The Guardian Health

‘Mistrust’ of Palantir may affect NHS research, says health minister

James Frith warns patients may be less willing to share data as new figures show a rise in opt-outsConcern is being raised about Palantir’s work with the NHS as new figures showed tens of thousands of patients have withdrawn their data from use in research projects.James Frith, the health innovation minister, said he was worried about “mistrust” of the US defence and health tech company and “the impact it could have on people’s willingness to share data with the NHS”. Continue reading...

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

‘Nakedly political’: US attempts to link trans support to authoritarianism in new HHS report

HHS releases report linking ‘gender ideology’ to political violence – a study scientists say was poorly conductedThe US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a report linking “gender ideology” to leftwing authoritarianism and political violence – a study scientists say was poorly conducted and “nakedly political”, likely leading to greater politicization of science and health.It follows attempts by the administration to limit access to gender-affirming care – including,

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri reveals she has incurable blood cancer

Newscaster says rare but treatable condition polycythaemia vera left her feeling like she ‘had her batteries taken out’The BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has been diagnosed with a rare form of incurable blood cancer, she has revealed.Doctors told the broadcaster last November she had polycythaemia vera (PV), which cannot be cured but is treatable. The condition, which affects about 8,000 people in the UK, is associated with an increased risk of the blood clots that can cause a stroke, heart a

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

Lindsay Clancy’s case is a Rorschach test | Moira Donegan

Clancy’s case became a referendum on mothers, healthcare and the status of womenMost family annihilators are men. It’s a grim fact that such incidents are common enough to have a discernible pattern. The massacre is carried out by a husband and father, often one who is on the verge of bankruptcy or divorce; typically, it forms the finale of a long reign of domestic violence terror.About half the time, the perpetrator kills himself after slaughtering his family. Gun use is common – a large number

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

As assisted dying bill returns to Commons, families recall loved ones’ battle to ‘go out on own terms’

Elise Burns and Keith Williams appeared in campaign filmed by Rankin this year – both were denied their wishes, but their relatives are picking up the batonThe feeling, said Sarah Burns of her sister’s last days, is one of overwhelming guilt.“You feel really guilty, and helpless,” she says. “Because we knew what she wanted. We really did know. But we couldn’t do anything.” Continue reading...

health  6d ago

The Guardian Health

Almost 75% of A&E staff in UK face violence or aggression daily or weekly

Survey finds long waiting times and overcrowding have made abuse ‘routine’ part of working on hospital frontlineNearly three-quarters of A&E staff experience violence or aggression daily or weekly, according to a survey highlighting the “appalling” abuse of NHS workers.The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said understaffed and overcrowded emergency departments were contributing to increased targeting of medics. Continue reading...

health  Sep 6, 2026

The Guardian Health

The Guardian view on extreme heat: its scale should be a wake-up call to us all | Editorial

With thousands dead across Europe this summer, it’s time to recognise heatwaves as the major natural disasters they areThe numbers are now trickling in: nearly 2,900 dead in the UK, at least 35,000 dead across Europe. That’s how many people are believed to have lost their lives in this year’s early-summer heatwaves – the death tolls for the August heatwaves have yet to be counted. In a sense, these people died in a series of natural disasters, similar to the hundreds who died last month after fl

health  Sep 6, 2026

The Guardian Health

My dad’s determination to choose life despite his cruel illness has taught me gratitude | Nomi Kaltmann

We can’t control what happens to us – only how we react to it. And when we help others we are reminded that we are more than our sufferingMaking sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday lifeMy dad, Max, is in his early 60s. More than 15 years ago he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease. Since then his illness has progressed, affecting his mobility and making ordinary tasks, like walking, increasingly difficult.My dad is softly spoken an

health  Sep 6, 2026

The Guardian Health

Let your mind wander, don’t retire and stop worrying: surprising ways to help save your brain from the cognitive cliff

In his new book, The Brain Cliff, Dr Norman Swan outlines the science of brain ageing and strategies for staving off cognitive declineYou write that “changing the way you think about the brain cliff can literally change the way you think and remember”. How?Dr Norman Swan: There are three things you need to know which are not widely known. Continue reading...

health  Sep 6, 2026

The Guardian Health

Some Americans call us ‘Europoor’ - but there are seven ways we’re exceedingly rich | Emma Beddington

Our US friends may pity Europeans for our low salaries, high taxes and dependence on public transport – but they’re forgetting the really important stuff …I’m sorry to break this to you, but you may be “Europoor”. This is, apparently, what proud American patriots (the kind who describe themselves in those terms on their flag-forward X profiles anyway) are calling us Europeans, mocking us for our low salaries, high taxes and dependence on public transport.GB news presenter Tom Harwood declared th

health  Sep 6, 2026

The Guardian Health

Alzheimer’s trial to test drug on people without symptoms to see if it can be prevented

