Category: Health

Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock.com Our relationships shape our health in many ways. Friends and family can provide support during difficult times and encourage healthy habits. But not all relationships are positive – some can be a persistent source of stress. A new study published in the journal PNAS asked what happens when the stress in our lives […]

Roman Chekhovskoi/Shutterstock.com Good news: cancer death rates in the UK have fallen to their lowest level on record. According to the latest statistics from Cancer Research UK, between 2022 and 2024 around 247 people per 100,000 died from cancer each year in the UK. This is down from a peak of 355 deaths per 100,000 […]

_Demodex follicolorum_ collected on human nose. Pasotteo/Shutterstock Almost everyone carries microscopic mites on their skin. They live inside pores and hair follicles, feeding on skin oils and dead cells. When people first hear this, the reaction is often disgust or alarm. It is easy to imagine infestation, poor hygiene or something going wrong. In reality, […]

PeopleImages/Shutterstock Hearing loss and dementia affect millions of people worldwide. But headlines describing hearing loss as the “leading mid-life risk factor” for dementia can be misleading. They often oversimplify complex science, and risk confusing people who are trying to understand what hearing loss can mean for brain health. Research shows that hearing loss and cognitive […]

Gera Photo/Shutterstock.com If you spend any time on social media, you may have noticed a curious trend: wellness influencers singing the praises of nicotine. Not smoking or vaping but nicotine patches and pouches, repackaged as cognitive enhancers, productivity boosters and even weight-loss aids. But does the science support this rebrand, or are we watching a […]

Aleksandr Yu/Shutterstock.com When e-cigarettes first appeared around 2010, they were hailed as a breakthrough: nicotine delivery without the toxic tar and combustion byproducts of traditional cigarettes. Public health bodies cautiously endorsed them as a tool for adult smokers to quit, often citing early claims that vaping was 95% less harmful than smoking. More than a […]

ArtVibe1/Shutterstock When someone speaks in a language we do not understand, we do not assume their words are meaningless. We assume we are the ones who cannot yet understand them. You might try gestures, sign language or the few words you recognise to grasp what they are saying. The assumption is always the same: meaning […]

Halfpoint/Shutterstock Imagine trying to ask a question and no one answers you. Or hearing people talk around you as if you are not really part of the conversation. For many people living with dementia in hospital, this is a common experience. Dementia affects many aspects of communication. In the early stages, someone may struggle to […]

YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV/Shutterstock If TikTok fitness advice is to be believed, you should be interval walking like the Japanese, hanging from a pull-up bar every day and committing to a 75-day challenge with no rest days. Some of these trends are grounded in scientific research. Others are built on shaky claims or misunderstandings of how the […]

Microscope image of neutrophils, immune cells that respond to infection. Severe infections can trigger sepsis if the body’s inflammatory response becomes uncontrolled. S.Toey/Shutterstock Sepsis moves fast. A patient can arrive at hospital with what appears to be a routine infection and, within hours, develop organ failure. Survival often depends on how quickly treatment begins. Across […]