Health (Page 281)

Beta amyloid causes damage to the blood vessels. Christoph Burgstedt/ Shutterstock People who suffer from a combination of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity have a condition known as “metabolic syndrome”. This condition causes the blood vessels to stiffen. When the arteries are stiff or becomeContinue Reading

Shutterstock Figurative language, by which the speaker intends to communicate something other than what is actually said by the words used, is commonplace in human communication. Some claim that metaphorical expressions such as “My home has become a prison” or “My daughter is a monster” are used on average sixContinue Reading

When I open up about my referral for an autism spectrum disorder assessment, I draw on examples from the only popular reference I have for an autistic doctor – what’s portrayed on TV. You have probably seen these medical dramas – The Good Doctor, House, Grey’s Anatomy. There are more.Continue Reading

Originally planned to roll out in May, the UK’s track and trace app has now been delayed until winter. Part of the government’s wider test, track and trace strategy, the app uses Bluetooth on smartphones to see who infected people have been in close contact with, and uses this informationContinue Reading

Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock It’s Monday morning and I’m running my regular children’s sleep clinic. Except it’s not a Monday morning like any other I have had in my 20 years of practice. I am running the clinic on my laptop, seeing patients and their families on a video screen rather thanContinue Reading

fizkes/Shutterstock More and more politicians are starting to recognise that happiness rather than wealth might be a better way to measure their countries’ success. But with coronavirus causing significant disruption to people’s lives worldwide, what can we expect to happen to global happiness in the wake of the pandemic? ToContinue Reading

IR Stone/ Shutterstock Whether you’re an ultra-marathoner or have just started, injuries and muscle soreness from running are inevitable. But instead of taking a break, many runners reach for ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to get through injuries or pain. Not only can doing this make recovery moreContinue Reading

Ambulance staff are often the first to attend the site of many difficult scenes. Yau Ming Low/ Shutterstock Being ambulance staff can be a high-stress job. They encounter many situations in their daily line of work that can have a lasting impact on their mental health. According to MIND, aroundContinue Reading

Healthy working life expectancy is the average number of years people in a population are likely to be healthy and in paid work from age 50. ALPA PROD/ Shutterstock In 1800, the global average life expectancy was only 29 years. Today, life expectancy continues to rise, with babies born inContinue Reading