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Health Policy InsightMy 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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...‘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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
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