• Pregnancy sickness 'desperation' behind 80 ambulance call-outs a day
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    The Independent

    Pregnancy sickness 'desperation' behind 80 ambulance call-outs a day

    The ambulance service is called out up to 80 times a day by pregnant women suffering from severe morning sickness as a result of receiving insufficient help from their GPs, a study has revealed. Published in the British Journal of General Practice, the research analysed the way women were treated for pregnancy sickness in Newcastle and Gateshead from 2014 to 2015. Professor Roger Gadsby of the University of Warwick and his team analysed NHS figures and estimated that thousands of ambulances a year are dispatched to help pregnant women who are dehydrated and malnourished as a result of vomiting.

  • MRKH syndrome: The rare condition that leaves women born without a womb
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    The Independent

    MRKH syndrome: The rare condition that leaves women born without a womb

    Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome is a rare congenital disorder that affects the female reproductive system. Women with MRKH are born without a womb or upper two-thirds of the birth canal. Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser is a congenital disorder, meaning it’s present at birth, and takes its lengthy name from the doctors who discovered it.

  • Pinterest reveals most popular health and wellness trends for 2019
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    The Independent

    Pinterest reveals most popular health and wellness trends for 2019

    If you’d just about got your head around understanding the benefits of buti yoga and the acronym CBD, you might want to take a deep breath because there are a whole host of new health and wellness trends coming your way in 2019. Pinterest has just released its list of top trends – from fashion and travel to home decor and hobbies - after analysing search behaviour of more than 250 million users around the world. When it came to health and wellness, it would seem Internet users are increasingly invested in their well-being with searches for the term “self-care” up a whopping 140 per cent.

  • Why snacking could be disrupting your immune system
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    The Independent

    Why snacking could be disrupting your immune system

    Only until relatively recently in human evolution have we eaten three meals plus snacks every day. Many of us are continually snacking rather than eating at defined times – which means we spend up to 16 hours a day in a “fed” state. When we eat, we do not just take in nutrients – we also trigger our immune system to produce a transient inflammatory response.

  • Severe food allergies are more common than ever, and scientists can’t figure out why
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    The Independent

    Severe food allergies are more common than ever, and scientists can’t figure out why

    The inquest into the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse from anaphylaxis after eating a Pret A Manger baguette she was unaware contained sesame, could lead to a change in food labelling legislation. A recent investigation found undeclared allergens were present in a quarter of foods sampled. As I explain in Another Person’s Poison: A History of Food Allergy, strange reactions to food have long been known.

  • Jada Pinkett Smith reveals she felt "extremely suicidal" when she first found fame
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    The Independent

    Jada Pinkett Smith reveals she felt "extremely suicidal" when she first found fame

    Jada Pinkett Smith has opened up about feeling “extremely suicidal” at the beginning of her career in Hollywood. During Mondays’ episode of 'Red Table Talk', the star’s Facebook Watch series, the 47-year-old spoke of the “nervous breakdown” she suffered when she moved from her native Baltimore to Los Angeles to become an actor. “I had gotten to LA and gotten a certain amount of success and realised that that wasn’t the answer,” she told her co-hosts, mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones and daughter Willow Smith.

  • Emily Atack suffered panic attack shortly before entering I'm A Celebrity
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    The Independent

    Emily Atack suffered panic attack shortly before entering I'm A Celebrity

    Ms Atack, who is best known for her role as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners, also revealed she saw the show’s psychiatrist before and after the show. The Luton-born actor, who was runner-up to English football manager Harry Redknapp in a final watched by more than 13 million people, added the jungle has significantly improved her mental health and self-esteem. The star, who told fellow campmate Noel Edmonds she was “soul-searching” in the jungle following a “tough” break-up last year, also opened up about her on-going battle with mental health problems.

