dual life of CdtB.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Tales from the Morgue: Toxin to Cells: You’re Under Arrest!

Bacterial toxin could be platform for new antibiotics, anticancer agents

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Oct 2

Fizzy drinks and depression—linked by gut bacteria or just random noise?
A German study has experts divided. The verdict? Caution, not causation.
Read the full piece: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/do-sodas-d...
#Microbiome #Depression #MedicalNews

Do sodas drown sorrows, or cause them?

German scientists suggest consuming sugary soft drinks might be linked to depression. Or is that people with depression simply have more sodas and fizzy drinks? Medical News Insider investigates.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Reposted by Liam Davenport

Cancer Therapy Advisor @cancertherapyadv.bsky.social · Sep 30

Men with #prostatecancer who closely follow the @americancancersoc.bsky.social cancer survivor guidelines after diagnosis have lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to those who do not. Published in @jamanetworkopen.com.

https://bit.ly/4nYWww9

#pcsm #gucsm

Following ACS Survivor Guidelines Reduces Mortality in Men with Prostate Cancer

Men who improve their adherence to ACS guidelines following diagnosis have a reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to those who maintain a low concordance with guideline recommendations.

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 28

Rats who couldn’t wait for the bigger prize helped reveal how impulsivity works in the brain.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social's latest Tales from the Morgue explores the nucleus accumbens, dopamine, and what connects addiction, ADHD, and gambling.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Tales from the Morgue: What Do We Want? Rewards! When Do We Want ‘Em? Now!

Instant Gratification, Addictive Behaviors May Lie in Specific Brain Area

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 26

At #MAP2025, AI tools showed potential to forecast:
🔹 Muscle wasting in glioma
🔹 Which CUP treatments will work
🔹 When breast cancer turns invasive
Read on: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/listening-...
#CancerResearch #AIinMedicine

Listening in on cancer: AI tools may predict cancer’s next move, treatment responses, and muscle wasting

At MAP 2025, artificial intelligence tools showed promise in outsmarting cancer by predicting tumour spread, treatment responses, and muscle wasting.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 21

Do “natural Viagras” work?
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social investigates Amazonian potions, Swedish “Romance in a Bottle,” and the line between true stimulants and sex-fool’s gold.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#Aphrodisiacs #AlternativeMedicine

Tales from the Morgue: Better Loving Through Bio-Chemistry?

Natural Compounds May Give Viagra a Run for Its Money

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 18

A new obesity drug that reprograms fat cells
A diabetes med repurposed for cocaine addiction
A novel immune target in incurable leukaemia
This week’s #ShortTakes by Liam Davenport: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/short-take...
#EASD2025 #AddictionScience #CLL

Short Takes: Reprogramming obesity, cocaine dependence and a new treatment target in leukaemia

This week’s short takes include a drug shown at EASD 2025 that reprogrammes obesity to aid weight loss; using semaglutide to treat cocaine dependency; and a new hope in treating incurable leukaemia.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 15

Is it time to rethink lung cancer screening age limits?
New research shows older adults can benefit—if they’re fit enough for surgery.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social's latest for Medical News Insider from #WCLC2025: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/to-screen-...
#PublicHealth #CancerCare

To Screen, or Not to Screen? It’s A Question of Age

Older people found to have lung cancer through screening are more likely to die from any cause than their younger counterparts, but are just as likely to survive the disease following surgery.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 13

Snowmobiles + water = trouble
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social reports on the dangerous sport of “water skipping,” where riders race across lakes on machines destined to sink.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#ExtremeSports #SnowmobileLife #Watercross

Tales from the Morgue: ‘Water Skippers’ Get That Sinking Feeling

Snowmobiles and Water Don’t Mix, But Try Telling That to Enthusiasts.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 6

Live fast, die young…unless you’re a worm on experimental drugs.
In Tales from the Morgue, Neil Osterweil explores how boosting defenses against oxidative stress extended worm lifespans by 50%—and what that suggests for humans.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#Longevity #Aging

Tales from the Morgue: The Worm Turns the Clock: Longer Living Through Chemistry

Drugs May One Day Prolong Life, Retard Aging, and Treat Degenerative Diseases

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Sep 4

🦠 A shingles vaccine with heart benefits?
🎹 Piano music that lowers blood pressure?
💊 A new drug that might outdo current meds?
Our #ESC2025 Short Takes are here.
Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/short-take...
#Cardiology #Hypertension #MedicalNews

Short Takes from ESC 2025: Shingles vaccine, the benefits of music on blood pressure, and a potential new blockbuster drug

The latest from ESC Congress 2025 shows people given the shingles vaccine have fewer heart events; predictable musical patterns may lower blood pressure; and a new drug may beat high blood pressure.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 31

From Lincoln’s personality test to Theodore Roosevelt’s bully pulpit—what really makes a president “great”?
@neilosterweil.bsky.social explores the psychology of U.S. presidents in this week’s Tales from the Morgue.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#PresidentialHistory #Psychology

