‘I want to do everything I can to head off dementia’: why demand for the shingles vaccine is soaring
Could a drug intended to prevent painful rashes also protect our brains as we get older? The signs are promising – but not conclusive. Yet that’s enough to be driving a boom in shingles jabsWhen Jenny, a 50-year-old marketing and branding professional…
The best sunrise alarm clocks in the UK, tried and tested for gentler mornings
Our reviewer sheds some light on the best dawn simulation alarms, from Lumie and Philips to Dreamegg• The best eye masks to help you sleep betterTo wake each day in darkness is a plight you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, yet that’s what many of us do…
‘Cancer is tripling and will keep increasing’: first African to lead global action against disease ready for battle
With cancer cases rising fastest in poorer countries, Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, president-elect of the Union for International Cancer Control, says Africa needs investment in research, diagnosis and preventionWhen Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu last saw Gloria…
The generation raised on sugar rations – and what their health reveals 70 years later
From blood pressure to ageing, research suggests the first 1,000 days of sugar exposure could leave a decades-long mark on healthThey were born into a Britain still recovering from the hardships of war. Though the air-raid sirens had fallen silent, many…
I was disorganised and overwhelmed. Could a daily to-do list turn my life around?
Whenever I thought about getting a handle on life – decluttering, sorting my finances, improving my health and productivity – I felt defeated. So I tried this month-long experiment to feel more in controlAlvin and the Chipmunks was my wake-up call. A…
My relationship with food was broken. Then I killed my own dinner
For years, eating was something to control, fear or regret. After I hunted my first deer, I started to see fat, hunger and my own body in a different lightI muffled my sobs with a pillow so my family couldn’t hear me from the adjacent room. I was 19…
Feeling wired? The truth about ‘nervous system resets’
The internet is full of warnings about our ‘dysregulated’ nervous systems. But, experts say, you don’t need to reset yours – you might just need to make it more flexible. Here’s how (and no, you don’t need an acupressure mat)Whether it’s tapping the side…
‘It could get an orgasm out of a cabbage’: the best vibrators, tested
From bullets to rabbits to wand vibrators, our sexual wellbeing expert demystifies what’s available and rates her top 17 models (she tested 67)• 26 easy ways to spice up your sex lifeI could write here about how almost a fifth of women surveyed by Durex…
My wife obsessively consumes US news. She’s so stressed but can’t turn off. What should I do? | Leading questions
Instead of asking her to step away from her distress, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, could you suggest she channel it into action?Read more Leading questionsMy wife is obsessed with everything that’s happening in the US. She literally…
A moment that changed me: My mother fell off a mountain – and my life began again
A bad breakup had made me afraid I would be mired in anger for ever. But on that family hike, in our fear and horror as we awaited the air ambulance, my old hurts took on a different hueTo steal a well-known line, 2023 is not a year on which I shall look…