Health

Health

To support IVF and a friend through their fertility journey can feel overwhelming. When someone close to you faces infertility and begins IVF treatment, knowing what to say and how to help becomes crucial. This comprehensive guide reveals practical ways to provide meaningful support during one of life's most challenging experiences. You'll discover what really helps, what to avoid, and how to be the friend your loved one truly needs during their path to parenthood.

The British Medical Association has announced a fresh round of strikes in England after talks broke down again with the government. The union and government have been in dialogue throughout the summer and early autumn since the last walkout at the end of July. But the BMA said with no progress being made there would be a five-day walkout by resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, starting on Friday 14 November.

Behold: Dekoda, Kohler's new toilet cam. No, not that type of toilet cam: this one only shoots pictures down at what is inside the bowel, sending the snaps to an app that analyzes stool samples and rates your gut health. The Dekoda can be yours for $599, plus an annual subscription fee. Kohler's new product joins Throne, a $319 offering from an Austin-based startup. Throne captures stool and hydration patterns, hands-free and automatically,

Older people who onlywalk 4,000 daily steps once a week still reduce their risk of dying early by a quarter, a study suggests. Staying active is known to bring a wide range of health benefits. But many people in their 60s, 70s and beyond may struggle for a variety of reasons to maintain the step count they used to reach. Until now it has been unclear how much people need to do as they age to reap the rewards.

As part of a new initiative focused on "turning the bathroom into a connected, data-informed health and wellness hub," Kohler has announced a health tracker called the Dekoda you attach to your toilet. It's designed to peer into the bowl using sensors and analyze what it sees using algorithms to provide insights into your hydration and gut health, and it will discreetly notify you when blood is detected which can be indicative of more serious medical issues.

A recent study tracking nearly half a million people has delivered sobering news for people who prefer their morning brew piping hot: drinking very hot beverages may significantly increase the risk of a form of throat cancer called esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, followed 454,796 adults through the UK Biobank for over a decade, finding that "very hot" beverages were a clear risk factor for the disease.

"I'm in my 40s and if I shave, I look like I'm in my mid-20s," a Tiktok creator who goes by Shop By Jake claims in one paid promotion. "People ask me all the time, what do you do for your skin? I take collagen," he says.

Hydrate with teas For Dr Ricardo Jose, consultant in respiratory medicine, hydration is key: It's about taking frequent sips throughout the day to keep the mucous membranes moist. Immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi agrees, saying: I often stir a spoonful of raw honey nature's soothing antimicrobial into a cup of thyme tea (thyme steeped in water), which helps ease irritation and supports respiratory health. I also love marshmallow root tea, which is great for the mucous membranes.

On the route from the hospital's multi-storey car park to Vanessa's department, three out of five lifts were not working, Pat said. One of the lifts in the car park is out of order with no signs and no alternative routes given or information that there is another lift at the other end. Two out of four of the lifts in the main building are out of order, leaving staff and patients to take the stairs and staff with trollies waiting outside every lift we passed.

Alan Carr's days on The Celebrity Traitors looked perilous from the start. Just 32 minutes into the first episode, after the comedian had been selected as a "traitor", his body started to betray him. Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead, making his face shiny. "I thought I wanted to be a traitor but I have a sweating problem," he admitted to cameras. "And I can't keep a secret."

Dr Andrew McFarlane, 61, was arrested and charged with communications offences in August after he called Ellie Wilson a "manipulative liar", a "slut" and a "hippo" in a series of posts on X. In 2022 his son Daniel McFarlane was convicted of raping Ms Wilson, who has since become a campaigner for survivors of male sexual violence. Rape Crisis Scotland has complained to the General Medical Council (GMC) twice about Dr McFarlane's conduct,

Perk is a fitness studio based in Stoke Newington and genuinely the most The Substance-like fitness class we've ever done. The studio was founded by Bahar Tafti who has worked as a trainer in LA, Australia and is now inspiring a crew of women with her buns of steel. After having less time to dedicate to different kinds of workouts, she decided to combine a number of disciplines into a one-hour session that consistently delivered results, and so Perk was born.

In one of my courses at Stanford Medical School, my classmates and I were tasked with using a secure AI model for a thought experiment. We asked it to generate a clinical diagnosis from a fictional patient case: "Diabetic retinopathy," the chatbot said. When we asked for supporting evidence, it produced a tidy list of academic citations. The problem? The authors didn't actually exist. The journals were fabricated. The AI chatbot had hallucinated.