  • Internet therapy reduces symptoms of depression, study claims
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    The Independent

    Internet therapy reduces symptoms of depression, study claims

    Psychologists have found that internet-based therapy can effectively reduce symptoms of depression, which is traditionally treated in person via talk therapy. In a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, researchers examined the efficiency of apps and web platforms that provide cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) online, which works by changing thought patterns and behaviour so as to alleviate the effects of depression. While previous research has looked at the effectiveness of internet-therapy, this review is the first to examine the benefits for people with severe depression.

  • Scientists pinpoint the exact time you're most likely to have a heart attack over Christmas
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    Marie Claire Dorking

    Scientists pinpoint the exact time you're most likely to have a heart attack over Christmas

    On Christmas Eve the risk of suffering a heart attack increases by 37%

  • Actor Stephen Mangan kick-starts debate over what to call the end of a bread loaf
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    Francesca Specter

    Actor Stephen Mangan kick-starts debate over what to call the end of a bread loaf

    Knobby, crust or heel?

  • Gender stereotyped toys must be stopped, says women’s rights charity
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    The Independent

    Gender stereotyped toys must be stopped, says women’s rights charity

    Fawcett Society has announced the launch of a social media campaign to combat gender-stereotyped toys in the lead up to Christmas. The gender equality and women’s rights charity will be teaming up with Let Toys Be Toys, an initiative that advocates for companies in the toy and publishing industries to stop stereotyping products that are geared towards children. The aim of the “Smashing Stereotypes” campaign is to shine on a spotlight on products, including toys, clothes, stationery and books, that have been designed specifically with girls or boys in mind, as opposed to for all.

  • Why getting just two hours less sleep a night can make you an angrier person
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    Evening Standard

    Why getting just two hours less sleep a night can make you an angrier person

    A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General has found evidence to suggest that a lack of sleep really does make you an angrier person. Researchers from Iowa State University asked 142 participants to either maintain their normal sleep pattern or restrict it by between two and four hours over the course of two nights. "In general, anger was substantially higher for those who were sleep restricted," says study co-author Zlatan Krizan, professor of psychology at Iowa State.

  • Instagram is clamping down on hashtags referencing eating disorders
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    The Independent

    Instagram is clamping down on hashtags referencing eating disorders

    Instagram is making it harder to search for eating disorders on the site, in an effort to prevent the glamourisation of damaging mental health conditions. In 2012, Instagram began making certain terms “unsearchable” on the site, including those seen to be promoting eating disorders. While some hashtags on the unsearchable list would come up with no results when searched, others would give users the option to “learn more” when they clicked on them and provide them with the option of seeking out help if needs be.

  • LGBT+ youth four times more likely to self-harm than heterosexual peers
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    The Independent

    LGBT+ youth four times more likely to self-harm than heterosexual peers

    Approximately one in 25 people aged between 16 and 24 in the UK identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to the Office for National Statistics. While it’s previously been discovered that young members of the LGBT+ community are more likely than those who identify as heterosexual to self-harm or experience depression, there hasn’t been a substantial amount of research pinpointing when these mental health issues appear or how they progress over the years. In a new study published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal, researchers compared the symptoms of depression exhibited by adolescents who are in a sexual minority with those who are heterosexual.

  • 'Fuming' mum shares picture of son on Facebook after school calls him 'overweight'
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    Francesca Specter

    'Fuming' mum shares picture of son on Facebook after school calls him 'overweight'

    "Please tell me you think my Harley is overweight!"

  • I had postnatal depression as a new father. Mental health checks for dads should be expanded
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    The Independent

    I had postnatal depression as a new father. Mental health checks for dads should be expanded

    New and expectant fathers will be offered mental health assessments if their partner is suffering from depression or anxiety, NHS England recently announced. Postnatal depression is a non-psychotic depressive disorder that can occur after the birth of a child. Between 6-13 per cent of new mothers will suffer from postnatal depression, with symptoms including persistent sadness or low mood, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, loss of interest in activities that were previously enjoyed, and thoughts of suicide.

