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How your heart age is key to heart attack or stroke risk
Public Health England is urging people over 30 to take an online test to find out their heart age, which indicates if they are at increased risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke.
They predict about 80% of heart attacks and strokes in people under 75 could be prevented if heart health was improved.
Unhealthy lifestyles put four in five adults at risk of early death, they estimate.
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No alcohol safe to drink, global study confirms
Bad news for those who enjoy what they think is a healthy glass of wine a day.
A large new global study published in the Lancet has confirmed previous research which has shown that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.
The researchers admit moderate drinking may protect against heart disease but found that the risk of cancer and other diseases outweighs these protections.
A study... |
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Why stealthy viruses are making you ill
A trick used by viruses to make us sick - "stealth spheres" - has been discovered by scientists.
It had been thought viruses were all lone wolves, each on a solo campaign of infection.
Instead they can form "packs" of up to 40 viruses and surround themselves with a fatty sphere that makes them invisible to our body's defences.
The team at the US National Institutes of Health say their fin... |
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Optician's eye test 'could spot early dementia signs'
A simple eye test carried out by opticians could help predict who is at risk of developing dementia, a study suggests.
The test is usually done to spot early signs of eye disease, by looking at tissue at the back of the eye - the retina.
Now scientists have found people with thinner retinas are more likely to have problems with memory and reasoning.
Researchers believe the test could be u... |
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'Dangerous complacency' to global HIV epidemic risks resurgence
A "dangerous complacency" in the response to the global HIV pandemic is risking a resurgence of the disease, according to a report.
Experts said a stalling of HIV funding in recent years was endangering efforts to control the illness.
As things stand, the world is no longer on course to end the pandemic by 2030 - a target agreed by UN member states, say experts in The Lancet.
They call fo... |
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'Babies given solid food sooner sleep better'
Babies given solid food plus breast milk from three months sleep better than those who are solely breastfed, according to a new study.
Official advice is to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life.
Experts say women should still heed this recommendation, although it is under review.
In the study, in JAMA Pediatrics, giving solids earlier than six months had benefits for mu... |
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Emotional eating 'learned by children not inherited'
Children who eat more or less when stressed or upset have learned the behaviour rather than inherited it, a study suggests.
A study by University College London found home environment was the main cause of emotional eating.
And this was due to parental behaviours including giving upset children their favourite food to soothe them.
But eating-disorder charity Beat says parents shouldn't be... |
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Denbighshire mum 'paralysed' after tick bite in garden
A woman suffered severe facial paralysis- and could only eat through a straw - after being bitten by a tick in her garden.
Rachel Foulkes-Davies, 43, said the bite started off as small red mark before it caused her eyes to swell up.
The mother-of-three said she is still in pain three years on and is angry a correct diagnosis was not made sooner.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BC... |
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Missing microbes 'cause' childhood cancer
Our modern germ-free life is the cause of the most common type of cancer in children, according to one of Britain's most eminent scientists.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia affects one in 2,000 children.
Prof Mel Greaves, from the Institute of Cancer Research, has amassed 30 years of evidence to show the immune system can become cancerous if it does not "see" enough bugs early in life.
It m... |
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HPV jab safe and effective, study finds
The HPV vaccine routinely offered to teenage girls in the UK is safe and protects against a virus that can cause cancer of the cervix, an independent review has found.
The analysis by the Cochrane Group provides solid evidence that should reassure parents considering having their daughters immunised, say experts.
It looked at 26 trials involving more than 73,000 girls and women.
Serious s... |
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