Category: Health

A 68-year-old man's sudden love for Spitfire engine noises turned out to be an early sign of dementia. Kev Gregory/ Shutterstock When people hear the word dementia, they often think of someone who has problems with memory. While memory is often affected in dementia, this is not always the case. There are many different types […]

maxim ibragimov/Shutterstock.com For four decades, a controversial idea has shaped how autism is understood by researchers, healthcare professionals and the public: the claim that autistic people are “mind blind”. The phrase suggests an inability to grasp what others think or feel. It is simple, memorable – and wrong. The claim rests on a concept called […]

SewCreamStudio/Shutterstock.com The gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis has long presented researchers with a paradox. It has been associated with colorectal cancer, yet it also lives quite happily in most healthy people. A new study from a Danish research team offers a possible clue. When they looked beyond the bacterium itself and into its genome, they found […]

Photoroyalty/Shutterstock At 5am, social media fills with proof that the early risers have already won the day. Cold plunges. Journals. Sunrise runs. Productivity gurus insist this is the routine that separates high performers from everyone else, reinforced by high-profile early risers such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, entrepreneur Richard Branson and Hollywood actor Jennifer Aniston. […]

PeopleImages/Shutterstock Sweat rarely smells on its own. Body odour develops when bacteria on the skin break down compounds in sweat and release volatile chemicals that evaporate into the air. This interaction between sweat and microbes explains why some areas of the body smell more strongly than others, why odour varies between people and how deodorants […]

Dmitry Naumov/Shutterstock For years, debates about maternity care have centred on how women give birth. But the more important question has always been safety. Vaginal birth, assisted birth and caesarean section are different clinical routes, not measures of success. The outcome that matters is the wellbeing of both mother and baby, guided by individual risk […]

myboys.me/Shutterstock People recovering from eating disorders often use social media for support, seeking out recovery content, body-positive creators and others with similar experiences. But recent research my colleagues and I have conducted suggests these platforms can also steer users back towards the very content they are trying to avoid. We carried out in-depth interviews with […]

shutterstock fizkes/Shutterstock It’s an increasingly common scenario. You fill in an online form to request an appointment with a doctor, and back comes a link asking you to upload a photo of your ailment. You pick up your phone, a couple of clicks and it’s sent. While you wait for a call back, your GP […]

Creams marketed to lighten skin tone are being sold illegally on British high streets, including in butchers and specialist food shops. It is an unsettling discovery, but perhaps not a surprising one. Demand for these products is real and the profits are significant. But the ingredients that make them effective are also what make them […]

christinarosepix/Shutterstock In the UK, women have more choices about how to give birth than ever before, from a water birth at home to a caesarean delivery in hospital. But choice does not always mean labour unfolds as initially planned. First-time mothers are more likely to experience medical interventions during labour. The most common include episiotomies, […]