Post Archive by Year

Should you be putting butter on your toast or margarine? Or, put another way, should you have saturated fat on your toast or not? The controversy has been ­raging for years, but we’re no nearer to a simple guideline. No … Read More

This is the era of the microbiome – your gut bacteria. It seems they affect many more systems than we thought. Now scientists in Belgium believe a wide range of gut bacteria can produce chemicals that significantly impact the brain, … Read More

Being overweight is one of the biggest avoidable causes of cancer. Nowhere is this mow more obvious than in the millennial ­generation where rates of cancer are rising quicker than in their ancestors because they are heavier. Cancers typically occur … Read More

Life expectancy is still increasing with the proportion of people aged over 80 years growing the fastest. But unfortunately, so is ­depression, with up to one in three older adults affected. Depression in older people is a more crippling condition than … Read More

Proton beam therapy is cutting-edge technology which will probably one day replace X-ray therapy for cancer. At the moment there’s only one ­centre in the UK using it, the Christie Cancer Hospital in Manchester. A ­second is planned for UCL Hospital … Read More

Nudge theory says if you’re told your peers are doing better than you are, you’ll up your game to keep up. Seems it works with doctors too. A study suggests 2,500 extra cancers could be spotted earlier each year if … Read More

Breakfast has been called the main meal of the day. Maybe not for much longer. Why? Well, despite the decades of encouragement to “go to work on an egg” and the tradition of the great ­British fry-up, there’s precious little … Read More

Up until 1973 we believed we could drink as much as we liked while pregnant. But then ­malformations, linked to ­exposure of the unborn baby to ­alcohol, were recognised – and the ­devastation caused by drinking during ­pregnancy was first understood. It … Read More

There is a controversy raging in women’s sport. Caster Semenya is the Olympic women’s 800m champion. She also has high testosterone levels which confer greater strength, stamina and bulkier muscles than other women. Intersex people have always existed. Some 1-2% … Read More

Premature ejaculation affects one in three men and is defined as ejaculation within a minute. There’s nearly always some­ psychological factors at play and there may be a genetic element. But it’s also found with inflammation of the ­prostate and … Read More