Health News

Sirin Murad, 25, was on holiday in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, in June when she fell asleep in the 21C (70F) heat with no sunscreen on. The next day her red face was extremely sore and starting to bubble (left). Her skin was so tight that when she furrowed her eyebrows it looked like it was made out of plastic, with deep ridges in the middle like the famous Star Trek Klingon species (inset).

Health service bosses today said 'rising numbers' will fall ill and see their health deteriorate unless the Government takes 'urgent action' to limit energy price increases.

Released on Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics' figures for excess deaths in the UK has revealed that about 1,000 more people than usual are dying each week from illnesses and conditions other than Covid. This makes the rate for excess deaths 14.4 per cent higher than the five-year average, meaning 1,350 more people have died than usual in the week ending 5 August. Covid-related deaths made up for 469 of them, but the remaining 881 have 'not been explained'. Since the start of June, nearly 10,000 more deaths unrelated to Covid have been recorded than the five-year average, making up around 1,089 per week.

An unnamed Nebraska child's death has been linked to the brain eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri. Infection from the amoeba is incredibly rare but also highly deadly - killing around 97% of people in infects. This would be the third confirmed case and second death in the U.S. tied to the amoeba. It is often found in untreated water during summer months, experts warn.

Researchers have found our preference for foods from cheese to cake has more to do with our DNA than upbringing or cultural differences. In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Edinburgh University looked at 150,000 people's fondness for over 100 food and drink products. The team identified there are more than 400 genes that influence our food preferences - and they come in three main clusters: highly palatable, low-calorie or 'acquired tastes' (shown in graphic).

Silver Steele, of Houston, Texas, developed horrific blisters on his face after developing monkeypox and documented his month-long battle with the virus. He developed symptoms around July 11, when small pimple-like white spots started appearing around his mouth. Steele said he developed symptoms after attending a July 4 party and initially thought it was razor burn. After confirming it was monkeypox, he developed a fever, chills, and nights sweats and said he nearly passed out from the pain at times. He has since gotten the TPoxx vaccine, which is also used to treat smallpox and can only be given with special permission from the CDC. The porn star worries the scars around his mouth could leave marks for life.

NHS chiefs in Cornwall admitted they are 'not proud' of the 200-minute average wait time for Category 2 calls - which is 11 times the national target of 18 minutes. It is the worst response time on record for the area. But waits nationally are also dire, with the average heart attack patient seen in just under an hour in July. Emergency departments are also currently at breaking point - with almost 30,000 people waiting 12-plus hours in A&E a day. In a worrying sign, an internal NHS memo leaked today shows deaths in emergency departments are becoming 'increasingly common'. Government officials are now investigating 'potentially preventable' deaths that may have been caused by the delays in ambulances and emergency departments.

WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Soraia Bonuar Gomes, 30, from Manchester, was prescribed anti-inflammatory and anti-sickness pills in June 2019 after struggling with period pain for years. The cleaner became pregnant the following month and says doctors did not tell her to stop taking the medication. The mother-of-three was rushed to hospital in September 2019 - eight weeks into her pregnancy - after she developed blisters all over her body which burst and peel. Pictured: Ms Gomes in hospital due to drug allergy (right and inset) and after giving birth (left).

If you thought you were up to date with the latest science on healthy eating - think again. Researchers from the US have created the Food Compass which turns common assumptions about snacking on their heads. The results are bad if you thought you were being good to your body by opting for a granola bar over sugary chocolate ice cream in a cone. And couscous - also promoted as a health food for years - scores lower than bacon - which has previously been linked to cancer. The team at Tufts University in Boston spent three years looking at more than 8,000 foods and drinks, from melon to a McDonald's, and used cutting-edge science to rank them according to 54 different attributes. They say they have created the most comprehensive system to date to assess the nutrition content of what we eat.

Polio may have been circulating in New York as far back as April, the CDC revealed Tuesday. In a new report, the agency reveals that the virus has been detected in wastewater sampling 21 times between Rockland and Orange counties. Last week, New York City officials confirmed they had detected the virus as well. The investigation comes after a Rockland County man suffered a confirmed case of polio in June - the nation's first in nearly a decade.

WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT. Mary Bentley, from Dallas, Texas (pictured), was having a routine skin check-up with her dermatologist last month, when they noticed a 'discoloured' mark on her scalp (inset). A biopsy revealed that the 34-year-old's unusual patch of skin was melanoma - the most dangerous type of skin cancer. Surgeons had to cut away at the top of her head while she was awake, leaving a large gaping hole, the size of a golf ball, which revealed the top of her skull. Tests showed that the operation was successful and the stay-at-home mother was given the all-clear to go home that night, after her skin was stapled back together. Pictured: Mrs Bentley with her husband (right) before the procedure, and (left) after the operation.

