There have been rafts of research on exercise during the last year. The more I read about it the more I’m convinced that exercise really is the secret to health. We’re learning of many new benefits it confers and the … Read More
Many of us struggle after a bereavement – but there are ways of helping those close to you when they suffer a loss
Do you think you’re resilient? Able to bounce back after a loss or a bereavement? And how long does it take you to get back to normal? Six months? A year? Longer? Psychologists would define resilience as the ability, after … Read More
Dealing with a child’s gender identity issues as a parent is a difficult journey
What would you do if your child came to you and said: “I don’t want to be a boy any more. I’m a girl.” Change the subject? Hope he wouldn’t ask again? Take him seriously? The last is far and … Read More
Why you could lose more weight WITHOUT using pedometers to hit your targets
There are those who swear by their “10,000 steps a day” to keep the pounds off and wear pedometers to make sure they hit their goal. Well, a piece of research has shown that all those apps for weight loss … Read More
How we fail victims of our worst killer illness, dementia
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s, has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in England and Wales. Its fatal outcome rarely gets attention, but people with advanced dementia die because they can’t swallow food and can hardly move due to … Read More
Bad news for lovers of a full English breakfast – it could be causing your migraine
Migraine sufferers – and I was one for 30 years – will do anything to avoid triggers such as foods, drinks and situations that bring on that unbearable pounding in the head and, if they’re unlucky, unyielding nausea and vomiting. … Read More
Best way to achieve good heart health is to take a step back in time
Yes, I know I always go on about it. But we need to keep moving or our sedentary life will, not to put too fine a point on it, kill us. The problem is, in our hunter-gatherer days, our bodies … Read More
How you can sleep next to your baby and make sure it’s safe
Though rare, sometimes medical dogma gives way to common sense. A recent example is exposing infants during their first year to potential allergens (things that cause allergies). Previously the received wisdom was that babies must be spared exposure to common … Read More
‘Family jet lag’ means we pay the price of long-haul festivities
Some of us will have experienced the weird sensation of travelling long-haul and crossing several time zones. For instance, flying to New York means spanning five time zones so when you arrive in America the time is five hours behind … Read More
Cold weather could be a killer as snow and floods sweep across Britain
With an Arctic blast currently hitting the UK we all need to be on our guard. This winter there will be nearly 25,000 deaths due to cold in the UK and many more across Europe. The death toll from cold weather is … Read More