Entertainment
In a UK first, Pakistani doctor treats thalassaemia patients through gene therapy
LONDON: British-Pakistani paediatric consultant Dr Sher Bahadur Anjum has successfully treated two young thalassaemia patients through gene therapy, transforming their lives to complete normality — for the first time in the UK.
Dr Anjum, who specialises in haematology (blood disorders) at Newham Hospital in East London, part of Barts Health NHS Trust, led a team of carers at the Newham Hospital to treat the two young boys, now aged 11 and 13, of Bangladeshi background.
Thalassemia is a genetic condition that is most common in those who are Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi. It is a blood disorder, and people with thalassemia have low iron and oxygen levels in the body. This can make them severely anaemic — tired, short of breath, and pale.
To treat their thalassemia, the two patients needed to go to the hospital for blood transfusions every month, which had a major impact on their quality of life. The only cure is a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, but this is not done very often because of the risks involved, and it can be difficult to find donors.
Thanks to an innovative new gene therapy administered by Dr Anjum and his team, working with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), the two young boys, now aged 11 and 13, are now living healthy, happy lives without further hospital visits or regular blood transfusions.
Before getting the 4-week treatment at GOSH, Dr Anjum and the healthcare team at Newham Hospital conducted extensive pre-gene therapy care over three months, which included blood testing, vaccinations and maintaining the correct haemoglobin levels. Their care at Newham also continued long after the treatment, with monitoring, blood counts and managing the side effects.
When Dr Anjum first approached the families, they were both hesitant to start this therapy as it was new, and requires an initial longer hospital stay. However, after almost 12 months of speaking to them, listening and answering their questions and concerns, they were reassured to start the treatment for their children.
Now their lives have changed forever thanks to the treatment, and they want to encourage other South Asian parents to take up the offer if doctors find them eligible.
Dr Anjum, who originally studied in Gilglit Baltistan’s Astoria village and then Abbottabad Medical College (AMC) told Geo News: “Gene therapy is a new treatment that aims to fix the problem at its root. Doctors take some of your child’s own blood stem cells, add a healthy copy of the gene needed to make haemoglobin, and then return these cells to the body after special preparation. The goal is that your child’s body starts making enough haemoglobin on its own, so they no longer need regular blood transfusions. In many children, this has already worked successfully.
“Both of my patients had grown up knowing nothing but hospital visits and transfusions. Their parents had shouldered years of emotional and practical struggles, doing everything possible to keep their children well. When Barts Health NHS Trust was asked to identify patients for the new gene therapy programme, we saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“But convincing the families was not simple. Gene therapy is new, complex, and frightening to parents who have already endured so much. Understandably, both families were hesitant and fearful of risks. It took almost a year of continuous conversations, reassurance, and building trust before they agreed. At the Great Ormond Street Hospital, I was given an honorary contract so I could support the children and their families before, during, and after the procedure. The therapy itself was intense, requiring months of preparation, but the courage of these families carried them through.
“Six months on, the transformation is extraordinary. These children, once tethered to hospital beds and transfusion schedules, are now living normal lives without the need for blood transfusions. Their energy has returned, their futures are brighter, and their families have finally been released from the unending cycle of hospital visits.”
Dr Anjum said that for the first time, families affected by thalassaemia can imagine a future where their children are free from the shadow of chronic illness. “It shows the power of gene therapy to turn despair into hope, and it highlights what collaboration within the NHS can achieve when we put patients and families at the heart of care.”
Demi Lovato just turned one of the internet’s oldest memes about her into a Halloween costume.
The singer, 33, took to Instagram on Thursday with photos and TikToks of herself dressed as “Poot Lovato,” a decade-old viral meme born from a poorly lit 2015 photo that fans jokingly claimed showed Lovato’s “long-lost twin locked in a basement.”
In the new photos, Lovato showed a recreated look, posting side-by-side photos of the original image and her costume. She also staged a spooky garage shoot, complete with dramatic shadows and a video of “Poot” screaming for help.
She kept the joke going with a TikTok “house tour,” showing off Poot’s simple “home,” complete with a water heater, bubble wrap, and cleaning supplies.
