Zdan Ivan/Shutterstock You may have read recent alarming reports of a cough that “lasts 100 days” is “quickly spreading across the UK” and can “fracture ribs”. If you didn’t look beyond the headlines, you might have missed the fact that the reports are about whooping cough. So, what is goingContinue Reading
BGStock72/Shutterstock Surveys on lifestyle and longevity consistently find that people who do more exercise live longer. So it is surprising to see a report from the Finnish Twins Cohort Study that there is little direct effect of “leisure time physical activity” on lifespan. What makes this study different from othersContinue Reading
The gingerbread house traces its origins to 18th-century Germany. Tatiana Gordievskaia/ Shutterstock No confectionery symbolises the holidays quite like gingerbread. While most of us associate gingerbread with edible houses and spiced loaves of cake-like bread, it’s also increasingly appearing as flavouring in novelty drinks and Christmas cocktails. Gingerbread may beContinue Reading
LightField Studios/Shutterstock Around 36% of people in England with dementia are unaware they have the condition, according to a new report from the Dementia Commission. The report suggests things health and care professionals can do to improve spotting early signs of dementia. But what can you do if you thinkContinue Reading
These health issues are trigged by the allergens that normally reside in live Christmas trees. voronaman/ Shutterstock Decorating the Christmas tree is a beloved tradition for many of us during the festive season. While some people prefer using and reusing an artificial tree as an environmentally friendly way to enjoyContinue Reading
Ground Picture/Shutterstock The festive season is fast approaching, and if you’re organising celebrations with family or friends, you might be grappling with a seemingly endless to-do list. But as you make these plans, it’s important to consider how you can best include any friends or loved ones living with dementia.Continue Reading
Artificial womb technology could eventually make it possible to grow a foetus from conception to "birth" wholly outside the human body. Marko Aliaksandr/ Shutterstock Our reproductive lives are considerably different from those of our ancestors, thanks in part to health innovations that have taken place over the past few decades.Continue Reading
To overcome problematic opioid use, traditional forms of opioid substitution therapy, such as methadone and oral buprenorphine, have become valuable tools. Research shows that patients receiving substitution therapy are more likely to stay in treatment and stop using heroin than patients receiving treatments that do not involve substitutes – suchContinue Reading
Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock A British man has contracted swine flu, the first detected human case recorded in the UK. Here’s what you need to know about the disease. Why is swine flu currently in the news? A new variant of the influenza virus has been identified in a man from NorthContinue Reading
teerayuth oanwong/Shutterstock Over 2 million people globally have multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that affects the nervous system and can lead to problems moving, seeing and thinking. While there are treatments that can help reduce the number and severity of MS attacks, many people with MS eventually develop a moreContinue Reading
