Known as psoriasis, the skin condition is something that millions suffer with around the world. A grand total of 125 million people are thought to have it on the planet.

A non-contagious disease, it causes inflamed scaly patches of skin across a person’s body. It can be painful depending on how chronic the condition is for someone who has it, with it causing itchy, dry patches that can bleed.

Now, a new study has linked the skin condition to an invisible disease that half a million Brits have.

Psoriasis study explained

The study has been published following new research at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Leading the study was researcher Maria Lampinen, from the university’s Department of Pharmacy, who said: “Previous research has also shown that people with psoriasis have more gastrointestinal problems than the general population.

“However we didn’t know much about why this is the case. With our study, we can now show that people with psoriasis often have invisible inflammation in their small intestines, with an increased risk of what’s called leaky gut.”

A link between Crohn’s disease and psoriasis? (Getty Stock Images)

What is a ‘leaky gut’?

The study found that people with the skin condition psoriasis often have invisible inflammation in the small intestine with an increased propensity for ‘leaky gut’.

According to Cleveland Clinic, leaky gut is ‘based on the concept of increased intestinal permeability [allowing toxins and other substances to pass through], which occurs in some gastrointestinal diseases’.

Having a leaky gut means people are more prone to bacteria and harmful substances leaking through the intestinal barrier and causing inflammation.

The research states that these changes in the gut could explain why psoriasis sufferers often have gastrointestinal problems and are more prone to developing an ‘invisible’ disease; something known as Crohn’s disease.

Suffered by half a million people in the UK, it is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease causing inflammation in a person’s digestive tract. Given it is an autoimmune disorder, it means it is a condition whereby the body’s immune system attacks itself.

Symptoms include abdominal pain and cramps; diarrhoea, sometimes with blood or mucus; weight loss; fever; anemia; joint pain; sore, red eyes; and mouth ulcers.

The study involved 18 patients with psoriasis and 15 healthy controls as subjects. None of these people had been diagnosed with gastrointestinal diseases. Samples were taken from both their small and large bowel before researchers studied different types of immune cells in the mucous membrane.

Crohn’s disease causes real issues for some people (Getty Stock Images)

Lampinen said: “It turned out that psoriasis sufferers had higher numbers of certain types of immune cells in their small intestine, and the cells showed signs of pro-inflammatory activity. Interestingly, we found the same type of immune cells in skin flare-ups from psoriasis patients, suggesting that the inflammation of the skin may have an impact on the gut, or vice versa.”

Half of the psoriasis patients in the study had increased intestinal barrier permeability or leaky gut.

She added: “Given that the psoriasis patients in our study had relatively mild skin disease and showed no visible intestinal inflammation in a gastroscopy, they had surprisingly clear changes in their small intestine compared to healthy controls. These changes could explain why psoriasis sufferers often have gastrointestinal problems, and an increased risk of developing Crohn’s disease.”

With Donald Trump winning another term in the White House, he is set to become America’s 47th president when he is sworn in today (20 January).

The 78-year-old’s first term came in 2017 and, this time around, he is promising ‘a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride’.

For Britain, however, you best expect there to be some changes.

iNews reports that has already been increased volatility in the financial markets following his election win last year – and that will affect us across the pond.

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, said that concerns about rising inflation and interest rates in the US could cause government borrowing costs in the UK to rise.

Ashley Webb, economist at Capital Economics, added: “We think Trump’s second term will result in faster US inflation and higher US interest rates, and that could spill over into higher UK gilt yields/borrowing costs.

“The rise in gilt yields has also raised the cost of borrowing for the Government. This may mean the Government will have to either increase taxes (which could hit households) or lower spending (which may mean worse public services).”

Higher inflation

Inflation around the world could go up when Trump gets into power, mainly because he is introducing tariffs on Chinese and world imports into America.

So if US inflation goes up, and the rest of the world impose tariffs on America, then inflation will go up for almost everyone.

James added: “The combination of domestic fiscal policies and external factors, including Trump’s election, has led to heightened inflation expectations.

“The Bank of England has adjusted its inflation forecasts upward for the next three years, indicating a potential delay in anticipated rate cuts.”

