Nine months into the pandemic, Europe remains one of the regions worst affected by COVID-19. Ten of the 20 countries with the highest death count per million people are European. The other ten are in the Americas. This includes the US, which has the highest number of confirmed cases andContinue Reading
The search goes on. Shutterstock/Orpheus FX Vaccination will be hugely important in controlling future waves of COVID-19. But for it to work, we will need high levels of public acceptance of a vaccine, if and when it eventually becomes available. In recent years, vaccination rates have fallen across the world,Continue Reading
As President Trump claims that he is immune to COVID-19 and isolated reports emerge of reinfection, what is the truth about immunity to COVID-19? To date, there have been six published cases of COVID-19 reinfection, with various other unverified accounts from around the world. Although this is a comparably smallContinue Reading
Shutterstock/Alex Kravtsov The serious harm caused by concussion in sport first became apparent among the “punch-drunk” boxers who suffered repetitive blows to the head over the course of their fighting careers. A related form of brain damage is known to affect a range of other sports and professions, where repeatedContinue Reading
Grip strength declines with many health conditions. Lars Hallstrom/ Shutterstock The human hand is remarkable. Not only does it allow us to throw, grab, climb and pick things up, it can also be a measure of health. Using hand-grip strength – which assesses the amount of force a person canContinue Reading
Muscle loss might be an inevitable part of ageing, but exercise can slow this process down. belushi/ Shutterstock Here’s a sobering fact: you can lose up to 40% of your muscle mass between your 20s and your 80s. That might sound outlandish, but it’s a natural part of ageing. KnownContinue Reading
A McCormack/Shutterstock Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are a popular aid for quitting smoking, but it is taking time for scientific research to catch up and provide clear answers on how well they work, and whether they are safe to use for this purpose. An updated review of the evidence, coveringContinue Reading
A McCormack/Shutterstock Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are a popular aid for quitting smoking, but it is taking time for scientific research to catch up and provide clear answers on how well they work, and whether they are safe to use for this purpose. An updated review of the evidence, coveringContinue Reading
Wasin Borisut/Shutterstock Coronavirus is a public health crisis for all of society, but for the past decade, people who use drugs – especially those dependent on opioids – have been facing their own epidemic. In its annual report on drug poisoning in England and Wales, the Office for National StatisticsContinue Reading
goffkein.pro/Shutterstock Type 1 diabetes used to be a death sentence. After a diagnosis, patients were put on a starvation diet. The lucky ones would have a year or two to live. But, thanks to the discovery of insulin in the early 1920s, this is no longer the case. We needContinue Reading
