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 presses the body’s reset switch and gets rid of damaged cells
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
Never mind saturates it’s sugar we need to worry about as it’s revealed to be more dangerous than people feared
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
Matchbox that can tell a virus from a bacterial infection and help avoid misdiagnoses
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
Genetic testing could save tens of thousands of women from cancer
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
Why putting on just a few pounds is a real risk to your health
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
Lonely senior citizens helping out young schoolkids is a win-win situation
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
Why you should try and see a doctor the same day if you have a shoulder injury
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
Intense bursts of exercise are best – here is Dr Miriam Stoppard’s three-minute routine
Like other health writers, I try to back up the public health guidelines for exercise and do a minimum of 30 minutes of steady moderate exercise on most days of the week. But I’ve always wondered how many people do … Read More
Fast treatment vital in anorexia therapy as it substantially improves patient outcome
Eating disorders in young people are on the up. A British Medical Journal report says the frequency of eating disorders rose from 32 per 1,000 to 37 in the 10 years from 2000 in people in the age group 10-49. … Read More