Long COVID: damaged mitochondria in muscles might be linked to some of the symptoms

It’s estimated around 3% of people in the UK experience long COVID – persistent, long-lasting symptoms after a COVID-19 infection. Long COVID encompasses a range of health problems that can begin after even a mild COVID infection. Some of these symptoms include extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and loss of smell. For around […]

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Some believe the 1889 Russian flu pandemic was actually caused by a coronavirus – here’s why that’s unlikely

COVID-19 was the first coronavirus pandemic. The original Sars virus from 2003 and the Mers virus that created a health emergency in South Korea in 2015 were both coronaviruses, but fortunately failed to turn into pandemics in the way that COVID did. Four years on from its appearance, Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) now […]

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YouTuber discovers secrets of Okinawa, ‘the healthiest place on Earth’

If you aspire to be healthy and live until 120, Okinawa Island might hold the key. World traveler and YouTuber, Drew Binsky, recently shared his astonishment at discovering why the locals of this “healthiest place on Earth” enjoy such long lives.  Okinawa, the fifth-largest island in Japan, encompasses a vast area of 1,201.03 km² […]

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Why you shouldn’t let guilt motivate you to exercise

The hardest part of consistently exercising is finding the motivation to do it. But using the wrong type of motivation for your workouts could militate against you – and could even have consequences for your mental health. Our research, which investigated the motivations of 650 frequent exercisers, found that people who believed things like “I […]

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Psychoactive drug treats traumatic brain injury in veterans

A recently published study shows that the use of a psychoactive drug can lead to reducing military veterans‘ symptoms of PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. For military veterans, many of the most painful wounds of war are invisible. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) resulting from head trauma or blast explosions are a leading cause of post-traumatic […]

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Can you really be allergic to alcohol?

Some people get allergy-like symptoms when drinking alcohol, but can you really be allergic to alcohol? Alcohol allergies are rare, with documented cases primarily involving a rash. However, what often perplexes people are the symptoms that mimic allergies, such as wheezing, headaches and skin flushing. These reactions, more often than not, are attributed to alcohol […]

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How to plan the ‘perfect’ meal to feed long-term space travelers

If you were going on a space voyage to Mars for a few years, astronauts would probably be provided with a diet of bland, prepackaged meals like TV dinners – not much to look forward to like a steak, schnitzel, or hamburger with chips.  As space agencies plan for longer missions, they’re challenged by […]

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UK facing unusually large outbreaks – and treatment shortages appear mostly to blame

Scabies is an unpleasant skin infection that’s common all around the world. Outbreaks happen regularly – with an estimated 450 million cases occurring globally each year. But since the start of winter, outbreaks in the UK have been higher than normal. In November 2023 alone, cases were double the seasonal average. While there a probably […]

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World News in Brief: Gaza relief ‘an impossible mission’, COVID spreading fast again, food prices fall

“Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence – while the world watches on”, warned Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths in a statement, adding that “hope has never been more elusive” amidst deteriorating conditions. “The humanitarian community has been left with the impossible mission of supporting more than two million people, even as […]

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