The Guardian Health

A moment that changed me: I started yoga – and saw my scoliosis in a surprising new light

As a teenager I declined a painful operation to straighten my spinal curvature, and it was a decision I sometimes regretted. But through daily stretching and exercise, my relationship with my body was transformedI was 13 when a spinal surgeon gave me unsolicited career advice. “Scoliosis won’t ruin your life,” he said, peering over his spectacles, “unless you want to do bikini modelling.” As a young teenager, I hadn’t thought much about job prospects, let alone modelling, but his words stung. It

health  Jul 15, 2026

The Guardian Health

I investigated Palantir’s foothold in the British state – and what I found should worry us all | Peter Geoghegan

Paid-for political access and threadbare regulations have helped to embed the US tech firm in the NHS – and beyond. But there is a way to free ourselvesAndy Burnham faces a lot of big decisions. But one of the incoming prime minister’s biggest early tests is what he does about the world’s “scariest company” – Palantir. The US defence and surveillance tech behemoth has a swathe of British public contracts, including, most controversially, a £330m deal with the NHS. It’s pretty clear what many of

health  Jul 15, 2026

WHO News

Global childhood immunization coverage inches forward despite conflict and hesitancy – UNICEF, WHO

In 2025, 90% of infants globally – or nearly 116 million – received at least one dose of a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) vaccine, and 85% – or 110 million – completed the full three-dose series, according to the annual WHO-UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) released today.  While both indicators rose by one percentage point from the previous year, global coverage remains one point below 2019 levels – hovering within the s

health  Jul 15, 2026

The Guardian Health

Protect public health policies from lobbying firms | Letter

Caroline Cerny, Prof Sir Ian Gilmore and Katharine Jenner welcome the ethics watchdog’s recommendations to improve transparency around lobbyingFrom tobacco and alcohol to unhealthy food, there is extensive evidence that companies whose profits depend on the sale of harmful products have repeatedly sought to influence the policies designed to protect public health.Research from around the world has documented efforts to deny, dilute and delay measures aimed at reducing harm, while promoting appro

health  Jul 14, 2026

The Guardian Health

The lonely reality of male infertility – podcast

Sperm counts are in decline worldwide, and testosterone levels are said to be plunging, but male infertility still carries a stigma. Prof Michael Carroll on what every man should knowWhen we talk about infertility, the focus tends to be on the woman. After some basic tests, IVF is often seen as a solution. But half of the time, infertility is caused by issues with the man’s sperm. And sperm counts are on the decline worldwide.Toby Trice tells Helen Pidd about how he and his wife spent years tryi

health  Jul 14, 2026

The Guardian Health

Stretch, be gentle and build flexibility: expert tips on doing the splits

Doing a split may look impressive, but experts caution it should not be done without practice and it may not be for everyoneOn Love Island USA’s recent eighth season, contestant Kenzie Annis quickly distinguished herself with her ability to perform the splits, abruptly deploying the maneuver in fits of both delight and rage.Seeing the splits on TV shows such as Love Island and RuPaul’s Drag Race can make people “want to take on that challenge and to push themselves to new heights”, said Ramoni O

health  Jul 13, 2026

The Guardian Health

Disability benefits: why we shouldn’t call it ‘welfare’ | Letters

Susan Randall on Stephen Timms’ Pip review and those with longstanding mental illness and Ruth Lister on why social security spending shouldn’t be called ‘welfare’. Plus letters from Luke Howard and Katie MeddWith reference to your editorial (The Guardian view on disability benefits: Pip must not become another route for cuts, 10 July), and speaking as someone who has contributed to Sir Stephen Timms’ review on behalf of family carers dealing with those with serious mental illnesses, such a

health  Jul 13, 2026

The Guardian Health

At a dying man’s bedside, I see something much rarer than grief: the courage to include the young | Ranjana Srivastava

If we spare youth the universal reality of death, we postpone to middle age the struggle to reconcile with itI am not especially superstitious but it tends to be a Friday afternoon when the collective mass of the hospital shudders to the realisation that the weekend is upon us and important questions are unanswered.My patient is a man in his early 70s who has kept deteriorating after major cancer surgery two weeks ago. Instead of the progressive recovery he was told to expect, he has grown worse

health  Jul 13, 2026

WHO News

El Salvador validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated El Salvador as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness.

health  Jul 13, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘No matter how bad, it is always fixable’: how Bea Elton cleans up the houses – and lives – of desperate people

