The Guardian Health

Pennsylvania reports apparent third measles-related death amid outbreak

Jefferson county coroner says 40-year-old woman died on Saturday, while two infants died with disease in AugustA coroner in Pennsylvania announced the death of a 40-year-old woman associated with the state’s ongoing measles outbreak. The death appears to mark the third in the US state’s ongoing outbreak.Two previous deaths in the state were in infant children. In one case, the infant was born with a genetic defect that made her vulnerable to infection. The second infant child was infected with m

health  11h ago

The Guardian Health

‘I’ve lost everything – my child, my house, my money’: how Israel’s war on Gaza has changed men

The impact of the conflict on Palestinian men is a largely undiscussed topic. Four civilians talk about their lives and relationshipsBefore the war, Ahmed, 39, had a busy life. He was pursuing a PhD in factchecking and had three jobs: as a radio presenter, editor of a local factchecking website and researcher at an academic centre. He says he felt “happy” to be able to provide for his family while being intellectually stimulated. Continue reading...

health  19h ago

The Guardian Health

We know how to prevent black lung, so why are workers still dying?

Sufferers of black lung and silicosis are getting younger as Trump and the coal mining industry push back on protections Silicosis is one of the oldest workplace hazards and public health experts have known for decades how to prevent it. Yet a new wave of workers, from Appalachian coalminers to Latino countertop fabrication workers, are developing and dying from the disease as industry fights new protections and regulators fail to defend the rules that could protect them.John Robinson’s grandfat

health  1d ago

The Guardian Health

‘They’re lifesavers’: the Birmingham clinic giving hope to traumatised asylum seekers

MSF-run centre offering intensive psychological has received more than 300 referrals since opening last year Azad*, an asylum seeker from Iran, recounts his story in a gentle and mild manner, seated in the stillness of a therapy room at a trauma clinic in Birmingham.The centre, which opened its doors in July last year to address the “unmet mental healthcare needs of those seeking sanctuary”, is run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders. It provides specialised trauma-focu

health  2d ago

The Guardian Health

Living with tinnitus can be distressing. So what can you do about it?

Tinnitus affects millions of people and it can take many different forms. But there are therapies that can help make it more bearableFor some it’s a high-pitched mosquito whine; for others it’s a low bass hum. It might come and go with periods of stress, or it might be the permanent, irritating background track to daily life and nightly sleep.Whatever form it takes, tinnitus – hearing sounds like ringing, buzzing or hissing when no external noise is there – can be extremely distressing because i

health  2d ago

The Guardian Health

From ‘Ozempic breath’ to hair loss: sorting the science from the hype about weight loss jabs

Do you gain weight once you stop using them? Do they make your face saggy? Can they improve your mental health? Experts explain whether 13 common beliefs about GLP-1s are true or falseFALSE “GLP-1 medications mimic Glucagon-like peptide-1 – one of the hormones involved in appetite regulation. It doesn’t completely suppress hunger, but it is powerful,” says Dr Federica Amati, nutrition lead at Imperial College School of Medicine and author of The Appetite Reset. “The medicine is about 1,000 times

health  2d ago

The Guardian Health

MPs recount personal experiences as they debate assisted dying bill – video

MPs have been debating a bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. The bill would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, after the approval of a panel of experts. Speaking in the Commons, Labour's Claire Hazelgrove, who is in favour of the bill, said her mother, Ruth, died alone last October after living with a rare blood cancer for half of her life. Fellow Labour MP Ashley Dalton, who has been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, said t

health  2d ago

The Guardian Health

A scientist said bananas ‘kill’ the benefit of blueberries. Is that true?

Can blending these popular fruits in a smoothie adversely affect the berries’ nutritional benefits? Experts weigh inThis year was shaping up to be a banner year for bananas: they were lauded as “2026’s big viral taste”, landed pride of place as Prada’s new lip balm flavor, and were even deemed “the next pumpkin spice”.But this summer, the Mel Robbins Podcast featured Dr Rhonda Patrick, a biomedical scientist, who said that adding banana to a blueberry smoothie could adversely affect the nutritio

health  3d ago

The Guardian Health

My plea to MPs: this is the final chance to save the assisted dying bill. Make your mark on history | Polly Toynbee

Any MP not voting for it on Friday will condemn thousands of us to die in agony. The public is hugely in favour too, so do the right thingOnce in a while, footsoldiers of the House of Commons, you are able to make history by leaving your own indelible footprints on the social fabric. Eras with a Labour majority always leave a legacy of progressive freedoms – whether on abortion, capital punishment, divorce, gay rights, racial discrimination, gender equality or, last time, civil partnerships. But

health  3d ago

The Guardian Health

Tell us: has your medical cannabis prescription come from a private health provider?

