Health, medicine and wellbeing.
When people view sexualised images of women, they tend to remember them less well than sexualised images of men; a quirk of memory that psychologists link to objectification. But in our new study, my colleagues and I found an unlikely…
Sometimes our brain plays tricks on us. MAYA LAB/ Shutterstock It’s three in the morning. You’ve woken from a dead sleep because you’ve heard a thud in the darkness or a floorboard creaking downstairs. Or perhaps you’ve woken because you…
An MRI scan can show changes in the brain's structure, but the findings don't always explain a person's symptoms. Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock In 2007, researchers in the Netherlands scanned the brains of 2,000 people aged 45 and over who were going about…
Daria 'Bastet' Felis/Shutterstock.com The shape of your bottom cannot tell you anything about your hormones, whatever recent social media posts claim. The only way to find out your levels of cortisol, oestrogen or anything else is a blood test. A…
buritora/ Shutterstock As a GP, I know that chest pain is one symptom that makes people worry. The immediate concern is that it’s a sign there’s something seriously wrong – such as a problem with their heart or lungs. But…
As Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) surpass the 10,000 mark, the World Health Organization (WHO) has underlined the need for continued efforts to contain spread of the disease.
Migraine can disrupt everyday life, with symptoms extending beyond head pain. Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock When you have a migraine, anything that might ease the pain can become very appealing. On social media, that might mean ordering chips and a Coke or…
Twenty people associated with Kenya’s first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease have been reunited with their families after being released from quarantine following completion of a mandatory 21-day monitoring period.
There's real science behind this urban legend. Kiselev Andrey Valerevich/ Shutterstock It’s Halloween night. Someone has dared you to turn off the lights and stand in front of the mirror. The rules are simple, stare into your reflection and say…
Evan Lorne/Shutterstock High protein content has become a selling point on foods ranging from breakfast cereals to yoghurts. For anyone hoping to build muscle or stay strong as they age, choosing the product with the most protein can seem sensible.…
Online migraine hacks promise relief, but a plausible explanation isn’t proof that a remedy works. Stock-Asso/Shutterstock If you’ve ever had a migraine, you’ll understand the appeal of anything that promises to make it stop. Even when that advice involves attaching…
