61 h. ago ‘Planetary health diet’ could save 40,000 deaths a day, landmark report finds

Diet allows modest meat consumption and would also slash food-related climate emissions by half, says report by 70 leading experts from 35 countriesAdoption of a plant-rich “planetary health diet” could prevent 40,000 early deaths a day across the world, according to a landmark report.The diet – which allows moderate meat consumption – and related measures would also slash the food-related emissions driving global heating by half by 2050. Today, a third of greenhouse gas emissions come from the global food system and taming the climate crisis is impossible without changing how the world eats, the researchers said. Food production is also the biggest cause of the destruction of wildlife and forests and the pollution of water. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago ‘I don’t worry about traditionalists’: Rishab Sharma, the sitar maestro earning millions of followers for his mindful music

The youngest of Ravi Shankar’s sitar disciples was broken by grief – then his instrument saved him. He’s now on a mission to improve mental health with his peaceful artistry‘I want to be the slowest sitarist on the planet,” Rishab Sharma says. “Everyone is trying their gimmicks and playing as fast as they can but I want to provide a sense of comfort and peace when we’re so busy and full of anxiety.”The youngest of Ravi Shankar’s sitar disciples, 27-year-old Sharma has spent the past five years transforming the ancient Indian classical instrument into a tool for wellbeing. Billed as “Sitar for Mental Health”, Sharma’s live project features group breathing exercises, meditation and intermission talking prompts, while his repertoire includes everything from traditional ragas to Bollywood songs and versions of the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter themes. It’s a distinctive blend that has gained him more than four million Instagram followers and 60m streams. Continue reading...

Science

6 d. ago Dolly Parton postpones Las Vegas residency, citing ‘health challenges’

Country music superstar was due to play six-concert run at Caesars Palace in DecemberDolly Parton has postponed her upcoming Las Vegas concert residency due to health issues.Parton, 79, was due to begin a six-concert run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on 4 December. She announced on social media that she has “been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures”. Continue reading...

Society

8 d. ago ‘Don’t trust Trump’: how UK health experts are fighting back against a war on medicine

Ministers and medical groups have acted quickly to limit fallout after US president made unproven link between paracetamol and autismWes Streeting, the UK health secretary, was in a government car heading back into central London from a flag-raising to mark the UK’s recognition of Palestine when he saw the news. “He was aghast,” an aide said. Streeting was reading on his phone that Donald Trump had just warned women not to take Tylenol – known outside the US as paracetamol – during pregnancy.The US president had alleged without evidence that the common painkiller caused autism in children. “Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump said about a drug also known as acetaminophen. Continue reading...

Science

8 d. ago US refuses to support UN health declaration on noncommunicable diseases

General assembly backs new targets on cancer, diabetes and heart disease, but Robert F Kennedy Jr objected over abortion and gender ideologyA new vision for tackling the global noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) crisis has failed to reach consensus at the UN after the US refused to give its support, forcing member states to a vote.After months of negotiations, the fourth political declaration on NCDs and mental health received overwhelming backing from governments at the UN general assembly on Thursday, but was rejected by the US during a speech by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago US refuses to back UN declaration on noncommunicable diseases

General assembly backs new targets on cancer, diabetes and heart disease but Robert F Kennedy Jr objectsA new vision for tackling the global noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) crisis has failed to reach consensus at the UN after the US refused to give its support, forcing member states to a vote.After months of negotiations, the fourth political declaration on NCDs and mental health received overwhelming backing from governments at the UN general assembly on Thursday but was rejected by the US during a speech by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Farage endangering women by failing to condemn paracetamol claims, says Bridget Phillipson

Labour deputy leader candidate criticises ‘scaremongering’ on autism and says party must be firmer in tackling ReformUK politics live – latest updatesNigel Farage is “endangering women’s health” by failing to condemn Donald Trump’s claims that using paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism, Bridget Phillipson has said.The education secretary and minister for women said she had used the painkiller throughout her second pregnancy, and she warned that Reform’s connections with medical conspiracy theories including anti-vaccine rhetoric made the party a danger to public health. Continue reading...

Sport

9 d. ago The 7 stealth symptoms of deadly cancers you must never ignore – as cases and deaths set to soar 61%

NEW cancer cases worldwide could rise 61 per cent by 2050, warn scientists - despite more than four in 10 deaths being preventable. Spotting cancer at an early stage remains vital as it means treatment is more likely to be successful. A new study published in the Lancet medical journal found the number of new...

Events

9 d. ago Wales' pantomime legend Owen Money pulls out of 2025 shows due to health issue

Radio presenter Owen Money will not appear in pantomimes in 2025

Politics

9 d. ago Daylight savings haters rejoice: scientists confirm it’s bad for health

US Congress is debating permanent daylight savings – but new research shows keeping clocks on standard time is least stressful on the bodyDaylight savings time is not just a hassle – it can also be bad for your health.The twice-yearly “spring forward, fall back” routine rattles our bodies’ daily cycles, known as circadian rhythms, with potentially harmful consequences. And a new study supports what many sleep experts have long argued: the solution is getting rid of daylight savings for good. Continue reading...

