The Guardian Health

Is strength training secretly just diet culture? – Stateside with Kai and Carter

After years of trying to be skinny, Guardian reporter Madeleine Aggeler did a 180 and decided to 'bulk'. Bulking, or gaining weight on purpose to get stronger, challenged everything she had been taught about her body, and transformed her relationship to food. Madeleine speaks to Carter Sherman about her owns body image struggles, and they discuss why strength training and weightlifting has become so popular for women. Is this actually healthy, or just an extension of toxic diet culture? Continue

health  Jul 24, 2026

The Guardian Health

Migraines are so much more than just banging headaches | Letters

Until migraines are recognised as a multi-system condition, sufferers will continue to be dismissed, writes Sarah Khan. Plus a letter from Rab HallettThank you for your article about migraines – a maligned, misunderstood condition (The truth about migraines: what causes them – and how to find relief, 19 July). But framing it around the headache understates what it is: a systemic neurological event in which head pain is only one component.For me, until perimenopause, the head pain

health  Jul 24, 2026

The Guardian Health

My advice to new Tate director – show us more art | Brief letters

Empty galleries | Cooking real food | Enigma of Alan Turing | DIY desperation | Futility rooms One thing that the new director of Tate could do (Jessica Morgan named new Tate director – with ‘big pay cut’ to take job, 22 July) is display a lot more of the art they have in store. There are acres of Tate Modern and (to a lesser extent) Tate Britain that are empty. No one wants a display like the Royal Academy summer exhibition. But having spent a fortune on extending Tate Modern, they could at lea

health  Jul 24, 2026

The Guardian Health

13 surprising reasons you’re always dog tired – and what to do about it

Feel lethargic even after a full night’s sleep? From not enough fibre to too much sitting, experts explain why your get up and go has got up and goneThe very air you breathe could be an issue. “Close the door, shut the window, add a partner and a heater, and by 3am a typical bedroom sits at 1,500 to 2,500 parts per million of carbon dioxide,” says Dr Jemma King, author of Sleep First: Sleep Smarter, Think Sharper, Feel Better. “Research shows that above 1,000 ppm sleep efficiency drops, deep sle

health  Jul 24, 2026

The Guardian Health

I spent years trying to get smaller. Until I decided to get bigger

‘Bulking’, or gaining weight on purpose to get stronger, challenged everything I was once taught to do with my bodyI had been casually lifting weights for a few years when several things changed in quick succession.First, my boyfriend proposed. Continue reading...

health  Jul 24, 2026

The Guardian Health

One year, 17 towns, dozens of voices: what we heard along the coast of England and Wales

Reporting from some of the poorest seaside towns revealed how young people have been left isolated – but remain resilient and full of hopeIf you were asked to summon up images of the coastline of England and Wales, you might think of sunny days, buckets, spades and carefree holidays. But for many young people growing up by the sea, decades of evidence tell a very different story. For them, rather than a picture-perfect horizon full of hope, the sea has become a boundary that swallows up opportun

health  Jul 24, 2026

The Guardian Health

The only way to stop petrol pump thieves | Brief letters

Fuelling up | Child health | Burnham spirit | DIY disasterI was once visiting Massachusetts in the US and forgot to take my card into the gas station before filling up (‘A guy did a runner in a Jaguar’: the petrol theft scandal – and the garage owner struggling to stop it, 21 July). After some loudspeaker remonstration, I took my card in, apologising that I’d forgotten as we don’t do that in the UK. The owner almost fell on the floor laughing. “How do you stop people stealing gas?” he asked. “We

health  Jul 23, 2026

The Guardian Health

Risk of Parkinson’s disease may increase with prolonged exposure to road traffic noise

Pioneering study linking noise pollution to progressive brain disease finds 3% increase in risk for every 11.5dB rise in noise levelsLong-term exposure to road traffic noise is associated with a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, the biggest study of its kind has found.Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder in which parts of the brain become damaged over time, affecting movement and balance. Continue reading...

health  Jul 23, 2026

WHO News

WHO launches seven strategies to prevent drowning

Ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July, the World Health Organization (WHO) is launching a new technical package to help governments and communities implement seven proven measures to reduce drowning deaths.

