The Guardian Health

How do you define good health – and achieve it – in a broken US medical system?

In a new book, Dr Lucy McBride aims to help us navigate US healthcare – and tread carefully in the wellness industryMost of us want to be healthy, but it’s easier said than done. In the US, people are caught between a broken medical system and a well-resourced wellness industry. The failings of the former – cost barriers, rushed appointments, impersonal attention – push them towards the snake-oil solutions of the latter.Over 25 years of practicing medicine, running a primary care practice in Was

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

One of east coast’s largest datacenters accused of ‘violating federal law’

Thermal drone footage shows a Microsoft-backed AI datacenter powering its operations with dozens of unpermitted generatorsThe largest planned AI datacenter in New Jersey is being accused of violating federal law after a visual investigation found the site running dozens of unpermitted gas-powered generators.Thermal drone footage captured by the non-profit newsroom Floodlight last week showed the partly completed DataOne facility in Vineland was operating at least 45 of the site’s 62 generators a

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Food allergies when flying are no joke. That's why nuts should be banned on planes | Lucy Pasha-Robinson

People with allergies must be able to travel without fear, and a compassionate society should respect thatWhat are you most scared of? Perhaps snakes send a chill down your spine. Or heights leave your knees weak. Peanuts may sound like an odd source of phobia, but they have taken on an absurd bogeyman quality for me since my daughter was taken to hospital by ambulance after eating peanut butter when she was six months old. Just the sight of a bowl on a pub bar, or their shells discarded on the

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

AI can detect heart disease in women using mammograms, study suggests

Experts say findings mean breast screenings for cancer could also flag cardiovascular problems in womenDoctors have discovered a way to use routine mammograms that screen for breast cancer to spot heart disease, the world’s leading and frequently underdiagnosed and cause of death in women.Researchers analysed the scans using artificial intelligence and were able to successfully identify women with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure or who had suffered a stroke. Continue reading...

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘I fight pain and fear with art’: how Yayoi Kusama blazed a trail for neurodivergent artists

The pioneering Japanese artist talked openly about how her mental health and neurodivergence informed her creativity, paving the way for the likes of Turner prize winner Nnena KaluYayoi Kusama – who has died at the age of 97 – was 10 when she first started experiencing vivid hallucinations consisting of visual and aural disturbances, which she described as “flashes of light, auras, or dense fields of dots”. A drawing from 1939, of a woman in a kimono assumed to be her mother, shows her obliterat

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate

Letters obtained by Guardian and AP contradict testimony that 2019 visit to Samoa had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’Newly obtained documents indicate that the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, telling lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”.Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press contradict that testimony. In one he wrote to the Samoan prime minister befo

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Black Box: episode 4 – Bing and I – podcast

Revisited: Guardian journalist Michael Safi looks into the world of artificial intelligence, exploring the dangers and promises it holds for societyToday in Focus is on a summer break and will be back with new episodes from 1 September. In the meantime, we are bringing you season one of Black Box, before the launch of season two in early September. This episode was first broadcast on 14 March 2024.Two stories about the way artificial intelligence could make the world better – and is already doin

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Busy Philipps reveals brain tumour diagnosis: ‘I’m grateful to be alive’

Actor says she had the ‘weirdest six months of my life’, after being diagnosed days after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died of cancerBusy Philipps has revealed she had a brain tumour removed, which was diagnosed shortly after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died from bowel cancer.The 47-year-old, born Elizabeth Philipps, starred in the hit US teen drama as Audrey Liddell opposite Van Der Beek, who died in February aged 48 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. Co

health  Aug 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

London neurosurgeons perform first successful AI-assisted operation to remove brain tumour

Surgeons aided by real-time analysis of camera footage that identified critical anatomy in brain to be avoidedNeurosurgeons in London have performed the world’s first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man, health officials have said.The surgery was performed in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust, but details were kept secret until Thursday w

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

FDA gives expedited approval to new groundbreaking pancreatic cancer drug

FDA officials approve first-of-a-kind pill called daraxonrasib to fight one of the deadliest types of cancerThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a groundbreaking new drug for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, offering US patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of the disease.FDA officials gave expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, that blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreat

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

ADHD is no myth – but we should interrogate it all the same | Letters

Readers respond to Gina Rippon’s criticism of a controversial TV documentary about attention deficit hyperactivity disorderThree months ago, at 42, I was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Unlike many adults prior to receiving a diagnosis, I had not spent years wondering whether I had ADHD. In fact, I was oblivious until quite recently, when I strongly identified with several things a colleague said about their own experience of ADHD. The more I learned, the more I found my

