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
Our immune cells become less able to fight off infections as we get older. Viktoriia Hnatiuk/ Shutterstock As we age, every major organ system progressively declines – including the immune system. Ageing causes our immune cells to become less able to fight off infections. This leaves older people hundreds ofContinue Reading
The results of the ACTT-1 trial, which looked at the effectiveness of remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19, have finally been published. So far the only drug that has been shown to reduce deaths from the disease has been dexamethasone, a steroid that suppresses the immune system through its anti-inflammatoryContinue Reading
Over 50 areas in England are under local lockdown. The patchwork of restriction is complex and difficult to enforce, so to simplify things, the government is introducing a much simpler three-tier system of lockdowns. England will be divided into three zones: medium risk, high risk and very high risk. EconomicContinue Reading
Muscle dysmorphia can lead to other mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. F8 studio Body image concerns among men are increasingly common and can have a serious impact on mental health. And for an estimated one in ten young men who go the gym in the UK, theseContinue Reading
