Seventeen years ago Nathan Dunne was locked out of his body, or at least that’s how it felt. He talks about his battle with depersonalisation disorder – and his sudden fear of water

On a cold winter’s night, in a “fit of spontaneity”, Nathan Dunne and his girlfriend went for a midnight swim on Hampstead Heath in London. They had been living together for a few months and, although it was dark and chilly, they “had a summer feeling in that first flush of the relationship”, Dunne says. They shed their clothes and waded into the shallows. After diving into the icy water, Dunne’s girlfriend put her lips to his cheek, and as they pulled apart, his life changed beyond all recognition. “It was like being struck. Like something came down,” he says, slicing the air with his hand. “The flip of a switch.”

Dunne’s transformation sounds like a fairytale in reverse: one kiss, and his life turned into a nightmare. Seventeen years have passed since that night, and he still mostly explains the change in himself in metaphors and similes. His eyes filled with soot. His voice was a robot’s. He felt as if he were locked outside his body, which became a sort of “second body”. Any form of water, from a raindrop to a warm bath, made everything worse. His terror and panic were so great that the next day he smashed a vase and used a shard to cut himself. An “attempt to not live any more”, is how he describes it.

Policing and local councils among areas facing real-terms cuts in the spending review on Wednesday

The NHS is set to receive a £30bn funding boost in the spending review next week, at the expense of other public services.

The Department of Health is expected to emerge as the biggest winner on Wednesday with a 2.8% increase to its day-to-day spending budget over a three-year period, amounting to a £30bn rise by 2028.

So far, 79 people have fallen ill from sickness linked to eggs from the August Egg Company

Federal food and health agencies are investigating a multistate outbreak of salmonella infections linked to eggs from a California producer that have sickened 79 people and hospitalized 21.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised on Friday that organic and cage-free brown eggs from the August Egg Company sold to retailers in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming should be discarded or returned to the store where they were purchased.

Chemicals found in the braiding hair have been linked to increased cancer risk and organ damage

In recent years, personal care products marketed at Black women have received increased scrutiny for their toxicity, specifically chemical hair straighteners. These perms, also known as “relaxers”, have been condemned for causing severe health problems, including fertility issues, scalp irritations and increased risk of cancer.

In light of this, many Black women have turned to natural hairstyles, including braids, as a way to avoid toxic chemicals. But recent research has revealed that popular brands of synthetic braiding hair, human-made extensions that are used in these protective styles, contain dangerous carcinogens, heavy metals and other toxins. Tested brands included in a recent study from Consumer Reports (CR) were Magic Fingers, The Sassy Collection, Shake-N-Go, Darling, Debut, Hbegant and Sensationnel, all mass producers of synthetic braiding hair.

According to the CR study, all tested samples of braiding hair contained volatile organic compounds (VOCs), human-made chemicals found in paints, industrial solvents and other products. Exposure to VOCs can cause health problems, including respiratory issues, nausea and fatigue. Long-term exposure has been associated with increased cancer risk and organ damage.

Campaigners say ‘super-strength subsidy’ puts pressure on the NHS, as some ciders in England cost same as apple juice

Supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl are exploiting a tax loophole to produce and sell cheap cider that harms health and causes social problems, alcohol campaigners have claimed.

Over recent years, ciders – sometimes containing as much as 7.5% alcohol – have become cheaper or barely risen in price, despite the cost of beer, wine and spirits soaring, according to research by Alcohol Change UK.

The Firs in Nottinghamshire closed suddenly in April, exposing shocking failures that underscore the strains on care provision across the country

“If we had known what was really going on, we’d have taken her out of there straight away,” said Greg Gillespie. “It makes you question your decision-making. But the real shame of this is we just didn’t know. It was hidden so well.”

Gillespie’s elderly grandmother lived at The Firs, a Nottinghamshire care home that was dramatically shut down by the Care Quality Commission in April due to a catalogue of shocking failures – everything from meeting nutritional and hydration needs, staffing, equipment, fire safety and governance was found to be lacking.

Every time my mind goes down the ‘optimisation’ route, I’m reminded of my job as a public health scientist, looking into the factors that affect how long we will live

• Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)

For much of the past century, life expectancy continually increased. In most countries in the world, children could hope to live, on average, longer, healthier lives than their parents. This expectation is still true of the mega-wealthy. In fact, tech billionaires and multimillionaires have recently been fixated on finding the secret to longer life, convinced that with enough money, technology and cutting-edge science, they can stave off the inevitable for a few more decades to reach 120 or even 150 years old.

But their efforts aren’t trickling down to the rest of us. The world’s health crises are getting worse, with life expectancy going backwards in several high-income countries, such as the UK and US. In Britain, stagnation started before the Covid pandemic and has decreased by six months, and in the US by 2.33 years. Obesity rates are rising – not just in wealthy countries, but also in places like Ghana, which has experienced a 650% increase in obesity since 1980. Not 65%; 650%. Clean air is a rarity in most places in the world. Mental health conditions like depression are on the rise, worsened by financial precarity and stress.

New test accurately picks up on memory problems by examining two proteins in blood plasma, US researchers find

A new blood test for Alzheimer’s disease can accurately detect people with early symptoms, research suggests.

Experts from the Mayo Clinic in the US have provided further evidence that blood tests can work to accurately diagnose dementia by examining two proteins in blood plasma.

Forthright president of the Royal College of Nursing who later became a government adviser

When June Clark was elected to the governing council of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in 1969, becoming its youngest ever member at 28, it was still a genteel body. Many of her fellows wore hats and gloves to meetings. Clark was soon quietly taken aside and asked to stop breastfeeding her baby in the council chamber.

