Oxford News
Stroke Cognition Calculator could help predict thinking problems after stroke
The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care research (NIHR), and led by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences was published in the Lancet Health Longevity.
Many people experience changes in thinking after stroke. This can include difficulties with memory, attention, language, planning, or decision-making. For some, these problems improve over time. For others, they can last much longer and affect day-to-day life, work, relationships, and independence.
There is no single typical recovery pattern for cognition after stroke and families have reported feeling unprepared for these “invisible” effects when someone leaves hospital.
If clinicians can make an earlier and more informed estimate of who is more likely to have longer-term thinking problems, this could help plan more effective support for patients and families.
A team led by Professor Nele Demeyere have created a prediction tool that uses information already collected during a typical hospital stay, including age, gender, severity of the stroke. alongside results from the Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS), a short bedside test of thinking skills carried out soon after the stroke and now widely used across the NHS.
Data was collected on an initial 430 participants in Oxford, with the accuracy of the predictions tested by looking at the development data of the same group after six months.
The Stroke Cognition Calculator was 76% accurate in predicting a patient’s cognitive difficulties six months after their stroke, whereas other tools that have been published for the same purpose had a 53%-66% accuracy rate. These previous tools have focused on predicting a decline in thinking skills, whereas the Stroke Cognition Calculator allows for the fact that after stroke cognition can improve or stay stable, giving a more accurate result.
Further testing on an additional 264 participants recruited from 37 hospitals across England looked at how the calculator would apply to patients in different healthcare settings and showed that accuracy of predictions remained similar at 74%.
This research is a major step toward more personalised care post-stroke. By using routinely available data, the tool would be easy and equitable to implement across different health systems. Used appropriately, a Stroke Cognition Calculator could eventually support clinician’s decision making about a patient’s needs following discharge. This could help patients and families understand what to expect, and help services plan the right support at the right time, while recognising that every recovery is different.
The team hope that this study will pave the way for further testing in a wider range of stroke services and patient groups, ultimately looking at whether use of the calculator can improve care and outcomes for patients and families.
First author Andrea Kusec says: ‘The Cognition Calculator has a lot of potential for everyday clinical use because it uses predictors and risk factors that should be in every stroke patient’s medical records, making it affordable and easy to implement. I hope it will lead to more conversations on supporting long-term cognitive outcomes and dealing with uncertainty about future change in thinking skills in people with stroke and their loved ones.’
Professor Nele Demeyere says: ‘Cognitive difficulties after stroke are common and highly varied but predicting who will continue to struggle has been challenging. What makes this model different is that it incorporates information already collected in routine care using the Oxford Cognitive Screen, which is widely adopted within NHS clinical practice. The next step is to test how these predictions can be used responsibly to improve follow-up and support for patients and families.’
The paper, ‘Multidomain post-stroke cognitive impairment: Development and validation of a clinical prediction model’ is published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity.
Oxford News
Katy Perry forced to cancel gig ahead of Blenheim Festival
The 41-year-old pop icon was due to perform at Werchter Boutique festival in Belgium last night, Saturday, June 28, when the event was unexpectedly cut short.
The festival’s committee decided to end the day’s performances early, at 9pm just after a set from Pitbull, due to a weather forecast of ‘severe thunderstorms from midnight onwards at the earliest’ and a government warning.
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Perry wrote on Instagram: “Sadly my set at Werchter Boutique tonight can’t happen due to a government mandated cancellation because of the incoming inclement weather and crowd safety concerns.
“I was backstage at the show in the middle of hair and makeup when this news was delivered, and they gave me no choice.
“I am just as unhappy as you are. Unfortunately this is beyond my control, but the safety of all 55,000 of you always comes first and foremost.”
The performance was due to mark the popstar’s return to the one-day event held in Belgium’s Festivalpark for the first time in more than 15 years.
READ MORE: Sara Cox in new venture as UK charity collapses with £430k owed
Perry added: “I am sorry I can’t change the weather, and even sorrier that all of us can’t be together tonight. I was looking forward to being back after 17 years, I was even gonna wear the same outfit from that 2009 show again. I love you all, and please get home safe.”
It comes just a week before the star’s next scheduled festival appearance, at the brand-new Blenheim Festival in Wodostock, Oxfordshire, where she is due to perform on July 4.
The current forecast for that date is sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-20s.