Healthy middle-aged people deemed to be at higher risk of developing condition among those eligible to participatePeople without memory loss will be offered an experimental Alzheimer’s drug that could stop the development of the condition before dementia symptoms emerge.Healthy middle-aged people deemed to have a higher risk of developing the condition will be eligible to participate in the trial, which is being run by an NHS trust as part of an international clinical trial aiming to prevent dem

health  Sep 5, 2026

The Guardian Health

Even in safe-haven Massachusetts, trans care is at risk. Young people are fighting to protect it

Activists are calling on the state attorney general to take action against hospitals that have ended gender-affirming care programs after Trump retook officeA group of trans activists from across Massachusetts brought their needles, hormone gels, pills and sharps containers to Boston on Wednesday to send a message to state attorney general Andrea Campbell.Organizers with the youth-led group Protect Trans Futures (PTF) took their hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the lobby of her office buildi

health  Sep 5, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘I don’t have any friends’: why do young people today have fewer mates?

Social media, mental health problems, the pandemic and financial instability all contribute to the phenomenonOn Tess Lavanda’s YouTube channel there is one video with substantially more views than the rest: it is titled “I don’t have any friends” and has been watched more than half a million times since she posted it a month ago.Over on Instagram she has posted dozens of reels with titles like “I turned 22 alone”, “Living alone in London” and “Feeling alone this summer is OK”, each garnering tho

health  Sep 5, 2026

The Guardian Health

Lindsay Clancy trial highlights gaps in postpartum psychosis research, experts say

Murder trial underscores how misunderstood postpartum illness is to experts and the general public, advocates sayKristina Delaney was five months postpartum when her husband saw something was very, very wrong. It was a Friday afternoon, and her husband had gone outside to make a phone call – concerned about his wife’s “hyperactive” speech.When he returned, she was rocking their two children in her arms, and said: “‘Please save us, please save our family,’” said Delaney. “And I thought Jesus was

health  Sep 4, 2026

The Guardian Health

Alcohol-related cancer deaths in US have more than doubled over three decades

Study finds just one drink per day could raise risk of disease with impacts extending far beyond liver cancerAlcohol-related cancer deaths in the US have more than doubled over three decades, with new research showing that just one drink per day could raise cancer risk and that the impacts extend far beyond liver cancer.Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, analyzed more than three decades of Global Burden of Disease data

health  Sep 4, 2026

The Guardian Health

Nicola Close obituary

My friend Nicola Close, who has died aged 75 of cancer, was a public health leader who made a major contribution to the field as chief executive of the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH). Starting as its sole employee in 2007, she built an influential organisation currently employing 19 people.This became especially evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, when directors of public health, whose role includes providing local leadership and implementing national guidance, were thrust in

health  Sep 4, 2026

The Guardian Health

Chat to strangers and let your kids be bored: how to embrace a ‘slow September’ – and enjoy life more

The pressure to self-optimise at the start of the new school year can lead to disappointment and burnout. Instead, here are seven ways to slow things down and reap the benefitsIt is a hangover from our school days that September can feel like a time for getting back to the grind. As in January, there is a sense that we should return as better workers, partners, friends and parents. This sense is even stronger now a culture of optimisation – has taken over – evidenced by the fad for adding “maxx”

health  Sep 4, 2026

The Guardian Health

Is a recommended diet affordable any more? – video

High food prices are affecting everyone right now, but it turns out they are affecting some people way more than others. Josh Toussaint-Strauss looks at the grocery price situation and official healthy eating advice in different countries to find out how food prices are hitting lower-income households harder and whether it’s even mathematically possible to eat a government-recommended healthy diet Continue reading...

health  Sep 4, 2026

The Guardian Health

A remarkable documentary made by blind students: ‘We were stunned by the footage’

In Brailled It, the tension and stakes of the annual Braille Challenge are brought to the screen by three of the competitorsFor the past 26 years, some 22,000 blind and visually impaired schoolchildren from around the world have competed in the Braille Challenge: a literacy test against a loudly ticking clock. It has all the theater of a Model UN competition, all the stakes of a make-or-break standardized exam and young competitors from first grade through high school juggling their own expectat

health  Sep 4, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘If you can’t understand what sex is, it’s irrelevant if you seem to be enjoying it’: how Queen at Sea upended the dementia drama

Lance Hammer’s first film in 18 years is a heart-wrenching masterpiece about family, mental decline and sexual consent. He and supporting actor Juliette Binoche discuss how they brought unabashed realism to a condition rarely seen on screenThe first time we see Martin and Leslie, the elderly couple at the centre of Lance Hammer’s wrenching new film, Queen at Sea, they are walking together up a set of stone steps: one of their regular outings, we assume, in days filled with pottering and quiet co

health  Sep 4, 2026