A common experience among hay fever sufferers is that their symptoms last longer and longer each year. This is because an allergy to early spring flowers and blossom can seep into an allergy to summer flowers. If you’re unlucky, that … Read More
There’s still not enough help for mums with postnatal depression
A few weeks ago I was asked to do a phone-in about postnatal depression (PND) on ITV’s This Morning. I was dismayed to find mental health in pregnancy is getting no higher a priority than when I first wrote about … Read More
Virtual reality can help autistic children overcome phobias
Autistic children are being helped to cope with phobias using virtual technology that recreates anxiety triggers. Newcastle University has come up with the revolutionary approach that it hopes can be used to help the UK’s 150,000 autistic children. Its blue … Read More
We need a rethink on palliative care – it works best if started early
Most of us think palliative care is for people in the terminal stage of cancer. It is often delayed until the last few weeks or days of life when treatments are no longer effective. However, we need to rethink that … Read More
I fear the ‘orgasm injection’ is just a shot in the dark
Honestly, I thought we’d lived through the era of chasing the big ‘O’ with the passing of the 80s and Cosmo girl who bed-hopped her way across New York City and then re-emerged in the noughties in TV show Sex … Read More
From asthma and dermatitis to back pain and tendonitis – the health hazards facing hairdressers
Both domestically and medically, I’ve had quite a lot to do with hairdressers. While doing TV shows, I have been the beneficiary of much primping by skilled hands and the generous use of hairspray to ready me for the cameras. … Read More
All our kids should have sex education – but we need to overcome the hurdle of teachers
When I read the Government is going to undertake a radical overhaul of sex and relationship education in schools I let out a whoop of joy. It’s been a long time coming. Fifteen or so years ago I was a … Read More
Vitamin D added to food could stop 3.25 million people a year suffering chronic colds and flu
Vitamin D is always in the news. Nearly one in three Brits is deficient in vitamin D mainly due to diet, our weather and the fact that as a nation we prefer to stay indoors rather than go out. During … Read More
Hope for thousands of anorexia sufferers as scientists find a way of ‘re-wiring’ the brain
A few years back I did a TV documentary about a treatment for anorexia which was trying to alter a person’s relationship to food and weight with psychology. Now researchers have taken a further step forward to help the 75,000 … Read More