The Guardian Health

Weight-loss drugs can cut breast cancer risk by up to 30%, studies suggest

Three studies add to evidence that jabs could be part of cancer-fighting toolkit to cut risk of developing or dying from diseaseWeight-loss drugs can cut the risk of developing or dying from cancer by 30%, doctors have said.Millions of people already use the drugs to treat obesity. Now a series of studies presented at the world’s largest oncology conference suggest the drugs could play a role in preventing and treating cancer. Continue reading...

health  Jun 2, 2026

The Guardian Health

Add leaf blowers to the list of antisocial garden tools | Letters

Miranda Fagandini says the noise made by these devices is dreadful and can be life-alteringOn reading the latest column in your long-running series (Lawnmower hum: why the sound of the summer could cost you £5,000, 27 May), I noticed that the writer didn’t include the curse of the leaf blower in their list of antisocial garden tools.The noise is dreadful and can be life-altering. We bought one which turned out to be so loud that it has caused permanent hearing loss and hyperacusis

health  Jun 1, 2026

The Guardian Health

Doctors don’t know what to do about wellness influencers but we dismiss them at our peril | Ranjana Srivastava

To be a cancer specialist is to see the worst of harm caused by social media. Yet I have never changed a patient’s mind with outrage“And so, of course, I have completely stopped eating red meat.”The “of course” is galling, especially since we have been using precious bags of blood to top up my patient’s haemoglobin.Ranjana Srivastava is an Australian oncologist, award-winning author and Fulbright scholar. Her latest book is Every Word Matters: Writing to Engage the Public Continue reading...

health  Jun 1, 2026

The Guardian Health

Midwives want to make childbirth miraculous – so what went so wrong in Nottingham? | Zoe Williams

The acronym ‘FOH’ for ‘Fuck off home’ was used beside the names of expectant mothers. Senior midwives advised others not to be ‘too kind’. But as this and other shocking evidence is brought to light, sexism is only one part of the storyIt’s said to be mother nature’s stunning con trick, the single most helpful move in the propagation of the species – that childbirth might be the worst thing ever to happen to anyone, but once you are through it, you instantly forget how painful it was. And that i

health  Jun 1, 2026

The Guardian Health

Yoga can reduce anxiety and insomnia for people living with cancer, study finds

First clinical trial of its kind, involving 410 cancer survivors in US, also finds reductions in distress and fatigueYoga can reduce emotional distress, anxiety, fatigue and insomnia in people living with cancer, according to the results of the first clinical trial of its kind.Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are living with cancer, with advances in treatments meaning more patients are surviving the disease than ever before. But for many, the physical and mental side-effects of their dia

health  Jun 1, 2026

The Guardian Health

To die with dignity: my young husband’s final wish came with a $65,000 price tag

My husband, Craig, didn’t want to spend his last days in the hospital. His fight with bladder cancer then became a battle to get him hospice care at home“This isn’t where I want to die,” my husband, Craig, whispered to me.We were in a shared room on the top floor of NYU Langone hospital in Manhattan, the window obscured by a long privacy curtain. I barely had space to stand next to his hospital bed under the bright fluorescent lights, our thoughts interrupted by the constant beeping of machines.

health  Jun 1, 2026

WHO News

Joint statement by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and WHO concerning the outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus

The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) reaffirm their strong partnership and shared commitment to protect the health and well-being of the people of Ituri Province and the nation at large, following the joint mission to Bunia led by Dr Samuel Roger Kamba, Minister of Health, Mr. Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Minister of Communication and Medias, and the visit of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. This high-level visit come

health  May 31, 2026

The Guardian Health

Women don’t need menopause tea and meno-friendly nighties. They need doctors to take them seriously | Emma Beddington

Serious health conditions are being misdiagnosed and pregnancies are missed while the internet swells with terrible advice and meno-products. Enough!Ladies! Are you tired all the time, sweaty and hot, or headachy? Do you have a range of the vague complaints (laziness, hysteria, dissolute habits, general languishing) that would have seen you committed to a 19th-century asylum? Are you lacking in joie de vivre? Maybe you’re perimenopausal!Or maybe you’re not: being tired, hot and over everything a

health  May 31, 2026

The Guardian Health

World faces cancer workforce crisis with 100m staff shortfall, report warns

Researchers say healthcare systems could be overwhelmed by 2050 as global burden of disease continues to riseThe world is facing a cancer workforce crisis, experts have said, with a shortage of 100 million staff expected by 2050 as 100,000 people are diagnosed every day.Patients could face much longer waits to be diagnosed and treated in future as the global cancer burden continues to rise and threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, according to a report at the world’s largest oncology confer

health  May 31, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘It’s a great healer’: why being outdoors in nature means so much to us