We’d like to hear from people in the UK who have accessed medical cannabis from a private health provider and find out about their experienceIn 2018 Theresa May’s government changed the law to allow the NHS and private providers to prescribe cannabis-based medical products.The NHS prescribes medical cannabis for a few conditions such as children and adults with rare, severe forms of epilepsy and people with muscle stiffness and spasms caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the vast majority

health  3d ago

The Guardian Health

NHS reports busiest ever summer as heatwaves drive up hospital admissions

Health secretary says extreme demand no longer confined to winter as service in England warns of knock-on effectsThe NHS faced the “busiest summer in its history” as the UK experienced a series of heatwaves, health officials have said, while the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has risen to its highest level for nine months.The health secretary said “extreme demand” on the service was “no longer confined to winter” and NHS leaders warned that the service “never gone into wi

health  3d ago

The Guardian Health

The young and healthy Dutchman who moved into a care home - podcast

Nurse Teun Toebes and filmmaker Jonathan de Jong argue for a radical new approach to treating – and giving freedom to – people with dementiaTeun Toebes was 17, a student nurse, when he first entered a care home. He entered, he remembers, “the closed ward”, where residents were locked inside. It illustrated perfectly, he thought, “how we have lost the plot” when it comes to treating dementia.Teun – together with filmmaker Jonathan de Jong – have just released a documentary, Forever Human, on his

health  4d ago

The Guardian Health

‘I’m sick of her talking about it’: 11 readers share how GLP-1s have affected their relationships

As weight loss drugs have risen all around the world, it has reshaped users’ relationships for better and for worseAs GLP-1 use continues to rise in the US and the UK, people’s bodies are being reshaped – as are their relationships.“Relationships tend to develop a sense of equilibrium and predictability over time,” says Dr Lindsey Berisha, a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with clients using GLP-1s for over 10 years. “When one partner undergoes a significant change, it can shift th

health  4d ago

The Guardian Health

Drinking very hot drinks could triple risk of oesophageal cancer, study finds

Research finds temperature and amount of hot drinks consumed heightens possibility of developing diseaseDrinking very hot tea and coffee triples the risk of developing cancer of the gullet, the world’s largest study of the link between them has found.The findings show that people should let very hot cups of tea and coffee cool down until they are comfortable to drink, in order to reduce their risk of the disease, cancer experts said. Continue reading...

health  4d ago

The Guardian Health

‘Catastrophic’ fears: health staff made lists of concerning cases days after Australia’s aged care funding tool launch

Exclusive: Documents reveal assessors’ grave fears if client needs are underestimated by tool that can’t be overriddenGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastState health officials were so alarmed by a controversial federal government aged-care funding tool that they kept a log of hundreds of cases where vulnerable older Australians were severely under-assessed.It also led to one senior state health official writing to the federal government to warn of “catastrophic” outcomes

health  5d ago

The Guardian Health

AI will help find cure for cancer ‘within our lifetimes’, says Arm Holdings chief

Rene Haas also claims artificial intelligence could pave way for widespread use of humanoid robots within five yearsBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of one of the UK’s biggest chip companies has claimed AI will be able to find a cure for cancer “in our lifetime”.Rene Haas, chief executive of the chip designer Arm Holdings, said that, while modelling how a DNA marker is affected by cancer was currently “too complex” a problem for either humans or technology, computers were “going to solve i

health  5d ago

The Guardian Health

‘Why was mum in clothes you could wear in the winter?’: family seeks answers after care home heatstroke death

Anita Bazell, 88, died in Southampton during June’s heatwave after being taken to hospital with a body temperature of 41.2C. Now her son wants to raise awareness of the risks of heatstroke, particularly among elderly peopleAnita Bazell had never coped with the heat very well, her family said. So they were worried about her when temperatures across the UK soared to record highs of 35C (95F) in May, and then again in June.She was living in a nursing home in Southampton near her family, who had str

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

The Guardian view on skin cancer: fear the heat of the sun | Editorial

With melanoma cases rising, the UK must learn from public health campaigns elsewhereNew climate risks bring with them new health risks. An exceptionally warm and dry summer in Europe meant that outdoor workers, and those who choose to spend leisure time in the sun, were confronted more directly than usual by the need to protect their skin from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, as well as avoid dehydration and overheating. In the UK, the annual total of new melanoma cases was reported to have risen abo

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

A health MOT is just one step towards prevention | Letters

Tackling social and economic conditions must come first, writes Dr Louise Lawson. Plus letters from James Hibberd, Bob Forster and Dr Giles YoungsDevi Sridhar is right to welcome free cholesterol testing on the NHS in England and blood pressure checks in pharmacies. Such measures can help identify health risks earlier. However, I would take issue with her suggestion that a “health MOT” is “precisely what prevention is all about” (Free cholesterol tests on the NHS are great – but here’s the five-

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

AI transcriptions are no time-saving measure for doctors | Letters

Dr Mary Gibbs says there are a number of problems with AI, particularly its tendency to misunderstand, as Debbie Cameron can attestI am an out-of-hours GP, and I am glad to see a news report on this issue, which has been causing me increasing concern at work (Doctors’ AI scribes get names of drugs and diagnoses wrong, NHS watchdog warns, 31 August). There are a number of problems with AI, particularly its tendency to misunderstand and contradict itself, which can lead to dangers for the patient,

health  6d ago