Higher interest rates and higher mortgage rates

Stephen Millard of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) explained: “The main impact on households will be via interest rates. It is likely that the US Federal Deficit will increase as a result of Trump’s election.”

He also said the strengthening of the US dollar against the pound could lead to a ‘knock on effect on inflation.”

Millard added that Brits will likely feel this through either higher household bills or higher mortgage rates.

Rising prices in shops

If the dollar strengthens then you’ll get less bang for your buck.

Combined with higher tariffs, consumer prices in the UK could increase.

Thankfully, Britain’s trade with America is largely on the service industry, so prices on the shelves aren’t that likely to go up.

Damage to businesses

Given that the US was the single biggest market for UK traded goods in 2023, if Trump’s tariffs would make it a lot more expensive to do business.

With higher tariffs, UK prices of items in the US are likely to rise, which would lessen the demand.

Equally, it could mean lower profit margins for British businesses.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the UK will be making ‘strong representations’ to have a free trade relationship.

The inauguration is taking place today (20 January) (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Holidays to America will be more expensive

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said the pound has ‘weakened by 5.9 per cent against the US dollar’, so anyone visiting the US will find their money doesn’t go as far.

He added: “For example, £1 will buy you $1.2189 today versus $1.2954 on 5 November 2024 when the election was held. Someone buying £3,000 worth of dollars for their holiday will now get $3,656 excluding FX commission – that’s $230 less than on election day ($3,886), which is a substantial drop.”

Affect on pensions

If we take workplace pensions as an example, most have around 40 percent of their money tied up in US stocks and shares.

So if the US stock market stays volatile, your investments and future pension value could be affected – but it may not all be bad news.

Justin Onuekwusi, CIO at St James’s Place, said: “Given Trump’s focus on international negotiations, sectors tied to international trade – particularly tech and consumer goods – may experience more volatility.

“On the other hand, his emphasis on deregulation and corporate tax cuts could give short-term boosts to industries like traditional energy, financials, and defence.”

Savings rates

High interest rates are considered to be good for your savings because they mean savers earn more interest on their money.

This article contains mentions of child abuse, rape, and murder which some readers may find distressing.

A woman who orchestrated the killing of her own ‘best friend’ believed she was going to become a millionaire by the end of it – but instead, she got a life behind bars.

In June 2019, 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman was gagged and bound with duct tape and taken to a remote area in Alaska, near Thunderbird Falls, Chugiak, where she was executed by 16-year-old schoolboy Kayden McIntosh.

But while McIntosh was the person who pulled the trigger, things were at play for a lot longer than his involvement.

It started when Denali Brehmer met Darin Schilmiller through an online dating website. Soon after they fell in ‘love’, it became apparent that Brehmer would do anything for Schilmiller – who claimed to be multimillionaire.

After he paid her ‘a lot’ of money for sexually explicit pictures and videos of children she was coerced into taking, the idea of murder was then thrown about by the ‘millionaire’, who was living in his grandparents’ basement in Indiana.

Having been paid for previous crimes she committed, Brehmer, who was 18 at the time, was convinced the 21-year-old catfish would give her $9 million to kill her friend – although he specified that he wanted video footage of someone being raped before murdered.

So, on June 2, 2019, she borrowed 19-year-old Caleb Leyland’s SUV, disclosing with him her plans to murder Hoffman for millions of dollars, and promising to pay Leyland handsomely. With McIntosh in the car, she convinced Hoffman that they were going on a trip to Thunderbird Falls.

Following her death, McIntosh and Brehmer pushed Hoffman’s body into a river.

The tragic story was the focus of Court TV’s Interview With a Killer, which sees Brehmer explain why she murdered Hoffman.

Speaking of the moment McIntosh pulled the trigger, she said: “I just went along with it… because problem solved, right?

“I was just planning on intimidating her but when she started freaking out saying she was going to go to the cops and everything else that’s when he shot her and I was like, well problem solved.”

Denali Brehmer is serving 99 years behind bars (COURTTV)

Tragically, Hoffman’s dad, Timothy Hoffman, passed away in a motorcycle accident at his daughter’s memorial ride before he was able to witness those involved with her murder be served justice.

