The fear of electroconvulsive therapy and its after-effects loomed over Alison Tudor Hart’s stay in a psychiatric unit in the 1960s

Blake Morrison’s review of Jon Stock’s book The Sleep Room (Shocking tales from 1960s psychiatry, 9 April) mentioned that Celia Imrie was admitted to a psychiatric unit in 1966, when she was 14. I was too, in the same year and at the same age – in my case, a large acute adult ward at Stratheden hospital in Fife, their adolescent unit having no beds at the time. I was an inpatient for three weeks and am for ever indebted to the consultant psychiatrist who managed my admission, treatment and discharge to a safer environment.

Morrison’s review of Stock’s exposé of William Sargant and 1960s psychiatry reinforces my sense of good fortune, against all the odds at the time.

Prof Rory Collins, CEO of UK Biobank, responds to concerns about access to UK patient information, highlighting the safeguards and research benefits

Your report (Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records, 15 April) fails to recognise the importance of data in advancing health research, when shared safely, securely and on a global scale. UK Biobank was set up 20 years ago by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome with the mission to create the most detailed source of health data for researchers worldwide. The dream became a reality thanks to half a million volunteers across the UK.

Researchers from academia, charity and industry, and from more than 60 countries, including China, are using UK Biobank data to study the entire spectrum of human health, producing thousands of groundbreaking studies. This is leading to new ways to predict, prevent and target diseases.

£1.5bn of funding has been granted to transform a hospital into a neighbourhood designed for people to thrive as they age

Futuristic planning for spaces where people can age well and live in an area designed for them to grow old in is accelerating in the UK with a radical project backed by £1.5bn of funding.

The plan to transform a hospital into the first neighbourhood in the country designed for people to thrive as they age will be a national testbed for holistic health and social care approaches. It will include hi-tech homes that adapt to occupants’ life stage and care needs, transport, a village green and a social calendar to combat isolation.

The authors of a new book explain why understanding the science of stress can help us manage it better

True (up to a point)
The way stress manifests is very much bodily, centred around hormones such as cortisol and their effect on us. But this process is triggered by the brain (notably the amygdala and the hypothalamus) and the way our brains react to stress is often set in early childhood, even in the womb. Pregnant women who experience extreme stress can give birth to infants who react more strongly to stress hormones – with increasing evidence suggesting that this causes modifications to the baby’s DNA. Self-actualising your way out of stress is difficult – not least because the causes might be serious and inescapable – but not always impossible. Some studies have shown that if you tell people they are the sort of person who doesn’t feel stress, they experience fewer symptoms. One US study found that teenagers growing up with worries about violent crime in a deprived part of Chicago tended to fare better if they simply tried to not think about it.

Newton-Wellesley hospital president says all six tumors benign as ‘rigorous ongoing investigation’ conducted

The number of staff members who have developed brain tumors while working on the same floor of a Boston-area hospital has increased to at least six, according to the facility’s leadership.

A recent statement attributed to the president of Mass General Brigham’s Newton-Wellesley hospital, Ellen Moloney, said the newly reported tumor was benign, as were five previously documented ones. The statement maintained that investigators had not turned up any evidence of environmental risks at the hospital, though their work remained ongoing.

Researchers say urgent action needed to inform people about risks of heatwave temperatures and adapt homes

The number of UK homes overheating in summer quadrupled to 80% over the past decade, according to a study, with experts calling the situation a crisis.

Heat already kills thousands of people each year in the UK and the toll will rise as the climate crisis intensifies. Urgent action is needed both to inform people on how to cope with high temperatures and to adapt homes, which are largely designed to keep heat in during the winter, the researchers said.

The 78-year-old president is in great shape, says the official White House physician. Must be all those ‘hamberders’

Forget yoga, pilates or eating leafy greens. If you want to improve your health, just look to Donald “My Body Is a Temple” Trump for pointers. The US president just had his annual checkup and emerged with flying colours. “President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” White House physician Sean Barbella said in a report released on Sunday.

How does the 78-year-old, who is the oldest person in history to be inaugurated US president, stay in such great shape? The report cited an active lifestyle, noting Trump’s many speeches and “frequent victories in golf events”. But if you’re not a golfer, don’t worry. I have put together a four-point Donald John Trump Wellness Plan so that you can be as perky as the president.

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My beloved Converse All Stars had always been part of my identity. But when they became painful and impractical, it transformed my relationship with clothes

Style and comfort have always been of equal priority for me. I got my first pair of Converse All Stars at the mall in Indiana in the 1980s. They were teal and yellow – I would fold the lip of the hi-top over to show off the lemony interior. For my wedding, I wore low-top leather Converse with my white dress. I’ve walked across cities from Rome to Mumbai, Chicago to Oslo – all while wearing Converse, or Fly London boots – looking for vintage one-offs and secondhand gems, clothes made to last.

In 2021, aged 41, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a degenerative disease that resulted in symptoms including difficulty moving, especially walking. Dystonia is a common symptom for those of us with young onset Parkinson’s; it involves the involuntary and painful twisting of parts of the body. In my case, dystonia occurs in my back, hands, feet and ankles. When my medications aren’t working, or when I’m tired – and more so as the disease progresses – this drastically curtails my mobility and dexterity. My toes grip the earth, my ankles frequently and painfully roll, sometimes I stumble and nearly or actually fall. It is mentally and physically exhausting, and the pain can take my breath away.

Providers reprimanded for pressuring customers, exploiting women’s insecurities or trivialising medical risks

The Advertising Standards Authority has reprimanded six cosmetic treatment providers for pressuring customers, exploiting women’s insecurities or trivialising medical risks after an investigation into adverts for liquid Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs).