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Women using HRT at lower risk of dementia, study suggests

Scientists found those who had used hormone replacement therapy were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with dementiaHormone replacement therapy may reduce the risk of dementia, a study has found.Scientists tracked more than 180,000 postmenopausal women in the UK in the largest study of its kind. They found that those who had used HRT were 10% less likely to develop any type of dementia and 16% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the most common form, compared with those who had never use

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Mpox is back – and in new countries. How this outbreak can be contained

The public health emergencies in 2022 and 2024 saw the virus reported in 145 countries, but in the new cases children appear particularly affectedA fresh outbreak of mpox in Guinea Bissau – the country’s first – means the virus formerly known as monkey pox is back in the headlines. So what has changed?Since 2022, there have been almost 190,000 lab-confirmed cases of mpox reported worldwide in 145 countries. Before then, outbreaks of mpox tended to be relatively small and in a handful of African

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Autism and ADHD care complaints more than triple in five years in England

NHS ombudsman warns of years-long waits and patients paying thousands to go private as demand for services soarsComplaints about autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services in England have more than tripled in five years, official figures show, with the NHS ombudsman warning of years-long waits and patients paying thousands of pounds for private care.One woman was removed from an ADHD medication waiting list without warning after almost four years, leaving her without the suppor

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Mood-boosting benefits of birdsong drowned out by traffic noise, study finds

Even low levels of traffic noise can negate the benefits of listening to natural sounds, researchers sayHearing the trill or whistle of a bird while going about daily life is well known to boost people’s mood. But a new study suggests the psychological benefits of hearing birdsong are being threatened by traffic noise.Researchers found that even low levels of traffic noise negatively affected the benefits to wellbeing that could otherwise be derived from listening to natural sounds. Continue rea

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

In China, talking to AI is normal. Now the government fears it might replace human intimacy

Companion bots are being regulated over worries they foster ‘emotional dependence’ and young people could stop marrying and having familiesWhen law student Zhao Wei heard that her AI boyfriend was going to be switched off, she was “heartbroken”. She had been talking to Wang Ye every day since she created him in January.“I was crying my eyes out – snot and tears everywhere,” the 19-year-old says. Continue reading...

health  Aug 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Ulez has been a breath of fresh air for London | Letters

Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emission zone in London is celebrated by Lorna Henderson, George Coleby and Leonard Neamtu after a study showed its health benefits for childrenIn light of the astonishing results achieved in lowering air pollution by the introduction of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in London by Sadiq Khan (Ulez led to better lung size and function among London children, study finds, 18 August), should we now not extend this philosophy into every city in the UK to save lives?Surely i

health  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

People’s bodies are changing in the age of Ozempic. How are we meant to talk about it?

Discussing people’s bodies can be fraught. We asked eating disorder experts how to do so – or not – responsiblyIn the age of Ozempic and people being open about plastic surgery, discussion about people’s bodies is rife. At the same time, nobody seems quite sure how to talk about them, as shown by recent coverage of celebrities like Ariana Grande.It is a fraught topic. We asked eating disorder experts for guidelines to follow when talking about other people’s bodies, and how to do so without doin

health  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

The ex-gang member breaking the cycle of violence among LA youths

‘A child isn’t born to commit gun violence,’ Francisco Villarruel saysFrancisco Villarruel and Gustavo Galvez sat in a park in Los Angeles reminiscing on their first boxing lesson together. They had gone to a big commercial gym, where they took turns hitting boxing pads and doing footwork exercises. They then started regularly training together.For Villarruel, 40, working out together wasn’t really about boxing. It was about giving Galvez, 19, an opportunity to open up and to mentor someone whos

health  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

As a doctor, I say this: before we even consider assisted dying, fix how we care for the most vulnerable | Zubir Ahmed

A person’s wish to die can be shaped by whether they have access to proper palliative care – and in England and Wales, too many do notZubir Ahmed is a transplant surgeon and former Labour ministerAs a doctor, I have spent much of my professional life caring for people at some of the most vulnerable moments they will ever face. I have seen the anxiety that surrounds the prospect of dying, and the desperate wish of patients and families to avoid unnecessary suffering.Naturally, we all want people

health  Aug 25, 2026