“One thing I know is that my daughter trusted these people my daughter just wanted friends. Now I have to bury her,” he told journalists at the beginning of the trial.

Brehmer was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of her friend, as was Schilmiller – with the pair receiving 30 years for child pornography.

Kayden McIntosh and Caleb Leyland were also sent down for second-degree murder.

A woman who teaches machine learning and calculus on PornHub has revealed why.

When you click on the X-rated site, you might be expecting something a little raunchier to catch your eye.

However, there’s a select group out there who have been using PornHub to conduct a little extracurricular learning, and it’s not how to improve your sex moves.

That’s because Zara Dar, an engineer-turned-OnlyFans-model, is combining sexy with brainy for her content.

Zara Dar is an engineer from Texas (YouTube/zara-dar)

Sometimes, people want their brain stimulated instead of their…brain stimulated, and that calls for a hardcore round of math.

The PhD dropout now has a YouTube and Pornhub content catalogue which shows her teaching different math concepts to novices.

For example, if you wanted to see a woman in a low-cut shirt explain to you what a neural network is, or the origin of pi, then Dar is your lady.

Sharing on LinkedIn, she said that the videos she posts generate different amounts of income, even though it’s the same clip.

That’s because it’s all about the platform.

So, if she uploaded the same video to YouTube and Pornhub, she’d likely see $340 per million views on YouTube, and $1,000 per million views on Pornhub.

So, Pornhub seems like the obvious choice to conduct her learning clips.

After posting an explanation to LinkedIn, Dar’s account was banned.

She has seen success after uploading her videos to Pornhub (YouTube/zara-dar)

She told 404 Media: “I was engaging professional, but LinkedIn’s strict handling of this situation feels counterproductive to its purpose.”

While she sees more views on YouTube, as clearly, the target audience on Pornhub is after something a little less PG, there is actually quite a bit of this type of content on the porn site.

Well, maybe not math, but there is a lot of non-pornographic things on Pornhub, such as Minecraft let’s play videos.

As for why Dar continues to use Pornhub, she told 404 Media that she doesn’t quite know why they do well, ‘but it could be because my SFW videos stand out against the typical NSFW content on the platform’.

She said: “That contrast might make them more intriguing or refreshing to viewers. But that’s just my speculation.”

On YouTube, she describes herself as a ‘Texas-born and bred engineer who developed a passion for computer science and creating content!’.

As for the people who watch her, they’re here for both the learning and the visuals.

One person wrote: “She helped me realise that i can focus on two things at once.”

Another said: “I was watching this. My wife asked me what are you watching? I raised the volume.”

Someone else commented: “I don’t know why but my interest in maths increased suddenly.”

Another viewer shared: “If that’s how I would’ve been taught mathematics back in the day, I would’ve put Einstein to shame.”

So, she’s teaching and appeasing at the same time.

As Donald Trump prepares to be inaugurated to the White House a second time, we take a look at all changes he’s vowed to usher in.

The Republican Party leader is set to officially become the 47th US President, as he’s sworn into office in Washington DC later from 11.30am Eastern Time today (20 January).

From cryptocurrency to education and everything in between, here’s everything Donald Trump has promised to do as he returns to office…

Be a ‘dictator’

Trump admitted that one of his plans for his first day back in the Oval Office would be to be a ‘dictator’ when discussing the possibility of his win in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year.

He referred to himself as a ‘dictator’ during the interview, when asked by Hannity if he was promising to ‘never abuse power as retribution against anybody’.

In response, Trump said: “Except for Day 1.

“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” he continued.

“After that, I’m not a dictator.”

Delay the TikTok ban

The TikTok ban has been delayed (TikTok/ Twitter/ @amyewong)

TikTok went dark yesterday (January 19), but it was bought back after mere hours with a message reading: “Welcome back! Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!

“You can continue to create, share and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”

Trump will reportedly sign an executive order to delay the ban saying he wants to ‘make a deal to protect our national security.’

Scrap ‘electric vehicle mandates’

Trump has vowed to scrap EV mandates (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Trump plans to scrap Biden administration’s so-called electric vehicle mandate, referring to new pollution standards that incentivize auto manufacturers to increase production of electric and lower-emission vehicles.

