The Guardian Health

Europe is the world’s fastest warming continent – and the consequences are deadly

The climate crisis is hitting Europe hard in 2026, warming twice as fast as any other continent. What is to blame?The whole world is getting hotter as carbon pollution from fossil fuel burning traps ever more heat, but Europe is heating up twice as fast as other continents. The consequences are increasingly deadly, with tens of thousands of heatwave deaths so far this summer. Continue reading...

health  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

A moment that changed me: My stammer made life a misery – then a song gave me back my voice

As a teenager, I was so ashamed of my speech disability that even my family didn’t know about it. When Scatman John came on the radio, celebrating his own stammer in a hit about self-esteem, I knew I had to meet him For most of my life, I had one goal: don’t get found out. I was a covert stammerer (or stutterer). Nobody realised I had a speech disability, because whenever I felt I was going to get stuck on a word, I switched it or stayed silent. I appeared fluent by avoiding certain sounds, word

health  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts | Robert B Shpiner

There’s no evidence that vaccines cause autism, or that we should separate MMR shots. This order is dangerous“This is based on what I feel.” That was the president last September, explaining why he wanted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine broken into three separate shots. On Monday, he signed an executive order instructing exactly that.Four decades in intensive care have taught me what a feeling costs once it becomes national policy. Children will be hospitalized who did not need to b

health  Aug 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘I’m giving people a happy space’: the man clearing gardens for free – and letting light into strangers’ lives

When he saw a messy yard being criticised on social media, Stephen Jalland grabbed his trimmer and decided to help. An overgrown garden, he discovered, often hides an overwhelmed ownerAnita Thursby had been dreading the gas engineer coming to service her boiler. They would have needed to enter her kitchen, where the window looked into the jungle of swirling, 2-metre-high brambles that made up her back garden, and her shame had spiralled. “I would have been horrified,” she says. For the same reas

health  Aug 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Drops take seconds but change a life for ever’: the women saving India’s remotest people from polio

Shameema and Tanzeela must trek for miles in summer heat to vaccinate children in Kashmir’s highlands as part of a vast national programmeBefore sunrise, Shameema slips on her worn rubber sandals and checks the insulated box – the ice packs inside must maintain the crucial cold chain at between 2C and 8C (35.6-46.4F). She hoists the container on one shoulder and steps out into the dark.Tanzeela follows with her own pack, after quickly retying the laces of her canvas shoes. Both women live in Pul

health  Aug 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

Mental health: one step forward and two steps back? | Letters

Dr Kate Martin is encouraged by the new network of community clinics, while Prof Dr John R Ashton says the forthcoming mental health strategy is an opportunity to grasp the nettle, while Marjorie Wallace expresses concerns about plans to cut mental health jobs in the NHSIt’s very encouraging to hear the announcement about the new network of community mental health clinics in England (Editorial, 6 August). The focus on early intervention is crucial, as it means that people can access treatment as

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

Breast cancer screening guidelines discriminate against families like mine | Brief letters

Health concerns | Rubbish decisions | In sympathy | Funeral songs | Short illnessesCalls for changes to breast cancer guidelines for GPs are welcome (Report, 4 August). The existing guidelines are irrational. If your grandmother and mother have both had breast cancer, you are still not added to the intensified screening list unless an aunt or great-aunt or sister has also had breast cancer. Hence the system discriminates against families – like mine – with only one woman in a generation.Helen Hi

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Safe, quick and painless’: what is a DXA scan, and do you need one for bone health?

The imaging test is most often used to help determine a person’s risk of osteoporosis and bone fracturesDXA – or sometimes DEXA – scans are important for people in their 60s and above. They are also increasingly used by younger people interested in body composition.A DXA – dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry – scan is an imaging test that uses low-dose X-rays to evaluate a person’s bone health, explains Dr Michael Perry, associate professor of radiology and medical imaging at the University of Virg

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

Louisiana warns beachgoers amid surge in flesh-eating bacteria infections

State confirms nine cases, including five deaths, from Vibrio vulnificus organism, which thrives in seawaterHealth officials in Louisiana are urging beachgoers to take precautions during a summertime surge in infections from a flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.Louisiana has confirmed nine cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, the state’s health department said last week in a news release. All were hospitalized, and five died. During the same period over the previous decade

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

What happens when medical students rely on AI – and never develop their own judgment? | Simar Bajaj and Joseph Sakran

AI’s danger isn’t just in experts losing the ability to reason. It’s that trainees may never learn how to do so in the first placeIn healthcare, there’s growing concern over doctors becoming less clinically adept as they increasingly rely on AI tools. But what about the trainees – medical students, residents and fellows – who are using these tools before they’ve built their own clinical judgment? The idea of deskilling implies that someone possessed an ability and then lost it. Here, the danger

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Babies will be born in laybys’: maternity cuts leave women with stark choices in Devon

Concerns about feeling pressure to have caesarean section, or paying for hotel in Exeter after hospital in Barnstaple suspends birthing servicesFor mother-to-be Harriet Knight, the suspension of maternity services at one of England’s most remote hospitals means having to face horribly stark choices.“The next closest maternity unit is a full two hours away and we have a family history of labour taking under two hours from start to finish,” said Knight. Continue reading...