Tales from the Morgue: Putting Presidents to the Test

Great Leaders Love the Challenges and Rise to the Occasion, Say Candidate, Historian

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 29

GLP-1s: first weight loss, then diabetes, then heart disease.
Now at #ESC2025, apparently climate change, too.
Fewer admissions, fewer emissions.
Neat idea, but not the miracle shot some want it to be. Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/lose-weigh... #ozempic

Lose weight and save the planet with Ozempic

Data presented at ESC Congress 2025 suggests that weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists can both improve health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 24

Johannes Brahms: brilliant composer, legendary curmudgeon.
Could sleep apnea explain his gruffness? Our Tales from the Morgue series by @neilosterweil.bsky.social revisits this curious medical mystery.
🔗 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Tales from the Morgue: Was Brahms A Sorehead from Lack of Sleep?

“Lullaby” Composer May Have Been Too Pooped To Be Polite, Physician Says.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 22

Could lithium become the “penicillin” for Alzheimer’s?
Harvard researchers find a lithium salt reverses memory decline in mice, while semaglutide may protect people with diabetes from dementia.
Our latest Medical News Insider report: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/of-mice-an...

Of mice and dementia: lithium could be key for treating Alzheimer’s disease

Harvard geneticists showed that a form of lithium can reverse signs of cognitive and memory decline in mice with Alzheimer’s disease; other researchers see a diabetes drug as a potential preventative.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 16

🪰 Fruit flies with two (make that six) left feet helped scientists identify a gene critical for sensing touch, hearing & body position. @neilosterweil.bsky.social tells the story in the latest Tales from the Morgue.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#Genetics #Neuroscience

Tales from the Morgue: Fruit Fly Klutzes Give Clues to Human Hearing, Touch

Genetic study points to mechanism for senses that rely on mechanical stimulation

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 14

A potential breakthrough in overcoming chemo resistance—
And a nationwide survey on diabetes stigma that’s hard to ignore.
Two sharp research updates from the UK, one article:
medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/a-potentia...
#CancerCare #DiabetesAwareness

A potential cancer breakthrough, and stigma in diabetes

A novel means of challenging resistance to chemotherapy in cancer, and a survey revealing the stigma and blame experienced by people with diabetes, are two of the latest UK research highlights.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 9

A 3,050-year-old mummy, a modern heart test, and a probable diagnosis of sudden cardiac death.
In Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social tells the story of Horemkenesi and the science that solved his mystery.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#MummyScience #MedicalHistory

Tales from the Morgue: The Curse of the Mummy: Heart-Stopping Action!

Latter-day pathologists find elevated cardiac marker in ancient corpse

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 7

New research shows that every 1,000 extra steps a day—even well below the 10,000 mark—can significantly reduce heart risks in people with high blood pressure. Fast walking = even more benefit.
📖 Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/a-brisk-wa...
#hearthealth #walking #hypertension

A brisk walk a day keeps the blood pressure doctor away

If you have high blood pressure, even relatively small increases in your daily step count and walking speed could reduce the risk of heart attack, heart failure or stroke, say Australian researchers.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Aug 3

Put down that drumstick—turns out chickens might be closer cousins mice, at least genetically.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social digs into a delightful finding from the archives in the latest Tales from the Morgue.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#Genetics #ChickenDNA #ScienceHumour

Tales from the Morgue: Put Down That Drumstick—That's Your Cousin!

In newspaper parlance, the morgue is where old articles, reference sources, photographs, etc.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Jul 26

Mozart died young. Was it poison? Fever? Or something on his plate? In the debut of Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social investigates the theories—and a diagnosis involving schnitzel. A delicious read.
📜 Read: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#Mozart #MedicalMystery

Tales From the Morgue—The Case Of the Dead Composer: Did Tainted Pork Fell Mozart?

Medical Sleuth Fingers Worms As Cause of Tunesmith’s Demise

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Jul 23

A botched update from CrowdStrike crashed US hospital systems.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social watched one ER fall into 1990s-style chaos—with paper notes and hallway gurneys.
Read his account: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/down-and-o...
#HealthTechFailure #HospitalSystems

Down and out in the emergency department

A botched software update hampers hospital care across the US.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com

Liam Davenport @liamdjournalist.bsky.social · Jul 18

Young people are increasingly being diagnosed with bowel cancer—often late.
At #ESMOGI25, experts urged a 3-pronged response:
🧪 Better tools
📣 More awareness
🩺 Earlier recognition
Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/bowel-canc...
#ColorectalCancer #CancerAwareness

Bowel cancer is rising in younger people, and screening is not the only answer

At ESMO GI 2025 experts say rising cancer rates in younger adults may require not just better screening, but better awareness over the disease and its symptoms, and encouraging people to come forward.

medicalnewsinsider.substack.com