What are 'fasting' diets and do they help you lose weight?

May 08, 2017 08:57 am UTC| Health

Trying to lose weight is hard work. You need to plan meals and snacks, and make a big effort to avoid situations that trigger more eating and drinking than youd planned. Dieting can also be very antisocial. But what if you...

Your brain really does want you to eat more veggies

May 07, 2017 09:20 am UTC| Health

As well as our physical health, the quality of our diet matters for our mental and brain health. Observational studies across countries, cultures and age groups show that better-quality diets those high in vegetables,...

Placebos work even when patients know what they are

May 07, 2017 09:08 am UTC| Health

Lying to patients is almost always unethical. But, in order for placebos to work, we have to believe they are real treatments, which means the doctor would have to lie to us and say that the placebo was actually a real...

Living in a poor area increases the risk of anxiety in women, but not men

May 05, 2017 14:40 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Women living in the most deprived areas are over 60% more likely to have anxiety as women living in richer areas. However, whether men live in poorer or richer areas seems to make very little difference to their anxiety...

Alphabet's new plan to track 10,000 people could take wearables to the next level

May 05, 2017 08:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology Health

Verily the life sciences research arm of Google parent company Alphabet wants to track the health of 10,000 people. On April 19, the group announced that it was starting to recruit for Project Baseline, in partnership...

New drugs on the PBS: what they do and why we need them

May 05, 2017 02:05 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

This week, the government announced the latest additions, amendments, and deletions from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS): the program through which essential medicines are subsidised for Australian patients. The...

How pre-existing conditions became front and center in health care vote

May 05, 2017 01:55 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

Pre-existing conditions became the focus of debate on the American Health Care Act, which was narrowly passed 217-213 by the House of Representatives May 4, 2017. The debate led to bitter disagreement, as Republicans...