Despite vowing to get rid of the policy on his first day, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan the move could take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy’.

Make US ‘crypto capital’

Back in 2021, Trump called crypto a ‘scam against the dollar.’ But four years on, he’s pulled a u-turn as he vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’.

On social media, Trump claimed crypto would be ‘mined, minted and made in the US’.

Both he and wife Melania released their own memecoins ahead of the inauguration, while experts previously predicted Bitcoin could reach up to $250,000 this year.

Trump also said he would ‘fire’ Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler ‘on day one’ – referencing the Joe Biden-appointed SEC chairman who has taken an aggressive approach to crypto regulation.

Free some of the January 6 rioters

Trump supporters clashed with police and security forces as they stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021 (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

It was Trump’s loss in the 2020 election that led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

However, the president-elect told reporters on voting day this year that his supporters are ‘not violent people’, and that there would be ‘no violence’ surrounding the most recent election.

This belief echoes Trump’s previous claim that some of the people sentenced for their role in the insurrection were ‘wrongfully imprisoned’, and explains why he has shared plans to free them of their sentences as one of his first acts when he returns as president.

In a post shared on his social media channel, Trump said: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”

End Green Deals

Trump has spoken previously about his plan to ‘terminate the Green New Deal’, which he dubbed the ‘Green New Scam’.

The Green New Deal was pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, but it was never signed into law. However, Trump has used the term to refer more generally to Joe Biden’s climate and energy policies.

Addressing the policies in a speech in September, Trump said: “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.

“We [will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.

“I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on Day 1.”

Fire the man who indicted him

Trump faced two federal cases due to the insurrection (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Trump faced two federal cases in relation to the 2020 election result from special counsel Jack Smith, and the future POTUS has no plans to work with him again.

Speaking on October 24, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt show he would fire Smith ‘within two seconds’.

“He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.

Plan over 100 executive orders

It’s been reported by AP that Trump plans on preparing over 100 executive orders on his first day in the White House.

Trump’s allies have reportedly spent time preparing documents that Trump can sign quickly, on issues such as deportation, school gender policies, and vaccine mandates, without input from congress.

“There will be a substantial number,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Make hidden government files public

Trump has promised to increase government transparency, including information about MLK’s assassination (Alpha Historica / Alamy Stock Photo)

Including the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., Trump promised at his recent rally in Washington D.C that, in a bid to increase government transparency, he will be making these disclosures in ‘the coming days’.

“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said.

Mass deportations

Trump, his wife Melania and their son Barron (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Making it clear this will be a priority from day one, Trump wants to start his second presidential reign by using the military to deport masses of undocumented immigrants.

In November 2024, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton put these claims to social media, to which Trump simply replied: “TRUE!”

In a lengthier statement during a rally at Madison Square Garden, he said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.

“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

It’s thought the move will impact an estimated 11 million people.

Getting rid of birthright citizenship

Exactly as it sounds, Trump once declared he wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship, which immediately gives citizenship to anyone born in the US.

Noting that this may not be possible as it’s written into the constitution, he said he wants to achieve this by executive order – bypassing congress again – ‘if we can’.

Arrange green cards for college graduates

Despite making his stance on immigration clear, Trump has advocated for non-US citizens to receive green cards to stay in the country if they graduate from college.

During an episode of the ‘All In’ podcast recorded this year, Trump said: “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]

“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”

The ‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’

Trump has his sights set on Greenland (Juan Maria Coy Vergara/Getty Images)

In a bid that has not gone down well with Greenlanders – shocking – Trump has said he wants to buy Greenland, with Republican lawmakers having drawn up a bill which will allow Trump to start negotiations when he enters the White House January 20.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, he said: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.

“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World.

“MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

Cut federal funding for schools educating on ‘inappropriate’ topics

Speaking early last year, Trump addressed a crowd in Iowa and made plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction’.

As part of this, the president-elect shared his plans to crack down on schools which include certain lessons about race, gender or politics.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” he said, per NPR.

Trump also said he would target schools pushing ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children’.