Health news

• Yoga can help beat diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels

  21-05-2017 19:00 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Dr Venugopal Vijayakumar of the S-VYASA yoga university, who carried out the study, said: ‘Even one session of yoga has led to a reduction in blood glucose levels.
  
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• BGT dancer Julia uses money to fund scoliosis surgery

  21-05-2017 18:59 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Julia from the Wirral suffers from scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, a fact the 5ft teenager immediately revealed to the judges and the ten million-strong television audience.
  
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• Back, Sack & Crack (& Brain): a graphic memoir with balls

  21-05-2017 18:00
  
  From his back to his stomach to his testicles, Robert Wells had been in pain for decades – but no one in the NHS believed him. So he turned it all into a hilarious graphic novelRight now, life isn’t so bad for Robert Wells. “I get the odd uncomfortable day,” says the 48-year-old cartoonist. “But it’s not a major issue. You won’t catch me riding a bike, though.”As recounted in his commendably – almost excruciatingly – honest new graphic
  
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• Osmund Reynolds obituary

  21-05-2017 16:52
  
  A founding father of neonatal medicine, he dramatically improved the survival rates of very premature babiesOsmund Reynolds, who has died aged 83, was a pivotal figure in medicine, helping to establish care of the sick newborn baby as a speciality in its own right. He advanced the techniques of mechanical ventilation for very premature babies, improving their chances of survival dramatically, and later undertook research that led to a reduction in newborn brain injury. He was central to making t
  
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• Doctor who swapped the NHS for a floating hospital

  21-05-2017 14:00 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Michelle White, 46, from London, spent five years aboard the Africa Mercy, which is manned by a team of volunteer medics who provide free care to some of the world's poorest people.
  
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• Canada eases steps to open supervised drug injection sites amid opioid crisis

  21-05-2017 13:30
  
  New legislation streamlines the more than two dozen requirements previously needed to launch facilities, which offer supervision and sterile equipmentCanada’s government has made it easier to open supervised drug injection sites across the country, offering communities a lifeline as they battle an opioid crisis that has claimed thousands of lives in recent years.New legislation passed this week streamlines the more than two dozen requirements previously needed to launch these facilities, w
  
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• How your brain decides how you vote | Daniel Glaser

  21-05-2017 07:00
  
  When it comes to making decisions our brains are as simplistic as our election processAs the election draws nearer many us feel dread at how a complex array of issues facing our country gets squeezed into a winner takes all, first past the post voting process. It doesn’t seem right that the diversity of the electorate’s views is simplified into a simple decision. But that’s the way it works.And, strangely enough, this is exactly how the brain works, too. Neurones either fire or
  
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• Why men should keep a journal | Ollie Aplin

  21-05-2017 06:59
  
  Writing down how you are feeling has immense mental and physical health benefits – and men need it most, says Ollie AplinHistory is littered with men who kept journals, from Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Lee to Winston Churchill and Thomas Jefferson. They couldn’t be more different, yet these men had one thing in common – they found strength and comfort through writing down their thoughts.Professor James Pennebaker, who specialises in social psychology at the University of Texas,
  
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• Top doc

  21-05-2017 02:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The World Health Organization is recruiting a boss. Hear from the three candidates for the top job in their own words.
  
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• Why I donated one of my kidneys to a stranger

  21-05-2017 01:05
  
  It wasn’t a difficult choiceNon-directed altruistic kidney donation. An unlovely term that means giving one of your kidneys to a stranger. I’d always known this was a thing but I’d thought it was a bit weird, a bit excessive, like donating an arm. Why not just stick to blood donation?I’d last come across the idea in Larissa MacFarquhar’s 2015 book Strangers Drowning which had the alarming subtitle “Voyages to the Brink of Moral Extremity”. It’s abo
  
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• The elephants in May's room - cartoon

  21-05-2017 01:05
  
  Chris Riddell on the Tory manifesto Continue reading...
  
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• Save Scotland’s young – ban the school run | Kevin McKenna

  21-05-2017 01:05
  
  Children should be encouraged to walk to school to help us tackle the childhood obesity problemIt was surely only a matter of time – that being a commodity Doctor Who possesses in abundance – before he would get to encounter space zombies on his intergalactic travels. Thus in last week’s episode we saw Peter Capaldi putting the boot into a colony of the intergalactic undead and emerge with nary a ruffle of his big hair and long coat.When you scan the week’s television sch
  
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• Politicians have listened; now they must act on mental health | letters

  21-05-2017 01:05
  
  The government must exploit the increased awareness surrounding this crucial issueAs chief executive of the charity that hosts Mental Health Awareness Week, I agree with the central thrust of Eva Wiseman’s argument that the increased profile of mental health must lead to change (“It’s good to talk about mental health. But is it enough?” Magazine).This change must be personal as well as political. The central message of the week is that we all have mental health and there
  
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• Of good motherhood and arsenic | Victoria Coren Mitchell

  21-05-2017 01:05
  
  Bringing up children is hard enough, without having to worry about chemicals found in baby foodOver the last fortnight, newspapers have given us the following information about feeding small children:1) A plant-based diet, wrongly administered, can ruin their health. Continue reading...
  
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• Dental crisis in Cornwall sees 14,000 people stuck on waiting list

  21-05-2017 01:04
  
  Pressure on NHS practices blamed on underfunding and Brexit fears among overseas dentistsPeople in Cornwall face a wait of up to 18 months to register with an NHS dentist amid growing concerns that health services in England’s poorest county are at breaking point.Cornwall has a backlog of more than 14,000 people who want to register with an NHS dentist. Some residents must travel more than 70 miles to find one of the few practices in neighbouring Devon that are still taking on patients. Co
  
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• Proof that crisps are as addictive as hard drugs

  21-05-2017 01:03 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Britain is a nation of snackers. We spend more than £2.8 billion a year on snack foods – from crisps and nuts to popcorn – eating them on average seven times a week.
  
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• ‘Isolated’ poorer students more likely to drop out, study shows

  21-05-2017 01:03
  
  Survey finds that students from poorer backgrounds feel less well integratedLess affluent students in higher education are significantly more likely to experience problems with socialising and integrating than their peers from well-off families, says a major new study.Only 33% of the students from D and E socioeconomic groups said they were well integrated with the students they lived with, compared with 50% of students from A and B socioeconomic groups. Only 34% of the group said they had frien
  
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• You'd be BANANAS not to eat them!

  21-05-2017 00:09 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  It turns out Britons now bin an astonishing £80 million worth of bananas a year because they are ‘too ripe’ – with perhaps a minor bruise or a black mark on the skin. Here's how to use them
  
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• 10 reasons to get married

  21-05-2017 00:04 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  US researchers followed 1,700 people over 20 years and found that a happy marriage led to improved overall health, making spouses more likely to participate in healthy activities.
  
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