Some 29million older and vulnerable Britons are in line to receive Moderna's new Omicron-targeting jab from next month, officials announced yesterday. It was approved yesterday by the medicine's watchdog and Pfizer's similar offering is expected to be accepted 'in the next few weeks'. Officials want to rollout the new jabs as default, with the companies' original vaccines given at surgeries and pharmacies that have run out. But doctors have warned rising costs and staff shortages mean they have 'serious concerns' they will be able to deliver jabs while continuing their day jobs.

The youngster (left), from Rzeszow in Poland, has a congenital defect that meant around a fifth of her skull did not form properly at the back of her head. It was missed during pregnancy scans and only noticed by doctors when she was born in February. The missing occipital bone left her brain exposed at the back which, if left untreated, would have left her susceptible to infections that would almost certainly have proved deadly. Doctors were able to patch her up using skin and soft tissue from other parts of her body in an extremely delicate two-hour procedure. The operation was possible because medics were able to visualise and practice using an exact 3D-printed replica of the child's head (right).

Hannah Hickinbotham, 25, from Cambridge, began her first job during Covid and suffered because of the isolation caused by working from home. She then developed an eating disorder she had suffered in her late teens and needed to see her GP for a prescription for antibiotics.

Researchers in China examined patterns in hobbies and cases of the memory-robbing condition among 2.1million people. The findings show that those who engage in mental tasks - such as reading, writing and even watching TV - were a quarter less likely to receive a dementia diagnosis. Meanwhile, staying active reduced the risk by a fifth and meeting up with others lowered the likelihood by a tenth.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which quizzed thousands of Britons on their lifestyle, found that just three in 10 (30 per cent) rated their happiness as 'very high' in the first three months of the year. The figure is lower than some points in the pandemic, when a third (34 per cent) reported high happiness. Positivity levels peaked at 34 per cent around the original 'Freedom Day' in July 2021 - when the final Covid restrictions from the previous winter were eased.

'Virtual wards' where hospital patients are cared for at home, more 999 call handlers, and a £10million funding boost for mental health support services are just some of NHS plans ahead of winter. Health bosses want to create the 'equivalent of 7,000 more beds' within the next four months with 2,500 of them coming in the form of 'virtual wards'. This involve using mobile apps and and gadgets that can check oxygen and blood pressure remotely. The proposals came as part of a raft of measures unveiled by NHS England today as part of winter resilience plan. It follows figures yesterday that showed emergency departments are at breaking point - with almost 30,000 people waiting 12-plus hours in A&E a day. NHS data for July also showed the average ambulance wait for heart attack and stroke victims surpassed 59 minutes for only the second time ever. The NHS average target for such emergencies is 18 minutes. Ambulance waits for the most serious 999 calls last month hit a record high of nine-and-a-half minutes. The target is seven minutes. It also took an average of 64 seconds for desperate Britons to get through to a 999 call handler last month. NHS bosses announced today they will recruit extra 999 call handlers and expand volunteer numbers in the health service to help meet this level of demand.

EXCLUSIVE: The viral TikTok phenomenon sees women put a small amount of vaginal fluid behind their ears and on their necks with the hope of attracting men. Doctors have warned against doing it because putting dirty fingers inside the vagina could cause infections including thrush and bacterial vaginosis. Dr Paraskevi Dimitriadi, a gynaecologist at the Centre for Surgery in London, told MailOnline it could also damage the vagina and cause pelvic inflammatory disease - an infection that can lead to problems with fertility.

The UK Health Security Agency today confirmed that London has logged 116 poloviruses from 19 sewage samples since February, with at least one positive sample in eight north east boroughs - Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest. In response to the outbreak, the UKHSA announced that the 900,000 one to nine-year-olds in Greater London will be offered a booster poliovirus vaccine within the next month to increase protection against paralysis and help reduce the spread. Health chiefs noted that the risk to the public is low because most people are already protected from vaccinations given in childhood. However, uptake rates are some of the lowest in the country in the boroughs where the virus is spreading (shown in maps). The virus was first detected at Beckton Sewage Works, which covers 4million people in North East London in February (top right). It lives in the throat and intestines for up to six weeks, with patients most infectious from seven to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms (bottom right).

Camile Seaton, 20, is one of a few women in America to have had a confirmed case of monkeypox. She described the infection as incredibly painful - so bad it was an '87' on a scale from one-to-10. Seaton has now mostly recovered from her infection but has still been unable to return to work and her daughter, 3, is yet to return home. Experts have warned that while the virus mainly affects gay and bisexual men - it has already spread into other groups.

