Category: Health

New Africa/Shutterstock.com People are often treated as unreliable narrators of their own past, and this scepticism runs especially deep around emotionally charged early experiences. Researchers have long worried that memories of abuse and neglect might shift depending on someone’s mood, mental health or current circumstances, meaning what someone tells a researcher, doctor or social worker […]

Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock.com Think about the last time you looked in the mirror and sighed at the sight of your hair. Maybe it was frizzing, flattening, greying, thinning or simply refusing to do what you wanted. For many people, hair comes with a running commentary – a private, near-constant negotiation that we rarely stop to notice, […]

Human placenta and umbilical cord Sinhyu Photographer/Shutterstock In many cultures, the placenta is more than tissue left over after birth. It may be understood as spiritually linked to the baby, treated as a companion or sibling, and buried to protect the child or connect them to family and land. Yet in many maternity settings, what […]

LightField Studios/Shutterstock Many people in the UK now use apps, smartwatches or wearable devices to track their physical activity. Fitness trackers promise to help users become fitter, happier and healthier versions of themselves. For many people, they can be useful: a nudge to move more, a way to notice patterns, or a reminder that activity […]

Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock The Ockenden Review into maternity and neonatal services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust was damning. It confirmed what families, staff and previous reviews have been saying for years: the failures in maternity care are serious, repeated and systemic. The Nottingham review examined more than 2,500 family cases and engaged with more than 830 […]

Alan Crosthwaite/Shutterstock.com A wave of unregulated peptides is sweeping the wellness world, sold online with bold promises about muscle gain, anti-ageing and fat loss. But concern is growing about side-effects, and almost nobody is asking whether these substances affect men and women in the same way. The evidence suggests they do not. Women are one […]

Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock The Ockenden Review painted a deeply troubling picture of maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. It confirmed what families, NHS staff and previous reviews had been saying for years: not isolated mistakes but long-running failures across the service. The Nottingham review examined the experiences of more than 2,500 families, more than 2,500 […]

Did a major epidemic of plague trigger a prolonged collapse in Europe’s population in late neolithic times – from around 5,600 to 4,000 years ago? In Europe, the neolithic is part of the stone age, spanning the time from the introduction of agriculture by migrant groups from Anatolia, up until the bronze age. Scientists now […]

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Yoga can be seen as an accessible way to exercise and improve wellbeing. You don’t always need a gym membership, specialist machinery or other people to do it. But in practice, yoga in the UK is easier for some people to access than others. It is increasingly being linked to NHS social prescribing, where […]

'Food noise' refers to near-constant thoughts of food and eating that some people experience. Inside Creative House/ Shutterstock When you’re hungry, it’s normal to find yourself thinking about what you’re going to eat next. But for some people, thoughts of food and eating can feel constant – even when they’re not physically hungry. This experience […]