Anna Bawden Health and social affairs correspondent

Climate change could make the UK vulnerable to insect-transmitted tropical diseases that were previously only found in hot countries, scientists have warned, urging ministers to redouble efforts to contain their spread abroad. Leading mosquito experts said the government’s cuts to […]

Weight loss jabs may be good for people’s mental health as well as helping curb their appetite, according to research. A study by scientists from the University of Bern in Switzerland has found that appetite-suppressing injections also improve mood, wellbeing

Giving weight loss jabs to everyone eligible for them could boost the UK economy by £4.5bn, according to research. Worldwide, about 3.8 billion people over 25 and just under 750 million children and young people are forecast to be overweight

Researchers have developed ultra-powerful scans that could enable surgery for previously treatment-resistant epilepsy. Globally, about 50 million people have epilepsy. In England, epileptic seizures are the sixth most common reason for hospital admission. About 360,000 people in the UK have

Smoking rates in parts of England have increased for the first time in nearly two decades, according to research. Academics at University College London examined smoking data for more than 350,000 adults in England over an 18-year period. They found

Independent pharmacies in England have been advised to slash their opening hours in a row over funding. The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said it had “been left with little choice” but to recommend its 6,000 members take collective action for

The number of people with diabetes has doubled over the past 30 years to more than 800 million worldwide, according to a groundbreaking international study. Global analysis published in the Lancet found that rates of diabetes in adults doubled from

Heat-related deaths, food insecurity and the spread of infectious diseases caused by the climate crisis have reached record levels, according to a landmark report. The Lancet Countdown’s ninth report on health and the climate breakdown reveals that people across the

People with irregular heartbeats who have a stroke are 35% less likely to have a second stroke if they are given blood-thinning drugs earlier than currently recommended, research has found. There are more than 1.6 million people in the UK

Menopausal women of Chinese and black African backgrounds are about 80% less likely to receive hormone replacement therapy than white women, according to a large-scale study. HRT is one of the most common treatments for menopausal symptoms such as hot