health  Jul 23, 2026

The Guardian Health

Alarm over hospital lung admissions for children in England’s poorest postcodes

Exclusive: Analysis of NHS England data reveals stark impact of air pollution in deprived areasChildren living in the poorest areas across England are 40% more likely to be admitted to hospital for respiratory infections, an analysis of NHS England data shows, with experts raising the alarm on the impact of air pollution on young people’s health.The analysis, based on data obtained via freedom of information requests by the charity Impact on Urban Health, revealed 1,941 out of every 100,000 chil

health  Jul 23, 2026

The Guardian Health

Target ultra-processed food to reduce obesity in Britain | Letter

James Capon responds to an editorial on the health select committee’s call for radical action to regulate food marketsThe MPs’ report mentioned in your editorial is welcome and overdue (The Guardian view on obesity: put public health before food industry pressure, 15 July). The health select committee is right to clarify that obesity is an engineered outcome, not a failure of willpower. But there’s a flaw running through decades of British food policy that risks being repeated: the “high in fat,

health  Jul 22, 2026

The Guardian Health

Fifth person dies in New York City amid legionnaires’ disease outbreak

Outbreak has been traced to Upper East Side cooling towers, but Mamdani says source of exposure has been eliminatedA fifth person has died in New York City in connection with the legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood, according to the city’s health department.In an update issued Tuesday, the department said that 82 cases of legionnaires’ disease have now been identified and five people have died. Eight people remain hospitalized, while 56 have been discharged

health  Jul 22, 2026

The Guardian Health

NHS trust investigated for corporate manslaughter after Nottingham attacks

Police open investigation into Nottinghamshire service that treated Valdo Calocane, who killed three people in 2023The NHS trust that treated the triple killer Valdo Calocane in the years before the Nottingham attacks is being investigated by police for corporate manslaughter.Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after he fatally stabbed the 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley Kumar, and the 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, on

health  Jul 22, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘If all else fails, sue’: how ultra-processed food firms are using the courts to obstruct health rules

Exclusive: Global investigation reveals 235 lawsuits have been brought against governments in five countries since 2010The world’s biggest ultra-processed food companies have filed scores of lawsuits challenging government policies that tackle junk diets, the Guardian can reveal.Ultra-processed food (UPF) is linked to harm in every major organ system of the human body and poses a seismic threat to global health. Worldwide consumption is rising and UPF now makes up as much as half the average die

health  Jul 22, 2026

The Guardian Health

Health worker being monitored for Ebola in London hospital after working in DRC

UK resident was evacuated from Democratic Republic of the Congo where there is an outbreak of the diseaseA humanitarian worker is being monitored at a specialist hospital in London after potential exposure to the Ebola virus.The UK resident was medically evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where the worker had been treating patients with the disease, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. Continue reading...

health  Jul 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

Richard Johns obituary

My father, Richard Johns, who has died aged 96, was one of the early pioneers of dental implantology and its application as an accepted procedure.In collaboration with the Swedish professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark, in 1991 he set up the Dental Implant Institute in Sheffield, the first school in the UK to provide courses on implant techniques, as well as treatment. Continue reading...

health  Jul 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk sues US rival over ‘materially misleading’ ads

Danish pharma company says Eli Lilly using outdated trial data to make its weight-loss drugs appear more effectiveOzempic maker Novo Nordisk said on Tuesday it is suing arch US rival Eli Lilly over “false and materially misleading” adverts for its competing weight-loss and anti-diabetes treatments.The Danish pharmaceuticals heavyweight complained that the US group – which makes rival weight-loss treatments Zepbound and Mounjaro – “intentionally selected outdated studies” that compared Lilly’s hi

health  Jul 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

Yet another wake-up call on declining child health | Letters

Readers respond to a warning from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health on a ‘national embarrassment’We were pleased to see your report (UK children will be one of unhealthiest generations in decades, doctors say, 14 July) on the deteriorating health of UK children, based on a study by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. However, it was disappointing to see no mention of the shrinking health visitor workforce and the impact that this has on the health and wellbeing of

health  Jul 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

Broaden newborn screening programmes | Letters

Screening for spinal muscular atrophy is a step forward, says Dr Janet Hoskin, but what about other serious genetic conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy?The decision to introduce newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a major breakthrough for families and campaigners (All newborns in England to be screened for spinal muscular atrophy from 2027, 16 July). Early diagnosis means children can access treatment sooner, improving outcomes and giving families clarity at a

health  Jul 21, 2026

The Guardian Health

Yoga for scoliosis can be life-changing | Letters

I’ve worked to cope with the chronic pain through ashtanga yoga, says Louise Zamparutti. Plus letters from Kirie Pedersen and Alice DevonThank you for publishing Natasha Livingstone’s article (A moment that changed me: I started yoga – and saw my scoliosis in a surprising new light, 15 July). I have been ashamed of my scoliosis my entire life. It wasn’t diagnosed until my early 20s, and by that time I had begun a career as a dancer and choreographer. My dance teachers were always criticising my

health  Jul 21, 2026