Health

A collection of 586 posts

Health

I saw a woman lift 100kg and thought: ‘I want to do that’

I don’t come from a long line of athletes. Growing up in the 1990s, sport was something other people did; we didn’t cycle or jog. In PE I was the wheezing child hiding behind the bins, pretending I’d twisted an ankle, and when I thought about working

Health

Are beards unhygienic?

The idea that beards are dirtier than clean-shaven faces has been floating around for decades, says John Tregoning, professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial College London. There is even research that shows people perceive bearded men as less hygienic: one study found restaurant customers rated waiters with facial hair as

Health

18 simple exercises to prepare you for everyday life

Certain movements make you stronger and more physically capable — press-ups, squats and kettlebell swings are useful in many situations. You can also target the specific challenges of everyday life, from playing on the floor with your children to carrying the weekly shop. A dozen movement coaches, personal trainers and strength

Health

New weight loss drugs preserve muscle and cut fat

Muscles do more than provide strength; they help regulate metabolism. During weight loss the body usually sheds both fat and some muscle, and faster weight loss often means greater muscle loss. That has emerged as a problem with GLP-1 treatments such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, where some patients lose

Health

He moved to Thailand for his mother with Alzheimer's and built a care home

Martin Woodtli moved his mother, who had Alzheimer’s, from Switzerland to Chiang Mai in 2003 after years of caregiving strain. He had quit his job in social services to help as her condition worsened; his father initially took on care but fell into depression and later died by suicide,

Health

I'm not the 'fun mom' because I have MS; my husband steps in

I always imagined myself as the fun mom who plans class parties, explores interactive exhibits with the kids, and survives the Tilt-A-Whirl at carnivals. Instead, with sons who are now 14 and 11, I've never joined either on a class trip, and the mother I pictured never had

Health

Behavior-specific praise eased our hardest toddler battles

Bedtime was a struggle with my toddler. A technique I found online—behavior-specific praise, the practice of explicitly praising positive behaviors—changed how our family handled tantrums. As an associate professor of literacy, I learned to make praise more specific than "Good job!": "I loved the way

Health

Treating my dad with dementia like a customer helped

My 91-year-old West-Indian father, a wiry US Army veteran with Alzheimer's-related dementia, had grown more cantankerous and sometimes cursed in frustration. I began greeting him with a smile and found he was likelier to finish breakfast, take his medication, and let me help him with hygiene. The idea

Health

How to boost longevity in 4 minutes of exercise a day, no gym required

Dr. Christopher Sciamanna has built a career around making workouts less "soul-sucking" and finding the smallest dose of exercise that still delivers benefits. The minimal effective dose might be as little as four minutes a day to build strength and resilience for better longevity. Sciamanna, a 59-year-old professor

Health

Raising young children while losing my dad to Alzheimer's

My mom called with my dad's test results: a cognitive score of 17 out of 30, and by November 2019 the diagnosis was official. I was eight months pregnant with my first baby in Brooklyn when we got the call—my dad had Alzheimer's. He was

Health

After losing over 30 pounds exercising in VR for six months, it's worth it

I bought a Meta Quest 3 hoping to recapture the early VR magic, and at the start of 2026 I committed to exercising in VR as an experiment in my future health. I tried a decent few apps in January but quickly settled into using my FitXR subscription almost exclusively,

Health

David Guetta and Sia’s song Titanium got me through my fertility treatment

At the end of 2011, party season was under way but I was in no mood for festivities. Two years into fertility treatment, my body was pumped full of synthetic hormones and felt like a pin cushion, while my head was filled with both the fragile hope of having a

Health

Australia confirms first mainland case of H5N1 bird flu

The deadly H5N1 bird flu strain has reached the Australian mainland after tests confirmed a brown skua found unwell at Cape Le Grand national park near Esperance in southern Western Australia died from H5N1. Tests in WA suggested a sick giant petrel found in the same area was also infected,

Health

Mainland Australia investigates suspected H5N1 after seabird tests positive

A migratory brown skua found at Cape Le Grand national park in southern Western Australia has tested positive for avian influenza, and further testing is under way to determine whether it is the H5N1 strain. The bird was found on Sunday and has since died, the WA government said on

Health

I almost lost my father twice. It taught me to live in the moment.

Nothing warned me as I climbed the hill from my bus stop in the final months of high school, until two cars in the driveway and my father meeting me at the door. "I have cancer," he said. "But I'm going to be OK."

Health

Midlife isn't a crisis — it's an opportunity

Margie Lachman has spent more than 30 years studying the years between 40 and 60 as an investigator on the Midlife in the United States study. She argues the idea that midlife is inevitably unhappy or defined by a dramatic pivot is "flat-out wrong" and, in her book

Health

I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on my hands

I was born with a rare genetic disease called sacral agenesis, which meant my legs didn’t work. When I was five, I had surgery to amputate them, and doctors told my parents I might never sit up, let alone be a functioning member of society. I learned to navigate

Health

CDC to tap $107m in emergency funding for Ebola response in DRC and Uganda

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will tap $107m in emergency funding to support the Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Dr Satish K Pillai, incident manager for the CDC’s Ebola response, said the outbreak, now the third largest on record, is approaching

Health

Best air purifiers in the UK to remove fumes, pollen and dust — tested

Air pollution — including industrial emissions, exhaust fumes and dust — is one of the gravest environmental health risks in the UK, with densely populated and low‑income areas worst affected. While outdoor air is hard to control, an effective air purifier can sanitise indoor air by drawing it through filters that

Health

Best LED face masks in the UK, tested

LED face masks have surged in popularity despite being among the priciest at-home beauty devices. They claim to reduce fine lines, calm redness or target spots, and some combine different light wavelengths to broaden the effects. Past research from the 1990s supports light therapy’s role in wound healing, acne

Health

Jeremy Clarkson shares ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer diagnosis

Jeremy Clarkson revealed he was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer last summer and had an operation to remove 10% of his prostate, eight months after he underwent heart surgery for blocked coronary arteries. In the final two episodes of the fifth series of Clarkson’s Farm, filmed

Health

Augmented and virtual reality advance health research aboard station

Biomedical tests using augmented and virtual reality tools dominated the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The Expedition 74 crew is also turning its attention to a spacewalk at the end of the month following the departure of a U.S. cargo spacecraft. Flight engineers Jessica Meir

Health

Recently single Australian men seven times more likely to report suicide attempts

A study using the Ten to Men project, which has followed more than 20,000 Australian men and is run by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (Aifs), found that men who had a relationship breakdown in the past year were about seven times more likely to report a suicide

Health

Lil Nas X reveals bipolar disorder diagnosis nearly 1 year after police battery arrest

Lil Nas X revealed he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in a candid Instagram video message. “I’ve been in rehab for a few months and since then, I’ve been back at home — whether it’s in Atlanta with my family or in Los Angeles with myself, friends and

Health

Lives and incomes lost as Ebola takes toll on Bunia’s public-facing workers

Justin Keno, principal of Nelson Mandela school in Bunia, has installed hand-washing basins, provided alcohol rub for parents, banned outside food sellers and told pupils to bring packed lunches, yet he still worries about children coming from neighbourhoods declared epicentres. The DRC and Uganda both announced outbreaks on 15 May