  • You can now sleep like a baby at London's first womb-inspired hotel
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    Danielle Fowler

    You can now sleep like a baby at London's first womb-inspired hotel

    We challenge you to find a greater place to escape the run-up to Christmas.

  • Women warns how heart attack symptoms can be different for females in viral Twitter thread
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    Francesca Specter

    Women warns how heart attack symptoms can be different for females in viral Twitter thread

    Heart attack symptoms can differ for women compared to men. A woman shared her heart attack symptoms on Twitter to spread awareness of how the symptoms can ‘feel different’ for women compared to men. Taking to the social media platform on Sunday evening, US user @geewheezie detailed her experience.

  • 7 'hangover cures' a doctor says aren't actually helpful at all
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    Cosmo

    7 'hangover cures' a doctor says aren't actually helpful at all

    Looks like those trusted rituals are actually just a waste of your time.

  • Women could be offered DIY smear tests at home to boost number of cervical cancer screenings
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    The Independent

    Women could be offered DIY smear tests at home to boost number of cervical cancer screenings

    Women in England could be sent DIY smear tests in an effort to increase the number of cervical cancer screenings taking place across the country, under new plans being considered by the Department of Health. Professor Anne Mackie, director of screening at Public Health England said a consultation was currently being carried out to "to look at the benefits of self-testing at home for women". The announcement follows a recent study in the British Medical Journal which revealed that doing doing so could boost the number of people taking smear tests, therefore increasing the possibility of detecting potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the cervix.

  • Number of hospital admissions for stress and anxiety soars in decade
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    The Independent

    Number of hospital admissions for stress and anxiety soars in decade

    The number of people in the UK being admitted to hospital for cases of stress and anxiety has soared in the past decade, new research has uncovered. According to digital healthcare company Forth, more than a third of the British public is likely to feel stressed for a least an entire day every week. The fast-paced and hectic nature of contemporary society has seemingly taken its toll on the mental health of many Brits, as outlined by new figures comparing the number of hospital admissions for stress and anxiety this year to a decade ago.

  • The diet that may help treat joint stiffness and pain
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    Korin Miller

    The diet that may help treat joint stiffness and pain

    Experts say that an anti-inflammatory diet can help with diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, but caution that it typically can't replace medications.

  • Crohn's and colitis: What are they and is there a cure?
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    The Independent

    Crohn's and colitis: What are they and is there a cure?

    After seeing the toll that Crohn’s disease has taken on Dynamo, forcing the magician to put his career temporarily on hold, and with Jeremy Corbyn recently seen sporting a Crohn's and Colitis UK badge in parliament, interest surrounding the two illnesses have surged, but what exactly are they? A form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Crohn’s is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the digestive system, leaving sufferers with myriad symptoms that can severely inhibit their daily lives if not treated with the right medications. Colitis is similar in terms of symptoms and treatment, but one key difference is that it only affects the large intestine, whereas Crohn's can affect any part of the digestive tract.

  • Demi Lovato vows to ‘never give up’, weeks after leaving rehab
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    The Independent

    Demi Lovato vows to ‘never give up’, weeks after leaving rehab

    Demi Lovato has shared a selfie on Instagram vowing that she’ll “never give up”, weeks after leaving a rehabilitation facility. Lovato has spoken openly about her history with drug and alcohol abuse in the past, revealing in a YouTube documentary released last year called Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated that she first start using cocaine at the age of 17. The Instagram photo is the second that Lovato has shared on the social media platform since leaving rehab, the first of which she posted a month ago to encourage US citizens to vote in the country's mid-term elections.

  • Jael Strauss death: Former America’s Next Top Model contestant dies two months after breast cancer diagnosis
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    The Independent

    Jael Strauss death: Former America’s Next Top Model contestant dies two months after breast cancer diagnosis

    Former America’s Next Top Model contestant Jael Strauss has passed away at the age of 34, just two months after being diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. The model revealed that she was suffering from stage four breast cancer in a Facebook post on October 5, three days after receiving her diagnosis.