Many of those who love spending time in Britain’s green places say it is awe-inspiring, calming and therapeuticAs a recent study revealed almost half of UK adults now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as gardens, parks, fields or woods, we asked readers to tell us about what being outside means to them.The replies – heartfelt and passionate – came flooding in, with some admitting they just did not have the words to say how important it is. Continue reading...

health  May 31, 2026

The Guardian Health

Cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients, trial shows

Jab brought ‘unprecedentedly strong responses’ in patients whose disease had become resistant to chemotherapy and immunotherapyDoctors have hailed “unprecedented” trial results that show a triple-action cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients.In an international trial spanning 11 countries, the injection was offered to patients whose cancer had spread or come back and whose disease had failed to respond to other treatments. Continue reading...

health  May 30, 2026

The Guardian Health

Every month, my explosive rage would send shockwaves through my family. Then I got a diagnosis that changed everything

Mothers with PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) explain how it has affected their relationship with their familiesLaura Daly was six the first time she suspected something was wrong with her mum, Wendy. Furious at locking herself out of the house, Wendy reversed and rammed the car into their garage door once, twice, then three times, as Laura cowered silently in the back, her head flopping forwards with each smash. On the seventh smash, the garage door contorted just enough for Laura to sque

health  May 30, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘It was too easy’: families ask how Kenneth Law enabled so many suicides

Bereaved relatives say they were ignored by authorities as they searched for answers over suicide forums and kitsCanadian man admits sending ‘suicide packets’ to hundreds of people around worldMonday would have been Aimee Walton’s 25th birthday. But in 2022, the lover of music and art from Southampton took her own life after being groomed by another user on an online forum that glorified and enabled suicide. On Friday, 3,500 miles away, the man who sold her a toxic substance pleaded guilty in a

health  May 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

Why America is failing its health report card | Robert B Shpiner

Americans spend 18% of our economy on healthcare, nearly twice the average of comparable nations, for worse resultsThe Commonwealth Fund published its 2026 report card on US healthcare this week, measuring the United States against 19 other wealthy countries. It runs the most expensive system on earth, and it buys some of the worst results in the developed world. I have spent more than four decades in the medical intensive care unit at UCLA, and I do not read those numbers as statistics. I read

health  May 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

Anger at decision not to extradite Canadian suicide kit supplier to face UK justice

Kenneth Law expected to admit to sending products internationally in knowledge they would probably be used to end livesBereaved families whose loved ones were the victims of an online supplier of suicide kits say they feel insulted by a decision not to prosecute him in the UK.Kenneth Law was due to appear in court on Friday in Ontario, Canada, accused of selling 1,200 suicide packages across 40 countries, including the UK. Continue reading...

health  May 29, 2026

WHO News

WHO urges governments to protect young people from addiction to tobacco and nicotine products

Worldwide, at least 40 million children aged 13–15 use tobacco products, and young people’s use of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches continues to rise. In advance of World No Tobacco Day – 31 May – the World Health Organization (WHO) urges governments around the world to protect a new generation from becoming addicted to tobacco and nicotine products.

health  May 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

Friday briefing: ​What do the cuts in aid mean for the fight against Ebola in the DRC?

In today’s newsletter: As the virus spreads across borders, health workers warn that weakened global support is making a prolonged crisis more likelyEbola is spreading rapidly in parts of east Africa. The deadly disease, which kills around half of those it infects, is suspected to have claimed the lives of at least 240 people since the outbreak began in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this month.Public health officials are scrambling to contain the virus in one of the

health  May 29, 2026

WHO News

Experts convened by WHO advise on candidate treatments and vaccines for Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus

In response to the current outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with cases also reported in Uganda, WHO convened several of its expert and advisory groups. These groups assessed potential vaccines and therapeutics for both prevention and treatment of Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD).

health  May 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Abortion, regret and the right to decide | Letters

Readers respond to an article by Roe McDermott saying that women don’t need laws to make them ‘reflect’ on their choicesWell done to Roe McDermott for saying what is rarely said – that abortion doesn’t lead to inevitable regret (Abortion trauma is a myth. Irish women don’t need laws to make them ‘reflect’ on their choices, 26 May). My own experience of one, many years ago, was that it was in fact a very straightforward decision – I didn’t want to become a mother, so I didn’t. End of.What was may

health  May 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Alan Milburn is right, a young generation has been betrayed. Forget Tony Blair: we must attend to this | Polly Toynbee

The new and excoriating account of the dire prospects for UK young people is a call to action. It could be the Beveridge report for our time The diagnosis is dire. Alan Milburn has published the first part of his forensic report on the lives and chances of young people, their fate after leaving school or college, the inadequacy of their health, education and pastoral care, and the reluctance of employers to hire them. This is a “moral crisis”, he says. There are now more than a million young peo

health  May 28, 2026