Covid and its lockdowns have upended how Britons spend their time, official data suggests, with people now spending more time exercising, having fun, and gardening than pre-pandemic. As more people continue to work from home and cut out the daily commute, they've also found more time for gardening, DIY and housework. But questions about productivity remain, as time spent watching TV, reading books and playing video games is up but studying is down. The way people use their time each day has been studied since 2014/15 in the UK by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the latest figures up to March 2022, when most Covid restrictions were lifted.

The latest Office for National Statistics data shows around 625,000 live births were logged in the two nations in 2021. But 321,000 of these were outside of marriage or a civil partnership, while 304,000 were within one. It means just 48.7 per cent of newborns were to a legal couple, falling below the 50 per cent threshold for the first time since records began in 1845. The rate has been trending downwards for the last century.

It emerged today that police officers in England and Wales are being forced to pick up the health service's workload, with armed officers showing up to treat cardiac arrest patients. Officers in armed response vehicles, who are trained in first aid and defibrillators, are being pulled away from tackling crime to attend cardiac arrest patients because the NHS 'can't cope with demand'. Ambulance performance has plunged to a record low this year (left). Health Secretary Steve Barclay (right) called for bold decisions to be made now, before Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss are appointed as Prime Minister next month, or it will be 'too late' to save struggling hospitals.

A new study finds that exposure to 'forever chemicals' on many household goods can significantly increase a person's liver cancer risk. Researchers at USC found that those who were most exposed were up to 4.5 times more likely to develop the cancer. Data on forever chemicals is relatively new, and there is a growing body of evidence showing they are more dangerous that previously believed. Earlier this year, the EPA slashed the appropriate level of forever chemical exposure by more than 99%.

At the age of 54 Catherine Simpson (pictured) was told that she had to stop taking her HRT. The UK-based writer was diagnosed with breast cancer that thrived on oestrogen. She explains how she felt bereft when told to come off her hormone replacements

Danielle Watts (top right), 42, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, pulled out more than a dozen of her own teeth because she was unable to see a dentist for six years and had severe gum disease. The mother-of-two squeezed out the teeth after they 'started dying off one by one' last year because none of the dental practices in her four neighbouring towns were taking on new patients. Carlton Hill (left), 28, from Swansea, Wales, had to rip out parts of his back molar with pliers after the crown shattered, leaving just an exposed root behind. Others have found it cheaper to fly all the way to the Czech Republic for basic dental cleaning rather than have to pay for private work in the UK because they unable to get appointments on the NHS.

Boston University academics said the presence of larger models like Ashley Graham (left) and Jordyn Woods (right) could be increasing demand for bum lifts and breast implants. The study of 169 women compared social media presence and body measurements across plus-sized and traditional models. It found there was no significant difference between the likes, comments and posts among both groups, indicating an increased coverage of curvier models. As a result, lead researcher Dr Neelam Vashi, a dermatologist at Boston University, said: 'Plastic surgeons may see an increased interest in procedures, including breast and buttock augmentation, that embrace a curvaceous plus size body type.'

Do you feel like you're drowning? These haunting words, in a social media post struck a chord with Paula Rastrick (pictured left). The advert, from a private clinic specialising in menopause treatment, seemed to list all her problems: anxiety, insomnia, fatigue and lack of sex drive, to name a few. The psychotherapist and mother-of-one, then 45, had begun to feel like she was slipping under. Could her hormones also be to blame? The 30-minute consultation a few weeks later was short and to the point: the doctor said Paula was perimenopausal, the stage before the menopause when a woman is still fertile and having periods but levels of the female hormone oestrogen become erratic, triggering symptoms. She should start on HRT patches and tablets immediately. That appointment in February 2017 marked the start of a year-long ordeal that Paula is still struggling to come to terms with - one that saw her symptoms worsen, her mental health deteriorate to the point of breakdown and her marriage almost collapse.

Disabled Britons are being forced to move to the opposite end of the country from their family and support networks due to a national shortage of accessible homes. Among the cases uncovered by The Mail on Sunday is a 52-year-old paraplegic man who had to close down his business when he had no choice but to move to a bungalow more than 100 miles from his home in Essex. And a 28-year-old woman with learning disabilities and a history of self-harm who needed round-the-clock care was moved from Birmingham, where she lived with her family, to Hertfordshire. Now her residential care home has been threatened with closure and she faces being shunted to Scotland. The disruption has left her increasingly anxious and her carers fear she is a danger to herself. Meanwhile, one profoundly disabled boy has been left traumatised after his parents were faced with a move from London to Birmingham - taking him away from his special needs primary school. Pictured: Mike Nevin and his wife Mary (pictured) had to move more than 300 miles to find a house that was accessible and in their price range.