Although she reluctantly complied on that occasion, Clark, who has died aged 83, would go on to make a career of prodding the nursing establishment to modernise, and especially to shake off its traditional deference to doctors. She was a key figure in the campaign to make all UK nurse training degree-based, which was finally agreed in 2009, and was an early exponent of digital care records, which are slowly coming to pass.

David Bentley responds to an article on reaching peak fitness through the decades. Plus letters from Shirley Foster, Laurence Kaye, Janet Vaux and Huw Adams

Hannah Coates’ article (From strength training in your 20s to yoga in your 80s: how to reach peak fitness at any age, 31 May) covered ages up to 80, as did another similar article earlier in the week (28 May). What about those over 90 like myself, 94, still active on the rowing machine (11 minutes 16 seconds for 2,000 metres)? In the same week, there was also an article describing a very fit 105-year-old. Our county, Surrey, is home to Britain’s oldest person at 115. Don’t forget the over-90s in your articles on fitness.
David Bentley
Englefield Green, Surrey

• I and my 80-plus-year-old friends fell about (voluntarily) laughing when we read that we can consider ourselves “in good form” if we can walk unaided for 10 minutes. Since many of us regularly hike, garden, swim, cycle and play tennis, we clearly need to examine much more closely the fitness standards for our age group. Or maybe we should just retire to our Bath chairs?
Shirley Foster
Sheffield

Experts announce findings on immunotherapy, a breast cancer breakthrough and the value of exercise

Doctors, scientists and researchers shared new findings on ways to tackle cancer at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, the world’s largest cancer conference.

The event in Chicago, attended by about 44,000 health professionals, featured more than 200 sessions on this year’s theme, Driving Knowledge to Action: Building a Better Future. Here is a roundup of the key studies.

Three-quarters of cases are in unvaccinated children, and this week saw the first fatality: a premature baby

• Measles outbreak: how contagious is it and what are the symptoms?

Outside the emergency room of the St Thomas Elgin general hospital, about 200km (125 miles) south-west of Toronto, a large sign with bright yellow block letters issues an urgent warning: “NO MEASLES VAX & FEVER COUGH RASH – STOP – DO NOT ENTER!”

To see such an imperative in the 21st century might have been previously unimaginable for Canada, which in 1998 achieved “elimination status” for measles, meaning the virus is no longer circulating regularly.

Controversial additive may be in as many as 11,000 US products and could lead to diabetes and obesity

The controversial food additive titanium dioxide likely has more toxic effects than previously thought, new peer-reviewed research shows, adding to growing evidence that unregulated nanoparticles used throughout the food system present an underestimated danger to consumers.

In nanoparticle form, titanium dioxide may throw off the body’s endocrine system by disrupting hormonal response to food and dysregulating blood sugar levels, which can lead to diabetes, obesity and other health problems, the study found.

Move is part of £450m Wes Streeting plan to tackle long delays and end hospital overcrowding

Hundreds of thousands of patients needing urgent medical help will be treated in settings other than A&E as part of a drive to cut “corridor care” and avoid another NHS winter crisis.

The move is a central plank of a government plan to improve urgent and emergency care in England, tackle the long delays many patients face in A&E and banish overcrowding in hospitals.

Exclusive: Levels of ‘multi-stress’ at highest since 2008 crash, study says, with people feeling profoundly powerless

More than 5 million UK adults are experiencing a triple whammy of financial, health and housing insecurity as British households hit levels of “multi-stress” not seen since the global economic crash well over a decade ago, research shows.

One in 10 working-age adults are juggling low income and debt, insecure tenancies and high rents, and problems accessing NHS care. They are at least twice as likely as the rest of the population to report mental stress, sleeplessness and isolation.

Infant had ‘contracted the virus before birth from their mother’, while the country has recorded 2,755 measles cases

A Canadian infant who was born prematurely and had measles has died, officials said on Thursday without confirming a cause of death, raising heightened concern about the virus’s resurgence.

Canada has recorded 2,755 measles cases – including 2,429 confirmed and 326 probable – according to federal health data updated on 2 June.

Study finds medicines such as Ozempic associated with greater risk of developing age-related macular degeneration

Weight loss drugs could at least double the risk of diabetic patients developing age-related macular degeneration, a large-scale study has found.

Originally developed for diabetes patients, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) medicines have transformed how obesity is treated and there is growing evidence of wider health benefits. They help reduce blood sugar levels, slow digestion and reduce appetite.

We all have questionable kitchen habits – experts break down how to avoid spreading pathogens at home

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Do you use the same kitchen sponge for days on end? Let your takeout pizza languish on the counter overnight?

We all have questionable kitchen habits – but when it comes to food safety, shortcuts we think of as harmless can open the door to dangerous pathogens such as bacteria and toxins, according to microbiologists. Here’s how experts suggest staying safer in the kitchen.

Research finds more than 15m in US, UK, Germany and France with MASH have not been diagnosed

More than 15 million people in the US, UK, Germany and France do not know they have the most aggressive form of fatty liver disease, according to research.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) – the formal name for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – occurs in people who drink no or minimal amounts of alcohol whose liver contains more than 5% fat.

By casting excess embryos as ‘little frozen orphans’ that needed to be ‘saved’ these programs push an alarming view of personhood

As soon as they arrived home, Tyler, seven, and Jayden, three, rushed to a small green tent perched on the living room table and pressed their faces against its mesh windows. Inside, several gray cocoons hung immobile as the boys’ eyes eagerly scanned them for the slightest sign of movement. “We’re waiting for butterflies to emerge,” explained their mother, Alana Lisano. “It’s our little biology experiment.”

Within seconds, the boys were off to play with their cars, having no patience for such waiting. But Tyler and Jayden, Alana told me, were like those butterflies not so long ago, suspended in a different kind of stasis for two decades.