Category: Health

Manual lymphatic drainage is sometimes used for lipoedema, but evidence for its usefulness remains limited. DuxX/Shutterstock For many women with lipodoema, the diagnosis comes after years of being told the same thing: eat less, more more. The problem is that the fat accumulating around their hips and legs isn’t responding to diet or exercise, because […]

Weight-loss injections, such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, have transformed how we treat obesity. Around 1.6 million adults in Great Britain have used weight-loss drugs in the past year, with the vast majority of patients buying these drugs privately. The issue with these weight-loss drugs is that, despite their success in shedding weight while patients are […]

Zhenny-zhenny/ Shutterstock The UK continues to experience shortages of many common prescription drugs, despite efforts to strengthen supply chains. Drugs for ADHD, epilepsy, GLP-1s for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, as well as ramipril (which is used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure), have all faced supply shortages since the end of […]

The Dance of Death by John of Kastav (1490). National Gallery of Slovenia In our research in the British Library’s medieval collections, we have identified a previously unnoticed document that provides fresh insights into the survivors of the outbreak of plague known as the Black Death (1346–53). The document – a scrap of parchment inserted […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a “public health emergency of international concern”, with cases now confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. Here is what you need to know. What is Ebola? Ebola is a serious potentially fatal infectious disease. It causes fever, damage to blood […]

Sweets for my sweets … Fuss Sergey Designing a series of sweetener trials seemed straightforward enough to us as behavioural scientists who specialise in human appetite and obesity. The plan was simple: replace the added sugar in a range of foods with different classes of alternative sweeteners, holding everything else constant. We would start with […]

PMOS is a complex hormonal and metabolic disorder. Toey Andante/ Shutterstock For more than two decades, I have studied a condition that shapes the lives of about 10-13% of women. This condition causes complex, wide-ranging symptoms such as irregular periods, excessive hair growth, weight gain, acne and difficulty getting pregnant. Until a few days ago, […]

Energy gels have become an essential part of many runners' kits. Real Sports Photos/ Shutterstock Sebastian Sawe ripped open a carbohydrate gel sachet and slurped it five minutes before the start of the 2026 London Marathon. Sixty minutes later, he inhaled another one before smashing through the two-hour marathon barrier. Sawe might have been the […]

New Africa/Shutterstock.com Scientists in South Korea have developed experimental contact lenses designed to send electrical signals through the retina and into brain regions linked to mood. In mice, the technology appeared to improve depression-like behaviour. The idea sounds futuristic: a contact lens that could one day help treat depression by stimulating the brain through the […]

Rocketclips, Inc./Shutterstock Pregnancy is often regarded as a time to prepare the nursery, but it is also a useful moment to get the kitchen ready. For many expectant parents, the months before a baby arrives are filled with practical jobs: buying clothes, assembling a cot, choosing a pram, packing a hospital bag. Yet one of […]