The Know Daily - Wednesday 23 August 2023

_{Wednesday 23 August ∙ Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Elley Duhé}

A first-of-its-kind walking aid recycling scheme has been launched in the UK in a bid to combat healthcare inequality around the world. The project, a partnership between the company Cool Crutches & Walking Sticks and the charity PhysioNet, also aims to tackle the “environmental issues” caused by the throwing away of walking aids in the UK.

👩‍⚕️ Transplant triumph

Surgeons have performed the first womb transplant in the UK - and described the operation as a “massive success”.

What’s the story?
The 17-hour long surgery - first reported on today - was carried out at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford in February. The living donor was a 40-year-old woman and the recipient her 34-year-old sister, who was born without a uterus. Gynaecological surgeon Prof Richard Smith told Sky News that both were “just over the moon”.

The recipient, who has functioning ovaries and had fertility treatment prior to surgery, plans to begin IVF this autumn. The transplant will last a maximum of five years, after which the womb will be removed and the patient can stop taking powerful immunosuppressant drugs.

How did the transplant come about?
In 2014, a woman in Sweden became the first to give birth using a transplanted womb. Since then, almost 100 transplants have taken place around the world, with about 50 babies born as a result.

Surgeons in the UK were given permission to perform womb transplants in 2015, but the team said that “institutional delays” and Covid meant it had not happened until now. The surgery was funded by donations to Womb Transplant UK at a cost of around £25,000, and the medical staff involved in the procedure were not paid for their time.

What next?
A second womb transplant is scheduled to take place this autumn, with more patients in the preparation stages.

Dr Raj Mathur, chair of the British Fertility Society, told Sky News that the surgery was a “remarkable achievement”. “I think it’s the dawn of a new age, a new era in treating these patients,” he said.

🍻 An app-ortunity to cut down?

Smartphone apps could be used to help people cut down on their drinking, a new study has found.

Tell me more.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at 1,770 university students in Switzerland who were classed as having “unhealthy alcohol use”. In a randomised control trial, half the group filled in a questionnaire, while the other half were asked to download something called the Smaart app.

Researchers found that a year after downloading the app, these students consumed 10% less alcohol a week on average, and had around 11% fewer binge drinking days a month. The study therefore concluded that the app had a “significant” impact on moderating drinking.

What did the Smaart app do?
“The app offered those in the intervention group information around the calorie content of alcoholic drinks, blood alcohol content and associated risks,” explained The Independent. It also provided a tool for self-monitoring and goal setting.

What’s the bigger picture?
Experts have cautioned that apps alone won’t be enough to meet the World Health Organization’s target of achieving a 20% fall in harmful alcohol use by 2030 - nor can online interventions adequately support those with severe alcohol dependence.

But, as The Guardian pointed out, “the results are the latest evidence that digital interventions can be effective for drinkers who are concerned about their intake”. And there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that many of us are curious about cutting down.

Statistics show that alcohol use among young people is falling: between 2002 and 2019, the proportion of 16-24-year olds in England who reported monthly drinking fell from 67% to 41%. And charity Drinkaware told The Guardian that its own app, which helps people plan drink-free days, has been downloaded more than 294,000 times since launching in 2021.

🔥 Fyre festival take two: £391 tickets are currently on sale for a reboot of “the notorious music festival that turned out to be fraudulent”. The original event, back in 2017, caused more than $26m in losses when it was cancelled and led to the jailing of its co-founder.

❌ Boots in hot water: The retailer breached advertising rules with four Google ads promoting infant formula in April, the advertising watchdog found. Current UK rules ban the advertising of formula for babies up to six months. Boots apologised and said the ads appeared as a result of human error.

🇪🇸 An “inadequate” apology: Spain’s acting PM has described Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales’ apology for kissing World Cup winner Jennifer Hermoso on the lips as “inadequate”. “The players did everything to win but Rubiales’ behaviour shows that there is still a long way to go for equality,” said Pedro Sanchez.

🇵🇰 Pakistan cable car: Eight people were successfully rescued from a cable car dangling above a ravine in Pakistan yesterday after the cables snapped. The attempt took more than 14 hours, with some of those trapped rescued by helicopter while others brought down by zip lines.

🏡 House price comparison: The most affordable place to buy a home in Great Britain has been named by Halifax - and it’s unsurprisingly a long way from London. Just three English areas made the top 10 most affordable places, but every area included in the bank’s list of the least affordable can be found in England.

Trivia answer: B) The owners of Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island, Hampshire, were forced to remind visitors to keep their clothes on when visiting the sunflower fields after receiving an “increase of reports of naked photography taking place”.

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