Ammortal Chamber may be the ultimate self-care flex at the moment. The fully immersive "wellness experience" combines red light therapy for cellular regeneration, vibro-acoustic sound therapy to harmonize the nervous system, pulsed electromagnetic fields to reduce inflammation and accelerate recovery, molecular hydrogen to combat oxidative stress, and guided breathwork and visual meditation for deep mental relaxation. After rolling out to luxury hotels and some two dozen wellness centers earlier this year, it's now available for consumers who aren't stressed out by the $160,000 price tag.

"This new funding is a testament to the strength of Oura business and the trust millions of members place in us every day. We're proud to be building not just a product, but a global movement toward proactive health-helping people understand their bodies, make better lifestyle decisions, and connect more effectively with their healthcare providers," CEO Tom Hale said in a statement.

The Copenhagen-born fitness studio, formerly known as Nordic Strong, has opened its first permanent U.S. location at 35 West 21st Street after a sold-out summer pop-up in the Hamptons. Founder Nicoline Roth's claim to fame? Patented machines that mimic the fluid motion of cross-country skiing, turning one of Scandinavia's most punishing outdoor sports into a sleek, indoor, full-body workout. Each 50-minute session mixes cardio and strength work in what Roth calls "a high-intensity, low-impact flow."

At 78, his days of death-defying stunts might be over. Schwarzenegger told Business Insider that he has accumulated more than his share of aches and injuries over time, due to skiing accidents, long hours in the gym, and intense action films. "That's a lot of stress on a body and clearly the body was not meant to do all that," he said.

Bami Adenipekun "When the menopause enlightenment happened, non-white women were still not part of the conversation," said Bami Adenipekun. The 49-year old equity consultant said she considers her brain now to be "more fantastic than it's ever been" and celebrates her "most powerful season". But she said it took her a long time to realise symptoms like memory issues were due to the menopause, following cancer treatment in her mid-30s.

As temperatures drop and windows stay closed, indoor air quality becomes a hidden health threat many people overlook. According to Dr. Mercola, a board-certified family medicine osteopathic physician (DO) and multi-best-selling author, the air inside your home can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, especially during fall and winter months. Poor indoor air quality affects immune function, energy levels, and overall well-being during a season when your body needs the most support. Fortunately, small changes can make a meaningful difference.

The workout supplement market is booming.

Snibbe takes creatine to help build muscle: a link backed by thousands of high-quality studies. The supplement du-jour has long been popular among gym bros, but is becoming more mainstream amid growing evidence of other benefits, such as preserving brain function. The body naturally produces creatine, a building block of the molecule ATP, which gives our cells energy. We can also get it from eating proteins, like red meat and seafood.

Coming prepared with a small, compact first aid kit can prevent a minor issue from turning into a major hassle; these essentials don't take up much room, and having them on hand saves you from scrambling to find a pharmacy in an unfamiliar place. And they can empower you to relieve your own discomfort, so you don't have to tough it out, and you can get back to enjoying the journey.

After complications from a bladder prolapse surgery, a patient named Grace developed a hematoma, or pooling of blood, and she needed pelvic floor physical therapy to help her pelvic muscles relax after holding such a large mass of blood. Without PFPT, Grace's pelvic pain could get so severe that it was unbearable to sit down, and even after her hematoma disappeared, Grace still got flares: sudden onsets of pain that she says felt "like somebody was literally putting a vise into my vagina."

Lewis Moody, a warrior on the field who often seemed to play as if each game was his last fight, is now condemned to confront a battle beyond comprehension.

Not so long ago, orthodontics used to mean enduring metal braces and years of adjustments just to get that perfect smile. But that is no longer the case. Fixing your dental alignment is not just about giving you a confident smile. It is also about everything else that comes with it, including ensuring proper teeth functionality, comfort and oral health. And thanks to modern orthodontic treatments (that utilise advanced tech and precision tools), dental alignment has become quicker, simpler and more accessible than ever.

Experts are finding that the best way to understand how the brain ages is not by examining individual parts, but by studying its overall structure and how its different regions interact with one another. In a large study, researchers from Irvine, California and Tenerife, Spain, used brain scans to measure these shape changes. They discovered that as people age, the brain does not shrink evenly. Instead, it changes shape in specific ways.