“Dieting for just eight weeks can reverse your diabetes,” the Daily Mail reports. A small study of 30 people with type 2 diabetes found eight weeks on a very low calorie diet of around 600 to 700 calories a day, followed by a less radical six-month weight control diet, led to significant improvement in blood glucose levels in 12 people. These findings are Read More

“Meditation could ease the agony of back pain, a study suggests,” the Daily Mirror reports. A US study compared a technique called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) with usual care and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for long-term non-specific lower back pain. The term “non-specific” refers to when there are no obvious causes, such as a slipped disc. MBSR is based on yoga Read More

“Abnormal cells not a sure sign of baby defects,” reports The Telegraph following the publication of a study on the development of healthy embryos. Embryos containing cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes can still develop into healthy babies, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge. Embryo cells with too many or too few chromosomes can give rise to Read More

“Women who take HRT drugs soon after going through menopause are ‘less likely to suffer heart disease’,” the Daily Mail reports. A new study found that early adopters ofhormone replacement therapy (HRT) might slow their progression towardatherosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the arteries) which can increase the risk ofheart disease, heart attacks or strokes. However, the study in question did not follow Read More

“Ditching butter for veg oil may not be better for heart,” the Daily Mail reports. An analysis of previously unpublished data from the 1960s and 70s found no benefit in replacing sources of saturated fats with vegetable oils. The original study was conducted from 1968 to 1973 in six US psychiatric state hospitals and a nursing home. People were randomly assigned to Read More

“An innovative new app might provide a more effective form of birth control than the contraceptive pill,” The Sun reports. The Natural Cycles fertility app combines the use of a thermometer to measure body temperature with calendar calculating methods – often referred to as the rhythm method – to work out the days when a woman would be at high Read More

“The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention … has confirmed that the Zika virus causes severe birth defects,” BBC News reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has concluded that “a causal relationship exists between prenatal Zika virus infection and microcephaly”, where babies are born with unusually small heads and brains. The media coverage explains that despite Read More

“You can die of a broken heart, study indicates,” The Guardian reports. The study found that people who lost a partner – especially if the death was unexpected – had an increased risk of developing an irregular heartbeat up to a year after the death. The study specifically looked at a type of heart condition called atrial fibrillation that causes an Read More

“Food and drinks should carry labels showing how long it would take to walk or run off the calories, a leading health expert suggests,” the Daily Mail reports. In an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal, Shirley Cramer, chief executive of theRoyal Society for Public Health, argues that the current “traffic light” food labelling system is not promoting positive changes in Read More

“Daily fresh fruit lowers heart death risk as much as statins,” The Daily Telegraph reports. A study of over a half a million Chinese people found that a diet rich in fresh fruit was linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases. But don’t ditch the statins in favour of an “apple a day”, if they have been recommended for Read More