Health & Wellbeing

When taking a pill such as a pain reliever, it goes without saying that you want it to work as fast as possible. According to a new study, taking that pill while lying on your right side will help it to do so.

It's important to monitor the physical activity level of seniors living on their own, as a decrease may indicate health problems, depression, cognitive decline, or a debilitating fall. A new device does so simply and unobtrusively, by hitching a ride on the senior's walker.

New research has offered the most comprehensive look at the long-term neurological effects of COVID-19 to date, tracking more than one million people and finding increased rates of dementia can be detected up to 24 months after the acute disease.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first ever cell-based gene therapy, a one-off treatment for people with a rare genetic blood disease. The treatment will cost US$2.8 million, making it the most expensive medicine in history.

The US FDA has established a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids. The move comes as part of a push by the US government to make healthcare more affordable, allowing millions of people to buy low-cost hearing aids without prescription.

Type 2 diabetes can take years to develop, but caught early is an entirely preventable disease. A new study is suggesting a particular blood biomarker could be used to identify those on the way to diabetes but yet to display symptoms of disease.

New research has offered interesting new insights around the most efficient forms of exercise, demonstrating that even very brief dumbbell workouts each day can lead to a significant boost in muscle strength.

Regulators in the UK have approved Moderna’s new Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine for an upcoming nation-wide autumn booster program. The approval makes the UK the first region in the world to move forward with an improved variant-targeting vaccine.

A striking study has found eggs from hens in urban backyards can contain up to 40 times more lead than eggs from commercially farmed hens. The researchers recommend those in inner-city locations test their soil before raising chickens or growing food.

A polio vaccine booster program has been announced in the UK targeting all London children under the age of 10. The program comes after more detections of poliovirus in London’s wastewater indicate the virus is spreading undetected through the city.

New research reports some natural supplements contain high levels of levodopa, used in drug treatments for Parkinson’s disease. The research found levels of levodopa in some supplements can be higher than what's found in common pharmaceutical formulations.

A new Lyme disease vaccine is about to enter its final phase of human trialling. If all goes well it could be available by 2025, making it the first vaccine for Lyme disease to reach the market in nearly a quarter of a century.

New research has reported a link between elevated blood levels of perfluooctane sulfate (PFOS) and increased risk of liver cancer. The study is the first to directly associate exposure from this “forever chemical” to liver cancer in humans.

An innovative new rapid test promises to give people the ability to easily measure their COVID-19 immunity. The test tracks levels of neutralizing antibodies in a drop of blood, helping a person evaluate their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

For decades, doctors have noticed men seem more likely to develop cancers compared to women, and while it was often waved away as due to lifestyle, a new study suggests biological factors may be the biggest player in the different cancer risk.