Category: Health

CandyRetriever/Shutterstock We may not need to completely overhaul our lives to live healthier for longer, according to a large UK-based study. This is welcome news, particularly as many people will already have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions. The recent study followed around 590,000 people in the UK, with an average age of 64, over an […]

January arrives with a familiar hangover. Too much food. Too much drink. Too much screen time. And suddenly social media is full of green juices, charcoal supplements, foot patches and seven-day “liver resets”, all promising to purge the body of mysterious toxins and return it to a purer state. In the first episode of Strange […]

Dragon Images/Shutterstock.com Cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are two of the most feared diagnoses in medicine, but they rarely strike the same person. For years, epidemiologists have noticed that people with cancer seem less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, and those with Alzheimer’s are less likely to get cancer, but nobody could explain why. A new study […]

Speeding along an open road on my motorcycle, flanked by the great outdoors, the engine hums and the noise in my mind disappears. Riding a motorcycle demands total presence. Focus isn’t optional. It’s a matter of survival. After all, a wandering mind could lead to disaster. But it’s not fear or panic that sharpens my […]

PradeepGaurs/Shutterstock.com The scientist Stephen Hawking lived with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common type of motor neurone disease, for 55 years. He was one of the longest-surviving people with the condition. However, most people with motor neurone disease are not as lucky. It often progresses quickly, and many pass away within two to five […]

Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock Every January, the same wave of “detox” promises rolls in. Juice cleanses, detox teas, charcoal capsules and liver “resets” all sell a familiar story: you overdid it over Christmas, your body is full of toxins, and you need a product to flush them out. Here is the inconvenient truth. Your body already has a […]

TetianaKtv/Shutterstock.com A group of volunteers spent days locked in a small hotel room with people actively infected with flu. They played games, shared objects and exercised together in conditions designed to help the virus spread. Yet not a single person caught influenza. The unexpected finding comes from a well-designed study that set out to answer […]

ViDI Studio/Shutterstock After the indulgence of festive treats, the idea of starting the year with a clean slate can be appealing. Detox powders, pills, teas and juice “cleanses” all promise a fast reset, often with bold claims about flushing toxins from the body. These promises sound scientific, but they don’t match what detox actually means. […]

ITS/Shutterstock.com When COVID hit, healthcare systems around the world were turned upside down. Hospitals cleared beds, routine appointments were cancelled and people were told to stay at home unless it was urgent. In England, visits to family doctors and hospital admissions for non-COVID reasons fell by a third in the early months of the pandemic. […]

Child sleeping with the Monarch TNS device Astrid Perez Diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are rising rapidly in the UK. More children and teenagers than ever are being referred for assessment and support, and families are often facing long waits and limited options once a diagnosis is made. Schools, health services and parents […]