The Guardian Health

Andy Burnham has made a bold start – but convincing people that change is possible will take much more | Frances Ryan

The new PM’s greatest task has long weighed down the left: convincing voters there are actually better days aheadThis is the danger zone. The period when one prime minister leaves office and the next takes over can inspire either dread or delight: a few days in which the country forms a gut reaction to the new government.One week on, Andy Burnham has well and truly ditched the slow fatalism that marked Keir Starmer’s early days in power, in favour of the message that help is on the way: from cos

health  Jul 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Machine could make more donated lungs suitable for transplant

Nice backs wider use of system that keeps organs alive outside the body, to help improve low transplantation rates A machine that keeps organs alive outside the body could save four in every five donated lungs that currently go to waste in England and Wales.The UK has one of the poorest lung transplantation rates in the world. The latest figures from NHS Blood and Transplant show that 170 patients in the UK, including six children, are waiting for new lungs. Continue reading...

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Industrial chicken farming accelerating spread of diarrhoea bacteria, study finds

Intensive nature of modern chicken farming creates ideal conditions for campylobacter, allowing bacteria to evolveIndustrial chicken farming is accelerating the spread of the world’s most common bacterial cause of diarrhoea, scientists have found.The study found a dramatic increase in the exchange of campylobacter strains between wild birds and chickens as farming has intensified, creating the ideal conditions for the bacteria to mix, spread and acquire new traits. There has also been a rise in

health  Jul 27, 2026

WHO News

WHO: Integration, innovation and community leadership key to ending HIV, hepatitis and STIs

The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a new report assessing progress in implementing the Global Health Sector Strategies (GHSS) on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for 2022–2030. Released during the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) and ahead of World Hepatitis Day (28 July), the report highlights significant achievements and persistent challenges in the global response to these epidemics.

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

The patient who loves buying lettuce for his daughter-in-law – and what his case teaches us about shared decision-making in medicine | Ranjana Srivastava

Doctors should recommend treatment accompanied by conversations about the pros and cons for the individuals who are in front of themWeeks before major surgery, a patient cancels his appointment with our geriatric oncology service, declaring it unnecessary. An astute nurse convinces him otherwise.In his mid-80s, the patient has been diagnosed with an early cancer. The surgeon advises that surgery would be the only cure but, noting the lack of urgency, sends him to see me. I can see why. The propo

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Carly Simon shares Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and says music has ‘rescued’ her

Singer-songwriter also had surgery to treat carcinoma on her face, leading her to ‘withdraw from public view’The musician Carly Simon has revealed that she has Parkinson’s disease in a statement shared today.“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing,” Simon said. “The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease.” Continue reading...

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Alarm over NHS patients records being placed in hands of US private equity firm

Doctors and MPs urge more scrutiny of £300m deal for company behind system used by most GPs in EnglandA US private equity firm will take control of NHS patient records in a deal experts say should “ring alarm bells” amid concerns sensitive health data is increasingly being handed to private companies.The investment firm TPG has bought Optum UK, the healthcare technology business behind the electronic patient record system used by most GP practices in England, in a deal worth about $400m (£300m).

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Amid the social and political panic about falling birthrates, why not ask new mothers what they think? | Lucy Jones

New research reveals deep anxieties. Medals and cash bonuses have been mooted as incentives, but the real need is for women to have their feelings valuedIt seems as though every week brings another news story on declining global birthrates. A number of political leaders have been panicking for a while, of course, instructing citizens to reproduce in tones so beguiling, who could possibly resist? JD Vance: “I want more babies”; Jacob Rees-Mogg: “We need more babies”. While in France this year, a

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Misleading AI-generated doctors pose ‘huge danger to public safety’

Research shows AI accounts are gaining millions of views on TikTok by spreading dubious health adviceMisleading health claims online pose a “huge danger to public safety”, experts have warned, after research has shown that AI-generated doctors are gaining millions of views on TikTok by spreading dubious health advice.The British Medical Association council deputy chair, Dr Emma Runswick, flagged the risks posed by AI accounts that “peddle medical myths and promote so-called miracle cures”. Conti

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘It is comforting to be haunted’: how attitudes to abortion have changed through the ages – podcast

The abortion debate – the language of life, choice and rights – severs women, and their pain, from history. I don’t want to forget my abortion and I don’t want to forget theirsBy Erin Maglaque. Read by Lanna JoffreyRead the text version hereSupport the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpodAdapted from Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body, published by Jonathan CapeThe summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. Click here to order Continue reading...

