Category: Health

Climbing and bouldering have become increasingly popular pastimes. In 2021, competitive climbing even become one of the official games at the Tokyo Olympics. But while climbing is a great way to test the body to its extremes, it’s not risk free. It puts all sorts of stresses and strains on many parts of the body, […]

It can look almost too easy: athletes gliding along on a bike, runners shuffling at a pace slower than most people’s warm-up, or someone strolling so gently it barely seems like exercise at all. Yet this kind of effortless movement is at the heart of what’s becoming known as zone zero exercise. The idea runs […]

The health advice that keeps you from getting sick might actually harm you once you’re already ill. This counterintuitive medical reality has a new name: “Cuomo’s paradox”, coined by Professor Raphael Cuomo at UC San Diego School of Medicine after analysing findings across numerous studies. The paradox describes how behaviour long considered unhealthy – carrying […]

FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO reiterate call for immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition 22/08/2025- ROME/GENEVA/NEW YORK – More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) […]

Most people know they should drink more water, but our new research reveals an unexpected consequence of falling short: it could be making everyday stress significantly harder to handle. Our study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, found that people who drank less than 1.5 litres daily showed dramatically higher levels of cortisol – […]

The new joint report, Climate change and workplace heat stress, underscores the mounting risks as climate change fuels longer, more extreme, and more frequent heatwaves. Stressing that workers in agriculture, construction, and fisheries are already suffering the impacts of dangerous temperatures, the report points out that vulnerable groups in developing countries – including children, older adults, […]

Ageing is the biggest risk factor for heart disease but why some people age faster than others isn’t fully understood. The scientists leading the research say that visceral body fat could play an important role in accelerating ageing of the heart and blood vessels. This type of fat is known to be harmful to health […]

Could blowing a conch shell help treat sleep apnoea? As a doctor working in sleep medicine, this unexpected news story certainly grabbed my attention. My first reaction was scepticism – sleep specialists don’t typically prescribe natural objects found on beaches as medical therapy. But perhaps I was too hasty to dismiss the idea. For those […]

Alzheimer’s disease steals memories and devastates lives. Yet despite an abundance of research, the earliest brain changes that trigger this disease still remain unclear, making it challenging to find effective treatments. But could lithium – a metal most of us know better for its use in batteries or as a treatment for mood disorders – […]

Around 25% of hay fever sufferers in the UK are allergic to birch tree pollen. This means that for a good chunk of the population, the arrival of spring and summer means sneezing, itchy eyes, blocked sinuses and days spent indoors avoiding pollen. But the recent approval of a new drug could mean relief from […]