“Happy Halloween and happy one week of intd!!! Been so locked in this era thought I’d let Pootvato out,” Lovato captioned the post.
Her husband, Jutes, summed it up best in the comments. “Alright Halloween is over everyone. Pack it up. It belongs to Demi this year.”
Kathy Griffin says she immediately contacted Jimmy Kimmel “on day one” of his recent suspension from Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
The comedian, 64, recalled her own 2017 public fallout when she faced backlash for a photo showing her holding a fake severed head of Donald Trump and how Kimmel supported her at the time.
“It’s been triggering for me because Jimmy was the only one who still had me on his show when everyone else said I was too dangerous,” Griffin told People of the late night show host, whose ABC show was briefly pulled from the air in September after comments he made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The show has since returned.
Griffin will launch her new comedy tour, New Face, New Tour—a nod to her recent facelift—on November 8 in Las Vegas, with dates running through May 2026.
“I change my act every night and always start with local jokes,” she said. “Once, I read out the local sex offender list during a show and had to run out of the theater. I called Cher after, and she just said, ‘Get home, bitch. Get back to Malibu.’”
Prince Andrew is being stripped of his titles and must surrender his lease to Royal Lodge, the mansion in Windsor where he lives, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the statement said. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
Andrew had recently said he would stop using his royal titles and honors, including the Duke of York, but Thursday’s statement on behalf of King Charles III and Queen Camilla initiated the formal process of revoking all his titles, including prince.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement said.
Andrew has come under intense scrutiny over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accusations from Virginia Giuffre that she was trafficked to engage in sex with the prince while she was underage. Andrew has denied the allegations. He reached a settlement with Giuffre in 2022. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year.
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse,” the statement said.
Giuffre’s family said Thursday in a statement provided to CBS News’ partner network BBC News, “Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.”
“Today, she declares victory. We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” said the statement sent on behalf of her brother, Sky Roberts, and sister-in-law, Amanda.
In a memoir published posthumously, Giuffre detailed her alleged encounters with Andrew.
“He was friendly enough, but still entitled — as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright,” she wrote. “The next morning, [Ghislaine] Maxwell told me: ‘You did well. The prince had fun.’ Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the man the tabloids called ‘Randy Andy.'”
In 2022, Andrew gave up his military affiliations, royal patronages and official public duties. He also stopped using the title “His Royal Highness.”
Andrew had faced heavy criticism from the British public over his living arrangements, with many voicing concern that he continued to live in his mansion on a royal estate despite the accusations leveled against him and his retreat from royal duties.
His 75-year lease for Royal Lodge, signed in 2003, included an up-front payment of around 8 million pounds (around $10.5 million) and an annual rent described as a “peppercorn,” meaning an extremely small amount, according to BBC News. Part of that payment was for renovations to the property, which at the time was in a state of disrepair, and Buckingham Palace felt that having Andrew pay the cost to upgrade the property was better than using public funds, BBC reported.
The lease had previously been referred to as “cast iron,” and Buckingham Palace said it needed to negotiate with Andrew in order to remove him, but did not provide further information about the details of those negotiations.
Buckingham Palace said Andrew will move out of the residence as soon as possible and will move to a property on the Sandringham estate, located about 100 miles north of London.
New Zealand’s apparel imports up 3.77% in Jan-Sept 2025
Rashford racism case: Fan facing €4K fine
US Fed cuts rate by 25 bps; economic outlook uncertainty high: FOMC
-
Politics6 days agoTrump slams ‘dirty’ Canada despite withdrawal of Reagan ad
-
Sports7 days agoAlleged mob ties in NBA scandal recall La Cosa Nostra’s long shadow over sports
-
Tech7 days agoDefect passivation strategy sets new performance benchmark for Sb₂S₃ solar cells
-
Business1 week agoJLR shutdown after cyber hack drives slump in UK car production
-
Tech1 week agoTurning pollution into clean fuel with stable methane production from carbon dioxide
-
Sports1 week agoPakistan, Saudi Arabia join hands to promote football development
-
Business1 week agoAssaults on rail network more than triple in 10 years
-
Sports1 week agoNBA legend Chauncey Billups, Heat’s Terry Rozier arrested as part of FBI gambling probe