The Guardian Health

Lives are being ruined by undiagnosed hypermobility and lack of treatment | Letter

Ignorance around hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a public health catastrophe, say readers in response to an article on how sufferers have to wait 21 years for a diagnosisYour coverage of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is a vital start to addressing a systemic public health catastrophe (UK hypermobility sufferers wait up to 21 years for diagnosis, study suggests, 15 June). I am 34 and a former drama student who is unable to build any career as hEDS dismantled my life. The co

health  Jun 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘A genuine wildlife emergency’: everything you need to know about the arrival of H5 bird flu in Australia

What is the virus? Where did it come from? Are humans at risk? What does it mean for wildlife and the agriculture sector? Experts answer your questionsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA deadly strain of bird flu, known as H5 bird flu, has arrived on the Australian mainland.The federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, this weekend confirmed that a brown skua – that had been found sick in Western Australia – had died from the H5N1 virus. The skua is a wild migratory b

health  Jun 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

The real reason a hantavirus disaster was averted | Letters

Dr Matthew Dryden praises an astute doctor and the value of teamwork across continents. Plus a letter from Dr Brian JonesDevi Sridhar writes about some of the global public health responses to the outbreak of hantavirus centred on the MV Hondius, but her conclusions as to how the world avoided another global outbreak failed to recognise the real reason disaster was averted (Right now, we could be living through a hantavirus disaster. The world avoided that, and this is why, 15 June).The UK Overs

health  Jun 19, 2026

The Guardian Health

Emergency medicine is in crisis – why is this allowed to continue? | Letters

Dr Carole Gavin says if the government fails to act it will bear the responsibility for yet more avoidable deaths, while Sarah Brown describes her mother’s experienceThe experience of working in A&E described by Sophie (Patients are dying in A&E corridors – but I’ve seen how things could be different, 11 June) will be familiar to every member of staff working in a UK emergency department. Not only are patients dying on our corridors with no privacy or dignity due to lack of space and hos

health  Jun 19, 2026

The Guardian Health

Elizabeth Greenhall obituary

My friend Liz Greenhall, who has died aged 83, was a consultant in public health who was responsible for family planning services in Oxfordshire. Her work broke new ground in the provision of healthcare for young women and marginalised groups, and included the institution of “Bodyzone” clinics in schools, where pupils had direct access to advice on a range of health issues including providing contraception.In 2000 the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare (now known as the Colle

health  Jun 19, 2026

The Guardian Health

I’m a critical care doctor. I’ve never seen the US harm its children this deliberately | Robert B Shpiner

At every stage of childhood, the Trump administration is withdrawing a protection. It is also dismantling the tools that would measure the harmA newborn’s first hours in a US hospital used to carry a quiet set of guarantees. A vitamin K injection against catastrophic bleeding. A hepatitis B vaccination. The assumption that whatever a family could afford, the country had already decided this child was worth protecting. I have spent more than 40 years in pulmonary and critical care medicine. I hav

health  Jun 19, 2026

The Guardian Health

The hill I will die on: Food-sharing is gross without serious rules of engagement | Poorna Bell

No trying my dessert, no tasting my drink, and definitely no double-dipping. I don’t care if it makes me sound precious or a germophobeWhen I was a child, I remember the grimace on my uncle’s face when one of my sticky little cousins drank from his can of soda. He announced that he could no longer drink it because another person’s saliva had touched it. While no one said the words “germaphobe weirdo” out loud, we were all thinking it. Our shock increased as he abandoned his old can for a fresh o

health  Jun 19, 2026

The Guardian Health

Bending forwards a lot at work in early pregnancy may increase miscarriage risk, study suggests

More walking and standing in the workplace also associated with higher risk, according to Danish researchBending forwards and walking a lot at work in the early stages of pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage, a study suggests.Miscarriage affects about 15% of women. Risk factors include parental age, smoking, night shift work and exposure to air pollution and various chemical compounds. Continue reading...

health  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Health

CDC to tap $107m in emergency funding for Ebola response in the DRC and Uganda

Number of people infected now tops 1,000 though health officials say the global risk remains lowSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will tap $107m in emergency funding for Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, officials said on Thursday.The continued Ebola outbreak in the DRC comes as Canada, Mexico and the US jointly host the Fifa World Cup, attracting visitors from around the world. T

health  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Health

Social media ban: saving kids or punishing them? | Letters

Dr Rory Conn says the ban is long overdue to protect children from harm, but 16-year-old Clara O‘Grady says social media is not an isolated section of teenagers’ lives that can easily be removed. Plus letters from Dr Peter Jarrett and Tony SideThis week marks a positive moment for public health and for the wellbeing of children and adolescents. Hearing Keir Starmer’s announcement proposing a ban on social media for under-16s, I felt an optimism I have not experienced for years regarding the ment

health  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Health

Irish parliament votes to remove three-day abortion wait

Waiting period before receiving medication was included in draft law to gain support for abortion ban in 2018 referendumIreland’s parliament has voted to remove a mandatory three-day wait for abortion during early pregnancy after campaigners said the rule was an unnecessary restriction.The Dáil passed the bill on Wednesday night, clearing a path for the legislation to go to a parliamentary committee and become law later this, or next, year. Continue reading...

