You may have heard of a birth doula – someone who provides non-medical support and advocacy throughout pregnancy, birth and after the baby has been born. More recently, so-called death doulas – people who assist at the other end of the lifespan – have been growing in popularity. The roleContinue Reading
meigav/Shutterstock Ultra-processed foods, such as cereals and fizzy drinks, have been linked to 32 harmful health effects, according to the largest review of the evidence to date. Globally, one in five deaths are thought to be due to poor diet, and the role of ultra-processed foods or UPFs has attractedContinue Reading
In 2020, in a medical facility in one of the southern states of the US, a patient wandered into an unsecured nursery for extremely premature children. Unfortunately, the patient managed to accidentally disconnect multiple babies from their life support. Worried that they would get in trouble, they fled the scene.Continue Reading
Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock Bifidobacterium breve, or B breve for short, is a bacterial species that’s found in the human intestine. It’s especially relevant in early life, being one of the most abundant bacteria in the newborn gut. B breve is a species of the genus Bifidobacterium and is considered key inContinue Reading
Kzenon/Shutterstock Grief has always inspired songwriters. Popular songs including Let Me Go, by Gary Barlow, Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven and The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics, were all written as a way of working through the grief of losing a loved one. Tears in Heaven deals withContinue Reading
Denisse Leon/Shutterstock Imagine how scary it would be for someone with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to suddenly find that their essential medication is no longer available at the pharmacy. It is a harsh reality for millions around the world who rely on these drugs to manage their symptoms. England hasContinue Reading
Eating yoghurt is one way of getting more _Lactobacillus acidophilus_ into your diet. Josep Suria/ Shutterstock Your gut is like a bustling city of trillions of microscopic inhabitants – including bacteria. While some of these bacterial inhabitants are villains, causing illness, infection and disease, others are good – supporting ourContinue Reading
Slouching has long been considered a bodily representation of negativity. Mike_shots/ Shutterstock Often a posture assigned to teenagers and disaffected youth, slouching is traditionally considered to be a “bad” posture – with some claiming it will damage your spine and cause pain. The term itself hails from medieval Norse meaningContinue Reading
myboys.me/Shutterstock I like to start my day with a bowl of cereal. It’s quick, light and, if I make the right choice, good for me. I also have the freedom to make a less healthy choice – but when I go to the supermarket and look over the array ofContinue Reading
Ek Ing/Shutterstock A recent study reported that sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, and other medicines from the same group called phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. But other research has found no effect. Why isn’t the picture clear? And what can be concluded aboutContinue Reading
