Post Archive by Month

Are you part of the water ­consciousness movement? The what? OK, I’ll put it ­another way: do you follow the health trend of drinking “raw water”, believing mains water is toxic? If so, be careful. Because while the demand for untreated, … Read More

Who says sex education doesn’t work? At last, what I’ve been saying all along – teens are having less sex as risky behaviours such as smoking, using cannabis and drinking decline. In particular, sex among black teens is down. And … Read More

Eating healthy food is too ­expensive for most families – so goes the received wisdom. But is it? Is it really cheaper to live off takeaways and processed food than to eat a balanced, nutritious diet? According to a report, Cheap … Read More

Fasting is something I’m a big fan of. Not going on hunger strike you understand, but building a shortish fast into each day. Or, put another way, incorporating a long period between meals once a day. Another way of thinking … Read More

For decades, in terms of heart health, we’ve concentrated on the harm that could be inflicted by saturated animal fat. Sugar wasn’t even considered. We were wrong. When sugar did eventually get a mention it was because it contributed to obesity … Read More

Almost everyone knows if you go along to your doctor with a virus infection you’re not going to come away with ­antibiotics. We don’t treat viruses with antibiotics because they’re ­ineffective. Antibiotics are ­reserved for bacterial infections. But if your … Read More

If every woman over 30 was offered a test for cancer-causing genes, tens of thousands of ovarian and breast cancer cases could be prevented. London researchers have calculated that if less than three-quarters of women took up the £175 test, up to 17,000 … Read More

I don’t mean to be alarmist but some new research has revealed the harm that can be done by gaining even a modest amount of weight – say three kilos over your summer holiday or a blow-out over Christmas. I … Read More

Here I make no apologies for returning to the subject of how older people can benefit from mixing with schoolchildren. It’s such a great idea and harnesses the energy of five-year-olds to help lonely old folk. Dr David Hinchcliffe, an … Read More

A friend of mine recently came off his bike and “made a mess of his shoulder”. He was in intense pain and couldn’t raise his arm 90 degrees. He went to A&E where X-rays showed no damage had been done, … Read More