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘I’ve sat at the very precipice of life’: Clarke Carlisle on gambling, depression – and survival

The former professional footballer has struggled with his mental health for most of his life. But it took five suicide attempts for him to admit how badly he wanted to end it. He talks about how he turned the corner – and his hopes for his new post with the charity Mind‘How are you?” I ask Clarke Carlisle. Usually when you meet people it’s a nicety. Not with Carlisle. He smiles ecstatically. “I’m incredibly well, thank you. Yeah, really, really good,” says the former footballer and incoming chai

health  Aug 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

The culture surrounding ‘ideal’ childbirth has to evolve | Letters

Molly O’Brien responds to an article by Natalie Morris about her five-day labour, while an NHS doctor shares her personal experience of feeling ‘othered’It is not clear whether Natalie Morris’s labour began spontaneously or was induced (By day five of my labour, I didn’t want an ‘ideal birth’. I only wanted to survive, 6 August). Nevertheless, what is described is not a debate about “ideal birth”, but an account of undiagnosed labour dystocia.By day four she had contractions but no cervical dila

health  Aug 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

We know sleep, exercise and diet are vital for health. But why?

The benefits of all three come down to a crucial piece of cellular kitSleep. Exercise. Eat well. It’s the oldest recommendation in medicine, repeated so often it’s become a cliche. We know the advice, even if we don’t always follow it. But have you ever stopped to wonder why these three seemingly different habits have such remarkably similar effects on our brains and bodies?For generations we’ve treated them as separate prescriptions – sleep restores us, exercise strengthens us and food fuels us

health  Aug 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

Rest assured, the new CDC director thinks ‘abortion surveillance’ is essential | Arwa Mahdawi

An exchange between Dr Erica Schwartz and Senator Josh Hawley during her confirmation hearing is alarmingRobert F Kennedy Jr’s new cooking show isn’t the only big news out of the public health world this week. On Wednesday, Dr Erica Schwartz was confirmed by the US Senate as director ‌of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), making her the first Black woman to hold the position. This is the first time in almost a year that the agency has had a permanent leader; the previous direc

health  Aug 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

Is it OK to talk about Ariana Grande’s body? There is no right answer

I wish I could say that expressing concern for the pop star’s health is helpful – but I know from experience it’s not that simpleThe last time I opened X, a photo of Ariana Grande leaning over in a low-cut black dress, clavicle showing, was at the top of the feed. The post read: “hey @grok make Ariana Grande healthy and fat”.Images of celebrities at their most skeletal regularly rise to the top of social feeds because they generate enormous, dissenting engagement. Social media platforms have mad

health  Aug 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

Let’s all get on board with travel etiquette | Letters

Readers add to a guide for handling tricky situations on public transportRe your article on travel etiquette (The ultimate guide to travel etiquette: how to handle 36 tricky situations, from manspreaders to smelly armpits, 4 August), it’s totally wrong to advise people not to give up seats for a woman any more. Women could be menstruating, in the first trimester of pregnancy (the most exhausting time, and not one you advertise with badges saying “Baby on board”), perimenopausal, menopausal or ha

health  Aug 7, 2026

The Guardian Health

Why are ultra-processed food firms panicking and suing? Because they know time is running out | Felicity Lawrence

As the harm caused by their products becomes more evident, manufacturers are resorting to denial and lawsuits to keep regulation at bayIt is rare for people to drop dead holding the incriminating packaging, but there is no longer any serious doubt that consuming a diet of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) risks a catalogue of life-shortening illnesses from heart disease and stroke to diabetes and cancer. Because these diseases are degenerative over time, the food and drink industry has been able to a

health  Aug 7, 2026

The Guardian Health

The Guardian view on mental health: the new secretary of state should make it a priority | Editorial

Parity for people with physical and psychological ailments has been promised for years. New neighbourhood clinics are a step in the right directionThe rise in children and young people with mental health problems makes this week’s announcement of a new network of community clinics in England particularly welcome. A&E departments have recorded an increase in difficult-to-manage symptoms including aggression and hallucinations. New specialist walk-in mental health services should take some of

health  Aug 6, 2026

The Guardian Health

By day five of my labour, I didn’t want an ‘ideal birth’. I only wanted to survive | Natalie Morris

Yvette Cooper’s maternity reforms must change a system that too often fails women when they’re at their most vulnerableOn the third day of being in labour with my first child, I entered a new state of being. It was time to dig deep. This is what I had learned in all the childbirth classes. As long as I remained calm, breathed as instructed, moaned through the pain, things would happen as they were meant to. My body knew what it was doing. Only, it didn’t.On the fourth day, I started to beg. This

health  Aug 6, 2026