The Guardian Health

No doctor wants to have this conversation with a patient. For everyone’s sake, we must | Ranjana Srivastava

Holistic care for incurably ill people has to include discussions about death and dying – but getting there is hardIt could be her usual generosity or disquiet, subtly disguised, but she leads by asking about “the kids”. Mine, not hers.The question from a patient who has known me for years is a reminder that goodwill in medicine goes both ways. I scroll to a photo of my daughter, flanked by her brothers. Continue reading...

health  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

Five Americans die every hour from toxic vehicle emissions, study finds

Research suggests 41,800 premature US deaths in 2024 were attributable to road pollutionRoughly five Americans die every hour due to exposure to toxic road vehicle pollution, a new study has found.It’s the latest warning showing fossil-fueled transit is a major driver of mortality. Continue reading...

health  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

One person a week in England dies with undiagnosed TB, study finds

British-born, older men among those most likely to have disease found only postmortem, say researchersOne person a week dies with undiagnosed and therefore untreated tuberculosis in England, a study has found.British-born, older men were among those most likely to have TB diagnosed only after death, researchers said, suggesting healthcare workers could be overlooking the possibility of the disease in these patients. Continue reading...

health  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

A new start after 60: I spent eight years thinking I had Parkinson’s. Then doctors ‘de-diagnosed’ me

Mike Bell was 53 when he got the diagnosis that changed his life – and 61 when he learned it was wrong. He felt relieved, but also totally adriftWhen he was 61, Mike Bell, who had spent eight years living with a Parkinson’s diagnosis, saw a new consultant. Though he still had pains, tingling, tremors and skin problems, Bell had stopped taking his prescribed medication and his symptoms had not worsened. Further brain scans were arranged – “everything, in every possible position” – after which Bel

health  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Health

About 170,000 people in England expected to die from obesity-linked heart conditions by 2035

British Heart Foundation expects about 45 people a day to die over next decade if current trends continueAbout 170,000 people are expected to die from heart-related conditions linked to obesity – one of the leading causes of preventable illnesses – by 2035, according to a leading charity.The analysis, conducted by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), found that about 45 people a day are expected to die from cardiovascular disease linked to excess weight and obesity in England over the next decade

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

England facing children’s mental health ‘crisis’ as referrals hit 1m

Commissioner calls for overhaul of state support after reporting 10% rise in young patient referrals last yearMore than 1 million children were referred to mental health services across England last year, with referrals up 10% from the year previous, according to a report by the children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza. She said the country faced a “crisis” in young people’s mental health.The number of patients who had an active referral to children and young people’s mental health services acro

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Kate completes Three Peaks challenge to raise money for cancer charity

Princess of Wales becomes first royal to climb Scotland, England and Wales’s highest mountains, 18 months after cancer remissionThe Princess of Wales has completed the Three Peaks challenge to raise money for a cancer charity, becoming the first member of the royal family to achieve the feat.Catherine Middleton, 44, revealed in a message on social media she had successfully taken on the trek not only as a physical endeavour but “to give something back” and raise awareness of the wider impact of

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

How a Romford maternity ward was able to turn the tide after a ‘requires improvement’ rating

Hiring more staff and providing interpreters are just some of the actions taken by Queen’s hospital to tackle core problems• Risk of serious birth injuries is rising for women in England, data suggestsTwo days after giving birth, Juliana Nascimento Barbosa is still ecstatic about becoming a mother. “I’m so happy to have my baby,” she says from her bed in Queen’s hospital in Romford, Essex, smiling broadly.To her left, her husband, Emerson, sits on a chair. To her right, their newborn son Dominic

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Risk of serious birth injuries is rising for women in England, data suggests

About 31 in every 1,000 facing haemorrhage or severe tears, NHS figures show, in trend described as ‘national crisis’How a Romford maternity ward was able to turn the tide after a ‘requires improvement’ ratingWomen in England are at their highest risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth since records began in 2020, NHS figures show.The rate of women sustaining the most serious type of tear during childbirth rose to 31.1 in every 1,000 in January, February and March – the highest sin

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Fall in NHS waiting lists is not a Labour win | Letter

Priscilla Alderson asks how long the NHS will survive under a Burnham-Streeting governmentA fall in NHS waiting lists is presented as a government success (From the NHS to new homes, Starmer’s successes and setbacks, 23 June). NHS authorities have paid providers £33 per patient to remove thousands of them from the lists, many still in great need, and a survey of nearly 2,600 people in England found 16% had used the private sector in the past year.Fewer names on the lists help the government to s

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘Treating children like cattle’: what happens when private equity takes over a UK care home?

