Health headlines: a look behind stories that hit news feeds in February

Here we look at the health stories that patients might have caught in the national news. We provide the supporting evidence behind the headlines, so you can be ready to answer any questions that might arise. Cahal McQuillan reports.

New GLP-1 pill could outperform current treatments

GLP-1 medicines were back in the news on 26 February, The Guardian and The Daily Mail ran stories on a clinical trial that found that a new daily GLP-1 pill, orforglipron, could be more effective at blood sugar control than the currently available oral GLP-1 drug, semaglutide.

The trial, which was published in The Lancet, included 1,500 people with type 2 diabetes from five countries. Participants were randomised to take orforglipron at one of two doses (12 mg or 36 mg) or semaglutide at one of two doses (7 mg or 14 mg) for a year.

The researchers found that orforglipron outperformed both doses of semaglutide in reducing blood sugar for patients. Furthermore, taking either dose of orforglipron resulted in greater weight loss than with semaglutide, with an average of 6-8% compared with 4-5%.

However, it’s important to note that discontinuation rates were higher with orforglipron (9–10%) than semaglutide (4–5%), mostly due to gastrointestinal side effects.

Menstrual blood test could offer cancer screening alternatives

A Chinese study suggesting that menstrual blood could offer a non-invasive alternative to human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical screenings made headlines on 5 February, when the BBC picked up the findings.

Published in The BMJ, the researchers tested menstrual blood from 3,068 women aged 20-54 years for signs of cervical cancer. They then compared the diagnostic accuracy of menstrual blood with samples collected by a clinician for detecting cervical cell abnormalities for HPV and found that testing blood had similar levels of diagnostic accuracy. The authors suggest that testing menstrual blood for HPV could work just as well as – or even replace – current cervical cancer screening methods.

Measles outbreak in London

Measles resurfaced in the news from 16 February, as coverage of a London outbreak compounded last month’s announcement that WHO was revoking the UK's measles-free status. By 26 February, 340 suspected infections had been reported.

The current outbreak is largely taking place in north London, with 84 confirmed cases across Enfield and Haringey, as of 2 March. The Independent reported that 34 confirmed cases were recorded in just one school in Enfield between 20 January and 7 February.

This outbreak has been linked to low vaccination rates in affected areas, with the uptake of the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine at record lows in the UK. In areas such as Enfield, just 64.3% of five-year-olds received both doses of the vaccine in 2024/25. The UK Health Security Agency report that most cases in the current outbreak have been detected in children aged between one and four years.

Puberty blocker trial paused

A clinical trial assessing puberty-blocking drugs in children was paused by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) over safety concerns, the BBC and Sky News reported on 21 February.

The study, which includes 220 children who question their gender identity and are aged between about 11 and 15 years, was conceived in the wake of a 2024 ban on puberty blockers for anyone younger than 18 years in the UK. The pausing of the trial comes after campaigners launched legal action against the government.

Discussions between MHRA and the trial sponsor, King’s College London, to address the new concerns have already started. In the meantime, the trial will not recruit participants until issues raised by MHRA have been resolved between the regulator and the trial clinicians.

On 1 March, it was announced that Professor Jacob George, the chief medical and scientific officer at MHRA who reportedly intervened to pause the trial, will be recused from involvement in the trial after gender-critical social media posts made last year emerged.

Vegetarian diet reduces cancer risk

Vegetarian diets were put in the spotlight  on 27 February, as numerous outlets, including the BBC and Sky News, ran a story on an University of Oxford study that found that vegetarian diets reduced the risk of five types of cancer by as much as 30%.

The study, which was published in the British Journal of Cancer, analysed data from more than 1.8 million people from four countries and examined the risks of 17 types of cancer. Compared to meat eaters, the researchers found that vegetarians have a 21% lower risk of pancreatic cancer, a 9% lower risk of breast cancer, a 12% lower risk of prostate cancer, a 28% lower risk of kidney cancer, and 31% lower risk of multiple myeloma.

However, the study also found that vegetarians have nearly double the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus compared with meat eaters.

Red meat and diabetes risk

Sticking with a theme, red meat came under scrutiny again on 16 February, as the Daily Mail reported on a study that linked high consumption of red meat to a significantly greater risk of developing diabetes.

The study, which was published in the British Journal of Nutrition, examined the associations between total, processed, and unprocessed red meat intake and diabetes.

Using data from almost 35,000 individuals in the USA, they found that each additional daily serving of red meat was associated with a 16% higher likelihood of developing diabetes.

They also found that substituting red meat for other protein sources, such as poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, and plant-based protein sources, could help lower a person’s risk of developing diabetes.