Is depression being inflamed by genes?

Nature or nurture – which is it that causes depression? Well, genes certainly play a part. If your parents have been ­depressed, the chances of you getting depressed are greatly increased. At some point in our lives about one in … Read More

Renaming harmless cancers makes sense

A reader recently asked me to explain what’s meant by ­overdiagnosis. I wasn’t ­surprised because it (and overtreatment) is the buzz word of the moment in medical circles. For the avoidance of doubt here’s the definition of overdiagnosis. It’s the … Read More

New hope for fatal muscle flaw in boys

The most common fatal genetic disorder in children is Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the muscle-weakening condition affecting as many as one in 3,500 boys worldwide. “Children with DMD often die either because their heart loses the strength to pump, or … Read More

Did you know most of us are low in iron?

Anaemia literally means too little blood — or rather, too little healthy blood. The most ­common type is iron-­deficiency anaemia which lowers the amount of iron in red blood cells. That iron, or “haem”, gives the red colour to red … Read More

Full-fat cheese can CUT your cholesterol

Cheese contains lots of calories, right? So you shouldn’t eat too much of it, right? Wrong. Would you believe eating half a 250g block of full-fat cheese a day lowers a person’s “bad” cholesterol to a level lower than if … Read More

New option for those with prostate issues

Prostate cancer is regularly in the news as advances in treatment are discovered, and so it should be. However, it’s cousin, BPH, or to give it its full name, benign prostatic hypertrophy, is more common and more easily treated. It … Read More

A stroke can DOUBLE the risk of dementia

As though suffering a stroke isn’t bad enough, a new study has shown that people who survive one are twice as likely to develop dementia. Data from 3.2 million people – the largest study ever done on stroke and dementia … Read More