Experts raise alarm as firms aiming to maximise assets and sell for profit become more involved in vital public services‘Financial pandemic’: £1 in every £11 spent on UK public contractors goes to private equityNurseries, vets and shops: the sectors where private equity plays a big rolePrivate equity companies have slowly and invisibly increased their involvement in public services – from elderly care homes to fostering placements for vulnerable children – with some unintended consequences.Take

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Do you need electrolytes? Will tea cool you down? Is it safe to drink beer? How to stay hydrated in a heatwave

The hotter it gets, the faster our bodies lose water. Obviously, we need to replace it – but is anything better than plain H₂O? And does timing matter? Here’s what the science saysHydration is important. In temperatures like those we’re increasingly seeing in much of the world, sweating can be the only way for our bodies to cool down, and our thirst isn’t always the best indicator of how much water we’ve lost or need. The consequences of not being sufficiently hydrated as temperatures creep towa

health  Jun 28, 2026

The Guardian Health

Comedian Joanne McNally looks back: ‘In my 20s, my bulimia was spiralling out of control. My breakdown was the making of me’

The Irish standup and writer on three-day benders, her accidental comedy career, and her feral stage personaBorn in County Roscommon in 1983 and raised in Dublin, Joanne McNally is a standup comedian and writer. Her breakthrough came with the one-woman show Bite Me, and her subsequent tour, Prosecco Express, included a 78-night run at Dublin’s Vicar Street. She co-hosts the hit podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams. Her standup show Pinotphile is touring Ireland and the U

health  Jun 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘A sad inevitability’: after decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?

Scorching summer of 2003 triggered first efforts to deal with the problem but heatwaves still have devastating impactOn Wednesday, Pierre Masselot received a text from his daughter’s nursery – less than 50 miles from the weather station that was the first this week to break the UK June temperature record – asking parents to collect children early because the school buildings were getting unbearably hot.Similar scenes were repeated across Europe this week as the continent swelters through its mos

health  Jun 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

Nigel Farage’s anti-WHO campaign moves to US with allies added to board

Relocation of Action on World Health raises questions over why Reform UK leader is involved in a US pressure groupNigel Farage’s campaign against the World Health Organization (WHO) is moving to the US with a new board of lobbyists, raising questions over why the Reform UK leader is involved in an American pressure group.The Action on World Health campaign, co-founded by Farage, is relocating to the US state of Delaware as a charitable foundation and grassroots non-profit. Continue reading...

health  Jun 27, 2026

The Guardian Health

White House mandates move away from overdose prevention in US health programs

Experts say move signals greater political interference into public health and will exacerbate opioid overdose crisisHealth programs receiving federal funding must agree within days to new priorities from the Trump administration, including a focus on “parental authority” in education and a move away from proven overdose-prevention methods like harm reduction, suggesting greater political control over public health.The new priorities will likely affect progress against the opioid crisis, and the

health  Jun 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Why is alcohol dangerous in a heatwave, and should I cut it out completely?

Those partial to a pint may be relieved to know a modest of amount of weak beer may actually be beneficialEuropean heatwave live – latest updatesAs Europe endures a record-breaking heatwave, countries are taking steps to keep people safe and prevent health services from becoming overstretched. Parisians face a temporary ban on drinking alcohol in public to reduce the pressure on the hospitals after a four-fold rise in cardiac arrests in a 24-hour period.We look at why drinking alcohol can be dan

health  Jun 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

New study suggests health damage from exposure to Ohio toxic train spill

Research finds immune systems still ‘responding to toxic chemical exposures’ related to East Palestine derailmentIn the weeks after the East Palestine train wreck culminated in a towering fireball and chemical release in the small Ohio town, Jessica Boersma was seriously exposed to the stew of compounds emitted from the derailment site.Boersma lives less than a quarter mile away, and, as a city council member, she had to spend significant time at the site coordinating with first responders. Cont

health  Jun 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

FDA to discuss easing restrictions on peptides despite safety concerns

Committee will meet in July to discuss peptides now sold in gray market despite limited evidence of safety and efficacyAdvisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon hold a meeting about whether to ease restrictions on access to some research peptides, a group of drugs with a zealous following and thin evidence to support them.If restrictions are eased, US compounding pharmacies would be able to produce and fill prescriptions for Americans – a change that would effectively legalize

health  Jun 26, 2026

The Guardian Health

Whereabouts of nearly 300 people with Ebola unknown in DRC

Fears over ‘huge, huge community transmission’ as modelling predicts thousands of cases and deaths by SeptemberThe whereabouts of almost 300 people who have tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is currently unknown, according to Africa’s top public health official.The humanitarian crisis amid the conflict in the affected areas means more than 1 million people are living in camps to which health workers have no access, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Ce

health  Jun 26, 2026