Economics

9 d. ago Daylight saving haters rejoice: scientists confirm it’s bad for health

US Congress is debating permanent daylight saving – but new research shows keeping clocks on standard time is least stressful on the bodyDaylight saving time is not just a hassle – it can also be bad for your health.The twice-yearly “spring forward, fall back” routine rattles our bodies’ daily cycles, known as circadian rhythms, with potentially harmful consequences. And a new study supports what many sleep experts have long argued: the solution is getting rid of daylight saving for good. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Unsafe abortions and no antenatal care: aid cuts hit women hardest in one of Africa’s poorest countries

Mobile clinics in rural Malawi that provided pregnancy checks as well as vaccinations and TB tests have been lostA blue, burgundy and white patterned wrapper hides the swell of Joanna Banda’s belly. Eight months pregnant, she has had just three of the five antenatal appointments she should have had. She is unlikely to attend her final three either, as she still has to save 3,000 kwacha (£1.28) for a bicycle to take her six miles on rutted dirt tracks to the nearest health centre when she goes into labour.In remote villages in Malawi, pregnant women such as 22-year-old Banda, who has one child after losing her first soon after giving birth, are struggling to get the medical care they need. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago WHO rejects Trump’s claims of link between Tylenol and autism

Body says research has found ‘no consistent association’ and urges pregnant women to follow doctors’ adviceThe World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing back against contested claims by the Trump administration that acetaminophen use during pregnancy heightens the risk of autism, further underscoring that no scientific consensus supports such a connection.“Extensive research, including large-scale studies over the past decade, has found no consistent association,” the agency said in a Wednesday statement. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago World’s oceans fail key health check as acidity crosses critical threshold for marine life

Scientists call for renewed global effort to curb fossil fuels as seven of nine planetary boundaries now transgressedThe world’s oceans have failed a key planetary health check for the first time, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels, a report has shown.In its latest annual assessment, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said ocean acidity had crossed a critical threshold for marine life. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Farage refuses to criticise Trump over paracetamol despite health experts dismissing autism claims

Reform UK leader says he has ‘no idea’ if US president is right to tell women to avoid drug during pregnancyUK politics live – latest updatesNigel Farage has refused to criticise Donald Trump’s claims that paracetamol, sold in the US as Tylenol, could cause autism, insisting “science is never settled” and he would never “side with” medical experts.The Reform UK leader said he had “no idea” if the US president was right to tell pregnant women to avoid taking acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol and paracetamol, and suggesting that those who could not “tough it out” should limit their intake. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Fossil fuel burning poses threat to health of 1.6bn people, data shows

New interactive map tracking PM2.5 air pollution reveals 900m people in path of ‘super-emitting’ industrial facilitiesFossil fuel burning is not just damaging the world’s climate; it is also threatening the health of at least 1.6 billion people through the toxic pollutants it produces, data shows.Carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from fossil fuel burning, does not directly damage health, but leads to global heating. However, coal and oil burning for power generation, and the burning of fossil fuels in industrial facilities, pollute the air with particulate matter called PM2.5, which has serious health impacts when breathed in. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘Pay no attention’: global health agencies dismiss false Trump claim on everyday painkillers

Medical experts and regulators say US president should not be questioning established scienceGlobal health agencies and regulators have dismissed unscientific advice from Donald Trump that made an unproven link between autism and the use of everyday painkillers and vaccines.In a sign of how worried foreign governments are about the US president’s comments, the health secretary of the UK, which is one the US’s closest allies, told the British public they should not “pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine”. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘Families are dying’: an Ohio town suffering from fallout years after nuclear plant’s closure

As Trump calls for more nuclear power, Piketon, the site of an enrichment facility, knows first hand its ill effectsThree years after starting work as an electrician at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Vina Colley started getting sick.The huge facility in the foothills of Appalachian Ohio was opened in 1954 to enrich weapons-grade uranium for the military as America’s cold war with the Soviet Union ramped up, and later, for commercial purposes. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Let’s stop asking why women aren’t having children and ask, for once: why aren’t men? | Rhiannon Lucy Coslett

On the whole, men I’ve spoken to – like women – want children. But a host of issues, from housing to mental health, is getting in the way“Why aren’t women having babies?” It’s the question on everyone’s lips as the fertility rate plummets to a record low in England, Scotland and Wales. A range of answers are always trotted out, from the entirely reasonable (childcare and housing costs; the motherhood career penalty) to the ludicrous (being so dim about our own fertility that we wake up one day realising we’ve left it too late). Yet perhaps it’s time we ask not only “why aren’t women having babies?”, but also “why aren’t men?”Men are largely invisible in the birthrate debate. It’s ironic that amid all the pontificating and the policy ideas for encouraging more women to have babies – a conversation often being had by men – the other half of humanity is strikingly underexamined. Part of the problem is an absence of data: like many European countries, we don’t really have any on male fe...

Politics

2 w. ago More kissing, less kimchi: seven surprising ways to boost your gut health

From gardening and humming to getting a dog – there’s more to boosting your gut microbiome than Greek yogurtWhen the gut health revolution began a decade or so ago, few could have predicted the sheer variety of pre- and probiotic foods that we would come to embrace in our diets. From kimchi and natural yoghurt to fibre-rich jerusalem artichoke and probiotic shots, microbiome-nourishing foods and supplements once deemed left-field have become everyday essentials for many – with plenty of evidence that they help our gut bacteria to thrive.While many of us assume that diet is the only way to feed the trillions of microorganisms (including bacteria, fungi and viruses) that make up the microbiome, there are myriad daily habits that can help nurture this important part of the body. Continue reading...

Politics