health  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘The masturbation scene wasn’t a big deal’: Théodore Pellerin on tackling his new film Nino’s challenges

Locked out of his apartment, a cancer-stricken Parisian is caught in a race against time to freeze his sperm. The rising star who plays him explains how he tackled a very initimate questJust six months after the world rallied to defend poor Paul Dano, vulnerability may now be a hot commodity for an actor. What is “weak sauce” for Quentin Tarantino, who attacked Dano, can be mighty savoury for others. So it’s good timing that Théodore Pellerin, with his gangly frame and huge eyes, exudes that qua

health  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Health

NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPs

Supply problems pose risk to health, with common painkillers, epilepsy medication and HRT affectedBritons are facing some of the “most severe” shortages of NHS medicines on record including common painkillers, epilepsy drugs and HRT, health leaders have warned, even forcing some patients with impaired digestive systems to skip meals.The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned that medicine shortages pose a “serious risk to patient safety”. Continue reading...

health  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Health

HPV jabs cut risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30 to almost zero

Study reveals positive news, but experts say deaths and cases may rise again as fewer teenagers get vaccinatedWomen who received an HPV vaccine in early adolescence have virtually zero risk of dying from cervical cancer before the age of 30, according to a groundbreaking study, but falling vaccination rates could see a rise in avoidable deaths.Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, according to the World Health Organization, and high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) cause 99

health  Jun 17, 2026

WHO News

WHO issues comprehensive guidelines on filovirus disease, including Ebola and Marburg disease

As the Democratic Republic of the Congo is battling an Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first comprehensive guidelines for the clinical management of filovirus disease which include all types of Ebola and Marburg viruses. The new guidelines highlight the importance of early supportive care to improve patient survival and health outcomes, outlining 16 evidence-based recommendations.

health  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian Health

I had a blood clot. An AI diagnosis may have saved my life | Gleb Tsipursky

An AI tool is no replacement for a doctor, and regulation is essential. But together, physicians and AI could prove beneficialA calf cramp should not be a brush with death. Mine almost was.For five days, I had what felt like a stubborn muscle spasm in my left calf. It was tender, swollen and getting worse. I assumed it was a muscle problem and went to my chiropractor, who treated it as a muscle issue.Gleb Tsipursky, PhD, serves as the CEO of the future-of-work work consultancy Disaster Avoidance

health  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Addiction is proof there is a devil. Recovery is proof there is a God’: Irish rockers Bleech 9:3 on struggle, sobriety and their stunning debut

After two friends sponsored each other in Alcoholics Anonymous, they started making music. As they gear up for a summer of 40 festivals, the band tell their harrowing yet uplifting storyOn stage in a Camden pub, Barry Quinlan, frontman of Irish rockers Bleech 9:3, shares the intensity of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. He hunches and jerks around the mic stand and his eyes bore a hole in the back wall as jubilant teenagers expand and contract in a circle pit. The gig in mid-May has the same I-was-the

health  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian Health

Has a sick person you love gone down a medical conspiracy wormhole? Here’s what to do

My cousin died two days after a risky and unproven procedure overseas. So I went digging for answersFor women, starting around your mid-30s, it’s par for the course to discuss the latest wellness trends and treatments with female friends and family. Talking about symptoms such as gas and bloating, brain fog, migraines and varying degrees of crippling period pain over dinners, coffee, voice memos and long walks becomes part of a shared quest for better health. With medical biases and discriminati

health  Jun 17, 2026

The Guardian Health

Caraway review: I tested the nonstick and nontoxic cookware – the good, bad and some cheaper alternatives

Caraway’s nonstick, ceramic pots and pans are undoubtedly viral. But are tools from its fry pan to trash can actually worth it – or are there better options?Caraway review: is this the best saute pan that money can buy?Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better thingsIf you’ve spent any time on social media in the last six years, you might have been targeted with ads for Caraway’s colorful nontoxic, nonstick cookware. Billed as a highly aesthetic and safer al

health  Jun 16, 2026

The Guardian Health

Getting into a lather over soap dispensers | Letters

Readers offer sound advice on how to tackle faulty soap containers, in response to an article by Adrian ChilesHaving experienced similar frustrations to Adrian Chiles with soap dispensers , I have discovered that they are usually just tightened too much when they are manufactured (Pump-action soap dispensers are a disgrace – and I won’t put up with them any longer, 10 June). If you remove the pump and grip the part just inside the bottle with a suitable implement (in my case a nutcracker from th

health  Jun 16, 2026