She has built an unlikely career in mould, maggots and excrement, cleaning for those who most need it. It can take months building trust with a stranger, before she and her boyfriend go in and transform everything‘There might be a dead bird in the box room. We think it has been there for a couple of years,” says Bea Elton, raising her voice to be heard through her respirator. It is particularly robust, as she has a dust and cat hair allergy. “Not ideal,” in her line of work, the 28-year-old conc

health  Jul 13, 2026

The Guardian Health

Flawed disciplinary hearings at work cost UK economy £28.5bn a year, doctors say

Poorly handled investigations should be treated as threat to public health and damage not just staff involved, report saysWorkers are being left burnt out by “poorly executed” disciplinary investigations at work that cost the UK economy £28.5bn a year, public health doctors have said.Badly handled disciplinary proceedings damage not just the staff involved but also their colleagues and the organisation that employs them, according to the UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH).In the UK and Ireland, S

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Guide dog owners face everyday ignorance | Letter

Too many people with assistance dogs are routinely denied access to businesses and services, writes Eleanor BriggsJoanne Hewitson from Hartlepool only wanted to enjoy breakfast at her local pub, accompanied by her guide dog, Rosie. Instead, a member of staff wrongly and repeatedly demanded identification for her guide dog, making her feel so unwelcome that she felt she had to leave (Blind woman ‘livid’ after Wetherspoon’s pub asks for guide dog’s ID, 7 July).Joanne’s experience is not unique. Gu

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘I’m not afraid of dying any more’: comedian Eric Lampaert on his amnesia – and the memories he was happy to lose

In 2019 Lampaert woke up unable to recognise his friends, his parents, even his own name. After decades of anxiety, abandonment and bullying, was his mind just trying to shield him from his past?On the day his life changed, Eric Lampaert woke up and saw his hands. What amazed him was that they were moving in front of him, and he appeared to be the person in control of them. We’re drinking coffee in the Groucho Club in London, and at this point he lets go of his cup and wriggles his fingers. Lamp

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Fitness influencers linked to wellness brand helping run illegal steroid market on Telegram

Ambassadors for Gencore Global directed followers to Telegram channels promoting steroids, prescription medicines and experimental peptides‘I felt dizzy’: body builder recalls how drug abuse caught up with himUK becoming ‘wild west’ for experimental peptides, expert warnsFitness influencers who publicly represent a global wellness brand are involved in running an illegal steroid market on social media, the Guardian can reveal.Gencore Global presents itself as a UK-based health and wellness compa

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Guggenheim museum in New York City tests positive for legionnaires’ disease

Famed art museum, one of 31 buildings to test positive, has already completed remediation, health department saysNew York City’s famed Solomon R Guggenheim Museum was among a number of Manhattan buildings that recently tested positive for the bacteria that causes legionnaires’ disease.The city health department on Friday released a list of 31 buildings on the Upper East Side that have been ordered to clean and disinfect their cooling towers as the city deals with the latest outbreak of the disea

health  Jul 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘A new consumer’: how weight-loss drugs are shaking up clothes shopping

As they slim down, UK and US users of GLP-1 jabs and pills are changing their spending habits – and their wardrobesTell us: what does the new weight-loss pill mean for you?“I’m now at a point where I’m going to buy even more clothes,” says Hayley Grice, 50, from Shropshire, who has dropped seven sizes after starting on the GLP-1 weight loss jab Mounjaro two years ago. “I’m very happy with my physique right now.”Grice, the financial director of a business she set up with her husband, tried gastri

health  Jul 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

Visualised: how conflict, aid cuts and health-worker attacks are helping Ebola spread in DRC

The rapid spread of the virus has been intensified by misinformation and violence towards volunteers and treatment centresNearly two months after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed an Ebola outbreak in one province, the virus is continuing to spread rapidly, reaching more parts of the country and infecting more people.According to government data from 8 July, 1,759 cases and 600 deaths have been recorded. The virus has also spread to Uganda, where there have been 20 confirmed c

health  Jul 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

UK swelters in third heatwave of the year as western Europe counts cost of hottest-ever June

Britain expands heat alerts while estimates suggest last month’s death toll could surpass 20,000 across continentThe UK is sweltering through the peak of its third heatwave of the year as countries around Europe struggle to recover from an early onslaught of baking summer heat.Punishing temperatures pushed higher by fossil fuel pollution have broken records across the continent in recent weeks. Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record, scientists confirmed on Thursday, accompanied b

health  Jul 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

New York sues 3M, DuPont and others over 'forever chemicals' in consumer goods

State says companies hid environmental and health risks of Pfas for decades even as they began phasing them outSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email New ⁠York sued 3M, DuPont and other companies ⁠on Thursday ⁠for ​causing a public nuisance by selling “forever ⁠chemicals” that they knew were toxic for use ⁠in consumer products.The ​state’s attorney ‌general, ‌Letitia James, accused the companies ‌of hiding the chemicals’ environmental and health risks from consumers for decades, even

health  Jul 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

Legionnaires’ outbreak rocks New York as experts warn of rising climate threat

Officials say climate crisis ‘worsening our exposure’ to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in ManhattanA New York outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe’s growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate.At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled

health  Jul 9, 2026