Oxford News
BBOWT shares tips for helping wild bees this summer
CAN you imagine summer without the sight of bumblebees buzzing from flower to flower, or a summer lunch without juicy tomatoes or strawberries?
If we don’t help our wild bees, this could be a glimpse of the future.
Our bees are in trouble.
Bees pollinate flowers, but also many of our favourite food crops, equivalent to every third mouthful of food we eat.
But they’re losing the habitat and plants they need to survive.
In the countryside, 97 per cent of lowland meadow has already been lost and the dramatic decrease in suitable habitats isn’t just confined to rural areas.
Gardens used to act as ‘green corridors’ for wildlife to move around towns and cities, and into and out of urban areas, but are increasingly being paved over or even covered with fake grass – with no real plants at all.
Helping bees is easy though.
Anyone can take action to help wild bees whether you have a wall for vertical planting, window box, or back garden.
It’s easy to plant a bee haven and fun choosing between bee-friendly beauties like borage, foxglove and honeysuckle.
There are 15 million gardens in the UK.
Put together they cover an area that’s seven times the size of the Isle of Wight.
If we all made our gardens more bee-friendly it would have a huge impact on our wild bees.
So, what should you plant in your garden?
Bees need a supply of pollen and nectar throughout the year, from late winter/early spring when some emerge from their winter hibernation right through until the end of the year.
Plant a selection of perennials, such as bergamot, globe thistle and knapweeds, for pollen through the summer.
These will provide bees with food year after year.
Add a few annuals each year, such as borage, cornflower and sunflower for variety.
Later in the autumn, hebe and ivy provide food when summer plants have gone to seed.
Then make sure you’ve got a few winter-flowering crocuses and hellebores to help bees as they emerge on warmer winter or early spring days in need of food after their winter hibernation.
Did you know there are around 250 species of bee in the UK?
Just one species of bee, the honeybee, actually makes honey.
Then there are bumblebees, which are familiar to most of us, and many different kinds of solitary bee.
Solitary bees are fantastic pollinators for our garden plants.
They don’t live in colonies, but instead the females make their own nest without any ‘workers’ to help them.
Some make their nests in gaps in the walls of old buildings or dig holes in bare ground (look for small piles of earth with a tiny hole in the middle).
You can help some species of solitary bee in your garden by providing a ‘bee hotel’.
Cut lengths of old bamboo and tie together, or drill long holes in old pieces of wood.
Hang somewhere sunny and sheltered and, in time, the bees will move in.
The exposed cliffs at BBOWT’s Dry Sandford Pit nature reserve near Abingdon are a haven for many types of solitary bee, which burrow into the soft, sandy layers.
Look for the ‘honeycomb’ of tiny holes.
You may see the UK’s newest bumblebee in your garden – the tree bumblebee.
These were first recorded here in 2001 but they’ve now spread throughout much of England and Wales.
They have a distinctive ginger-coloured back (thorax) and black and white abdomen.
Some make their homes in old bird nest boxes as they prefer to nest above the ground.
Help ensure our bees’ survival by making your garden bee-friendly this summer.
You’ll be making a real difference to our bees and helping to ensure our summer strawberries are here to stay.
Find out more about bees and how to help them at bbowt.org.uk/different-kinds-bees.
Oxford News
Buckland Primary School Weins Homes Badbury Green village
Year Six pupils from Buckland Primary School visited Wain Homes’ Badbury Green site to learn about the housebuilding process and future career opportunities.
During the visit, students explored the stages of construction, the importance of green spaces, and the wide variety of roles available in the industry.
James Stevens, class teacher at Buckland Primary School, said: “Thank you to the Wain Homes team for giving our children an enjoyable and informative experience in a way they could easily understand.
“The children now have knowledge of how the homes they live in are built and some of the careers they may be interested in as they get older. They particularly enjoyed looking round the show homes and having a go at laying some bricks.”
The pupils toured two show homes and tried their hand at bricklaying.
A time capsule, filled with children’s notes describing life in 2026, was also buried during the visit, set to be be opened in 2076.
Tim Lund, regional sales director at Wain Homes, said: “We hope the visit inspired some of the children to consider construction as a future career. They were eager to learn and now understand each stage of the process of building a modern energy efficient home.”
Wain Homes is building 125 energy-efficient homes at the site.
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