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

How Palantir got into the NHS - podcast

The investigative journalist Lucas Amin reports on how the tech company Palantir won a £330m contract with the NHS … and what happened once its software was introducedHow did Palantir – sometimes described as ‘the world’s scariest company’ – start working with the NHS?The investigative journalist Lucas Amin shares the findings of his and his colleague Peter Geoghegan’s investigation into the tech company and its relationship with the UK’s public health service – and tells a story of controversia

health  Jul 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Not standard’ for Taylor Farms to ask White House to delay cyclospora recall, ex-FDA head says

Scott Gottlieb responds to report that company contacted the White House seeking to delay a recall announcementFormer Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that it was “not standard operating procedure” for Taylor Farms to ask the White House to intervene as the company prepared to announce a recall tied to a massive cyclospora outbreak.Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Gottlieb was asked about a report from the Wall Street Journal that Taylor Farms contact

health  Jul 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘It was like something was crawling over me’ – the worrying rise of shingles among millennial women

Stress, the cost of living, long working hours and even excessive exercise have all been touted as reasons the illness is rising among women in their 30s and 40s. What can be done to help them?The “lightning strike” pain was like nothing Francine Jones had experienced before. “That is the only way I can describe it,” she says, of the stabbing in her torso that would occur every 10 minutes or so. “It was a really sharp, intense pain, as if someone was giving me an electric shock … it took my brea

health  Jul 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Electrolyte lemonade to probiotic pop: do the new generation of ‘functional drinks’ live up to the hype?

They make grand claims about beauty benefits or extra energy – and even actor Gillian Anderson has her own brand. We investigate what they’re really doing – and put them to a taste testShow yourself some love. Fuel your focus. Life’s too good for bad energy. Find your calm in the everyday chaos. Live fit. No, not new-age slogans or something you’d find scribbled in neon on the wall of a cocktail bar, but marketing taglines slapped across cans of functional soft drinks. Walk into any supermarket

health  Jul 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Family of former Vodafone manager found drowned call for ‘Adrian’s law’ to protect franchisees

Adrian Howe’s family believe that fears his deal would be financially ruinous led him to kill himselfThe family of a former mobile phone store manager who was found drowned days before his new Vodafone franchise was to open its doors is pressing the government to introduce a new franchising law in his name.The call comes a week after Vodafone settled a long-running legal claim filed by 62 of its former franchisees who alleged that the company “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense by up to

health  Jul 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Millions of people are losing weight using GLP-1s. How do the drugs affect their love lives?

Prescribing doctors often warn of the medications’ potential side-effects – but unexpected impacts on romantic relationships are less understoodFor Jennifer, obesity was the obvious culprit for most of her problems.The litigation attorney told herself it was the reason why she wasn’t being invited to parties, and why she and her husband struggled with physical intimacy in their otherwise “solid” marriage.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

health  Jul 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

Former top US food safety official says Trump’s handling of cyclospora is ‘catastrophic’

Frank Yiannas, formerly of the FDA, calls for an independent review of federal response to illness causing explosive diarrheaDonald Trump’s former top food safety official has accused the administration of a near “catastrophic” mismanagement of the cyclospora outbreak that has sickened thousands of people in the US.There should be an independent review of the federal government’s response to the rash of illnesses caused by the spread of a parasite found on raw produce, according to Frank Yiannas

health  Jul 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

I tried so hard to become a salad eater. Now cyclospora is sending me back to burgers | Dave Schilling

Between the companies pushing junk food and the bacteria threatening our produce, eating right feels basically impossibleWhile war and conflict seem to be raging across the planet, the greatest weapon of mass destruction afflicting the United States today is, apparently, a salad – in the sense that fresh produce is now waging battle with our stomachs thanks to the cyclospora parasite. Cyclospora has infested an unknown amount of our food, causing thousands to suffer bowel movements that would ma

health  Jul 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Ozempic face’ and hair loss: what evidence is there for weight-loss drug side-effects?

Research into GLP-1 medications is not always robust but complaints such as digestive problems are well knownWeight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro have boomed in popularity, and so have reports of myriad side-effects. This week researchers have suggested GLP-1 medications could be associated with hair loss.It can be hard to keep tabs on which of these unintentional outcomes have been the subject of expert scrutiny and which remain little more than hearsay. We take a look at some of the mo

health  Jul 25, 2026

The Guardian Health

Judge rules FDA restrictions on mifepristone are arbitrary and capricious

Abortion medication ruled to be safe as judge orders Trump administration to consider overturning restrictions A federal judge upheld the safety of the abortion medication mifepristone and ordered the Trump administration to examine and consider overturning restrictions on the drug as barriers to abortion access mount across the country.Robert S Ballou, a US district judge in Virginia, ordered the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) on Friday to reconsider mifepristone restrictions, which the j

health  Jul 24, 2026