WEIRD STUFF

Workplace bans birthday party

A company has banned staff from sharing birthday cakes in the workplace over health and safety concerns.

Employees at exhibition stand designers Quadrant2Design, based in Poole, Dorset, were told the long-standing office tradition must stop due to risks linked to allergies and food safety.

The firm said the move was prompted by "growing legal, insurance and compliance risks" associated with sharing food of uncertain origin.

One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, criticised the decision as an example of "increasing overreach of modern employment regulation".

They are quoted by the Daily Express newspaper as saying: "What makes this striking is the company can still provide food for clients and visitors. That raises questions about the consistency and practicality of rules businesses are expected to follow."

The staff member added that workers had also been warned not to bring children into the workplace because of safety concerns.

They said: "These measures paint a picture of a workplace where long-standing social traditions, such as bringing in cakes for a colleague's birthday, are being removed due to fear of legal exposure.

"It raises a broader question: are current employment and compliance expectations going too far?"

However, company founder Alan Jenkins defended the policy, insisting it was based on genuine risks rather than excessive regulation.

He explained that food shared among staff is often brought back from holidays abroad, where labelling standards may differ and ingredients such as nuts are not always clearly identified.

Mr Jenkins said: "Our experience is a growing number of people have allergies, sometimes undisclosed to the company or their colleagues.

"Allowing mixed food items from unknown sources, countries or labelling is a risk we're not prepared to accept.

"Regulatory overreach is not a factor in our policy. It's a measured response to clearly identified risks."

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Weight-loss injections may benefit the liver

Scientists have discovered that semaglutide - the active ingredient in blockbuster jabs used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes - can directly improve liver health, even in patients who shed little or no weight.

The drug - sold under brand names such as Wegovy and Ozempic - mimics a gut hormone known as GLP-1.

While it is widely used to help people slim down, researchers at Toronto's Sinai Health say it may also tackle metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) - a serious liver disease linked to fat build-up.

The condition can lead to scarring and long-term damage.

Traditionally, weight loss has been seen as the main way to improve it - but the new findings challenge that idea.

Dr Daniel Drucker, a senior investigator involved in the study, said clinical trials had already hinted at something unusual.

He explained: "Patients who lose very little weight see the same reductions in liver inflammation and scarring as those who lose a great deal. Now we know why."

Alzheimer's gene attacks bones in women

Women diagnosed with osteoporosis could be carrying a hidden risk tied to Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists have discovered that APOE4 - the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's - may quietly weaken bones in women, even when routine scans suggest everything is normal.

The study, led by researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing in California, US and UC San Francisco, found that this gene can damage bone at a microscopic level before any visible warning signs appear.

These subtle changes can begin as early as midlife, slipping under the radar of standard imaging tests used to assess bone density.

Experts have long noticed a puzzling overlap: people with Alzheimer's tend to suffer more fractures, while osteoporosis in women has been flagged as an early predictor of cognitive decline.

By analysing proteins in aged mouse bone, researchers uncovered unusually high levels of molecules linked to neurological diseases, such as those linked to Alzheimer's.

Bone cells, named osteocytes, showed a striking increase in APOE levels - especially in older female mice, where levels were double those seen in younger or male animals.

Further experiments revealed that APOE4 disrupts a crucial maintenance process inside bone cells.

This prevents them from repairing tiny internal channels that help keep bones strong and flexible.

Bones become more fragile despite appearing perfectly healthy on scans.

Researchers say this invisible damage is what makes the discovery so significant. Bone may be deteriorating in ways doctors simply cannot detect with current tools.

Intriguingly, in other experiments using genetically modified mice, the impact of APOE4 was even greater in bone than in brain tissue.