Health (Page 116)

Alliance Images/Shutterstock One of the best ways of containing the spread of COVID-19 is to rapidly identify people infected with the coronavirus and prevent them from passing it to others. Temperature checks are now being used as a public screening tool for identifying people with COVID-19, with countries such as Taiwan using temperature checks as a key component of their containment measures. Yet there is little scientific evidence that temperature checks enable reliable detection of COVID-19. For a start, handheld scanners only measure skin temperature, which can be variable, rather than core temperature – and there are issues with unreliable equipment. Data from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app suggests that over half of people (57%) who test positive forContinue Reading

'Smartphone pinky' is just the latest injury caused by excessive smartphone use. Farknot Architect/ Shutterstock We use our phones three hours and 15 minutes a day on average. So perhaps it’s hardly surprising people are reporting a “new” injury on social media and in the news – “smartphone pinky”. People claiming to have the condition report a change in position of their pinky finger, or having developed a dent in their little finger, on the middle bone. There hasn’t yet been any research looking into smartphone pinky, so it’s prevalence, causes are unclear. But the way we hold our mobile devices is of interest – as the weight of a phone is naturally placed on the pinky. This places strainContinue Reading

Over-activity in the brain's subgenual anterior cingulate cortex is likely to be one cause of depression and anxiety. ESB Professional/ Shutterstock Although depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, there’s still much we don’t know about them. In fact, we still don’t fully understand which brain regions are involved in depression and anxiety, and how they differ between people with varying symptoms. Understanding how or why these differences occur is fundamental to developing better treatments. So far, we know that part of the brain’s frontal lobe, the prefrontal cortex, often shows activity changes in people with depression and anxiety. Parts involved in cognition and regulating emotions are underactive, whereas other parts involved in emotion generation and internal bodily functionsContinue Reading

At midnight on October 21, Ireland introduced its highest level of national restrictions as part of a lockdown that will last six weeks. In the days that followed, many other European countries did the same, from France to Germany, Wales and Belgium. England will shortly follow suit. As is the case for many of these countries, the Irish restrictions are not quite as severe as during the first lockdown in March, as schools have remained open and larger numbers are permitted at funerals and weddings. So why did Ireland have to do this, and will the first European country to go into a new lockdown be able to conquer the second wave of coronavirus? Spring vs autumn Although serious, theContinue Reading

Eccentric exercises (such as walking downhill) cause our muscles to lengthen under the load in order to slow the body down. FS Stock/Shutterstock Falls are a common cause of injury in older adults and can lead to disability. Luckily, the risk of falls can be reduced with regular exercise– but not all exercise. Our latest study shows that so-called eccentric exercise – such as walking downhill – may temporarily increase the risk of falling. Every activity we do requires our muscles to either shorten or lengthen. For example, when we climb a flight of stairs or get out of a chair, our muscles contract and shorten (a concentric contraction). Our muscles also lengthen during movements – an eccentric contraction. WhenContinue Reading

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Vitamin D, often known as the “sunshine vitamin”, is normally obtained through exposure of our skin to the sun. The Department of Health recommends that everyone in the UK should take a supplement of vitamin D during the winter months (October to March), as there is insufficient UV light for our bodies to manufacture vitamin D. This advice was also recently extended during the COVID pandemic, for people who were self-isolating during the summer months – who were advised to take vitamin D supplements daily. Vitamin D is also an essential supplement for pregnant women as it helps to aid calcium and phosphorous metabolism, which are necessary for fetal skeletal growth. Adequate vitamin D and calcium status during pregnancyContinue Reading

Dmytro Tyshchenko/Shutterstock On September 9 2020, a woman died during a cyber-attack on a hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany. The woman was in a critical condition and about to be treated when hackers disabled the computer systems of the hospital. Unable to avert the attack, medical staff had to transfer the woman to another hospital, but the help came too late and the woman died. This incident was the first reported case of death after a cyber-attack and shows that such attacks are not just a threat to our data anymore, but also to our lives. In fact, the situation is urgent. We know that cyber-attacks on medical devices and hospital networks are a growing threat. During the current pandemic, someContinue Reading

Around one in 20 adults will hear a voice at some point in their life. For some, the voices are friendly, helpful or inspiring – they can be enriching experiences. But others hear voices that threaten or criticise them. These can be frightening, and incredibly disruptive to daily life. While progress has been made in recent years to tackle stigma for common mental health problems, many people who hear nasty voices still suffer alone. In fact, voice hearers are six times more likely to feel lonely than those who don’t hear voices. To learn why people hearing nasty voices can become lonely and isolated, we asked 15 volunteers what it was like for them to be around other people. WeContinue Reading

Done properly, cardiac rehab can increase quality of life, and lower the risk of future harm. Liderina/Shutterstock Being diagnosed with a heart condition or suffering a heart attack can be terrifying. In the UK, one person is admitted to hospital because of a heart attack roughly every five minutes. Low physical activity, poor diet, and stress can all increase heart disease risk. But cardiac rehabilitation programmes aim to help people who have a heart condition improve their heart health by targeting these lifestyle factors. Exercise is a major part of this process – exercise cardiac rehab programmes encourage patients to take part in gym or circuit-based fitness classes two to three times a week, for a period of eight weeks.Continue Reading

Camilo Jimenez/Unsplash, FAL The UK has been promised a cycling revolution for decades. In 1996, then-transport minister Steve Norris enthused about quadrupling cycling trips by 2012. Similarly, former prime minister David Cameron promised a “cycling revolution” in 2013 which fizzled out as funding failed to follow. Little has changed for over 50 years. Over this time, cycling trips have been in steep decline. The same is true of walking. Only recently has there been a small increase in cycle use. But streets empty of cars during lockdown meant that active travel became attractive to a degree not seen for decades. Evidence from Scotland, where I’m based, shows a changing pattern of travel behaviour from March onwards, with 9% of thoseContinue Reading