The cosmetic procedure, which involves injecting fillers into the buttocks to enhance their shape and size, is unregulated in the UK and can carry significant health risks, not least from potentially life-threatening infections.

Medicare remains the right infrastructure for funding primary care, but it is now more than 40 years old and needs to be updated

Worrying signs are emerging about aspects of Australia’s health system, which will require the attention of whoever wins the May election.

Despite big money pledged for Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), only limited attention has been paid by the major parties to key reform priorities.

financial barriers to care;

managing chronic conditions;

mental health and dental care;

public hospitals; and

the workforce

‘Gamechanger’ brought in after success of trial offering larger doses of drugs within first two weeks of treatment

People in Britain with heart failure are being given larger doses of drugs at the start of their treatment after a global study found that this led to a huge fall in deaths.

Experts say the new approach could mean those with the potentially fatal condition start receiving their ideal amount of medication within two weeks of diagnosis rather than after many months.

Study of 420,000 Britons suggests going at speeds of at least 4mph can lower risks by up to 43%

Walking at a brisker pace could lower the risk of a wide range of heart rhythm problems, according to a study.

The peer-reviewed research, published in BMJ Heart, analysed data from 420,925 participants of the UK Biobank who had provided data on their walking speed. Of these, 81,956 gave more detailed data on the amount of time they spent walking at different paces.

Syngenta has been besieged by lawsuits from people claiming its product caused the neurological condition

Besieged by thousands of lawsuits alleging that its paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s disease, its manufacturer, Syngenta, has entered into an agreement aimed at settling large swaths of those claims.

A court filing on Monday confirmed that a letter of agreement between the parties had been signed. In a court hearing on Tuesday, one of the lead plaintiff lawyers, Khaldoun Baghdadi, said the terms of the settlement should be completed within 30 days.

Blue Origin ‘crew’ | Vanity mission | Privileged ladies | Travel tech | Overheard in hospital

Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry and their companions were no more “crew” of the Blue Origin than my family and I were crew of the British Airways flight from Marrakech to Gatwick on Sunday as we returned from holiday (Blue Origin crew including Katy Perry safely returns to Earth after space flight, 14 April). We were all, in fact, passengers.
Dan Stacey
London

• It doesn’t bother me if Jeff Bezos wants to give his wife-to-be a hen party in space, but what does bother me is the environmental damage caused by this vanity project. It shows selfishness and irresponsibility on a colossal scale.
Chris Burr
Stoford, Somerset

Dmitry Kalmykov is a Ukrainian scientist who has dedicated his life to investigating environmental disasters, first at Chornobyl and now in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan – formerly the Soviet Union’s primary nuclear weapons testing site. He teaches schoolchildren about how bombs were tested, and how – more than 30 years after the site was decommissioned – the community is only beginning to comprehend radiation’s lasting deadly effects. Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and the long shadow of a nuclear conflict across the region, Dmitry debates Kazakhstan’s nuclear future with its next generation

Dmitry Kalmykov is a Ukrainian scientist who has dedicated his life to investigating environmental disasters, first at Chornobyl and now in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan - formerly the Soviet Union's primary nuclear weapons testing site. He teaches schoolchildren about how bombs were tested, and how – more than 30 years after the site was decommissioned – the surrounding community is only beginning to comprehend radiation's lasting deadly effects. Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and the long shadow of a nuclear conflict across the region, Dmitry debates Kazakhstan's nuclear future with its next generation

Medical information will be available from UK Biobank, despite western intelligence agencies’ security fears

Researchers from China are to be allowed access to half a million UK GP records despite western intelligence agencies’ fears about the authoritarian regime amassing health data, the Guardian can reveal.

Preparations are under way to transfer the records to UK Biobank, a research hub that holds detailed medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers. One of the world’s largest troves of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies. A Guardian analysis shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.

From virtual ‘wives’ to mental health support, more than 100m people are using personified chatbots

Men who have virtual “wives” and neurodiverse people using chatbots to help them navigate relationships are among a growing range of ways in which artificial intelligence is transforming human connection and intimacy.

Dozens of readers shared their experiences of using personified AI chatbot apps, engineered to simulate human-like interactions by adaptive learning and personalised responses, in response to a Guardian callout.

Mental Health Foundation says civil unrest last summer left many fearful of attacks by far-right protesters

Last summer’s riots, which took place after the murder of three girls at a Southport dance class, led to a deterioration in the mental health of asylum seekers, with many becoming fearful of walking down the street in case they were targeted by far-right protesters, according to a report.

The report from the Mental Health Foundation, published on Tuesday, identified a decline in the mental health of asylum seekers as a result of the civil unrest and attacks on hotels, compared with the state of their mental health when they published a similar report in February 2024.

Saffron Cordery says too many staff are worn out and suffering low morale, while Dr Geoffrey Searle reflects on years of ‘efficiency savings’. Plus one reader on the stress their daughter is facing as a newly qualified doctor

NHS trusts are right behind government ambitions to shift more care of patients from hospitals to the community and to do more to prevent ill health in the first place (Editorial, 8 March). But nobody should be under any illusion that this is going to happen overnight. Despite the recent budget boost for the NHS, finances for hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services are stretched to the limit.

People are the backbone of the NHS, but growing demand and workloads, vacancies and financial pressures have left far too many staff feeling worn out and suffering low morale. This has driven up the rate of people leaving the health service. Worries about staffing cuts as trusts try to balance their books are going to make an already tough situation even harder for overstretched frontline teams.