One in three doctors and nurses who joined the NHS in England last year were recruited from overseas, raising concerns the health service is becoming over-reliant on foreign recruits. Data from NHS Digital show the share of healthcare staff recruited from overseas almost doubled between 2014 and 2021, according to an analysis by the BBC. Several unions said it was a sign the NHS is leaning on foreign recruits to plug staffing issues as they issued fresh calls for the Government to tackle the workforce crisis. The analysis found 34 per cent of doctors who joined the health service in 2021 came from overseas, with India, Pakistan, and Nigeria the most popular countries. This is almost double the proportion of overseas recruits in 2015, when the figure was just 18 per cent. The Government has played down the rise, saying foreign recruitment has always been part of its workforce strategy. In total, 39,558 UK trained doctors and nurses joined the NHS in 2020-21, which is about 3,200 more than in 2014-15.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show 2.1million were getting infected on any given day in the week up to July 26 in England, down 20 per cent on the 2.6million the week before. It is the second week in a row cases have dropped, in what appears to be the end of the wave caused by the BA.5 Omicron subvariant. Experts hailed the 'continued decreases in all regions and age groups in England', with infections also dropping in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dr Gail Milligan, a partner at Camberley Health Centre in Surrey (inset), was found dead in woodland by a search team last week after she had been missing for nearly 24 hours. Her husband, Christopher, wrote on Facebook that 'the unbearable pressure of her job finally got to her', adding: 'We are in no doubt that the job made her ill.' He originally shared the message in a Facebook group but it has since been widely shared on Twitter after he gave permission for it to be made public.

Members of the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Scottish National Party called on Health Secretary Steve Barclay to stop the monkeypox outbreak in Britain. They told the Health Secretary the virus is 'causing real fear and anxiety' for LGBT people and demanded more vaccines are bought and better communication is provided. The UK recorded another 202 cases of monkeypox on Monday, taking the country's total to 2,759 since the outbreak began in May. Most of cases seen so far across the globe have been in gay and bisexual men, with the virus usually only spotted in west and central Africa.

Jessie Jane O'Brien, 31, from Rossendale, Lancashire, tried countless diets but couldn't maintain her weight loss. At 23st (left) she had a gastric bypass on the NHS, but was left with saggy skin. She splashed out on surgery including a tummy tuck, liposuction, various lifts including back and breast along with implants, ahead of her 30th birthday and finally feels confident at 10st 6lbs (centre and right).

EXCLUSIVE: While training the muscles and increasing stamina are both essential, as well as limitless determination, other physical traits put some sportspeople at an advantage. With the Commonwealth Games heating up in Birmingham, Dr Adam Hawkey from Solent University has revealed exactly how they may play a part in who gets a podium finish. Speaking to the MailOnline, he said: 'According to some research, innate factors crucial to sporting performance - such as power, strength, aerobic capacity, flexibility and coordination - are predominantly determined by our genetic make-up.' Dr Hawkey, an Associate Professor of Sports Science and Human Performance, suggested that swimmers benefit from a long body and short legs, so their centre of mass is further up their body and helps to reduce drag. Many weightlifters may have an armspan shorter than their height, as it means they have less distance to cover when moving the bar. While lawn bowlers could possess an above average hand size, as this gives them better control of the ball.

Experts warned in the Journal of the American Heart Association that social isolation and loneliness can raise a person's risk of heart disease and stroke 30%. Being lonely can cause a person to suffer more stress, increasing their risk of heart issues overall. Isolation is also linked to increased inflammation around the body - damaging other functions. Gen Z has been named America's loneliest generation by health experts - an unusual claim for a younger age group.

The woman from Narita, Japan, saw the pinpoint dot-like rash spread from her arms and legs to her trunk, palms and soles of her feet. It only cleared up after she was put on a two-week course of antibiotics. Testing revealed she had Japanese spotted fever. More than 300 cases of this disease are recorded annually in Japan, where it is native. The CDC warns it could also be detected in the U.S. in travelers who have recently returned to the country.

A record 4,859 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2021 in England and Wales according to a report from the Office of National Statistics, with a seven-fold rise in cocaine deaths (left). The overall toll is the highest since records began in 1993 with death rates highest in North West of England (top right).The ONS said the overall rising trend over the past decade has been driven primarily by deaths involving opiates, but fatalities involving other substances such as cocaine and new psychoactive substances had also seen 'significant' rises in the last 12 months. Deaths from cocaine soared to 840 last year, an 8.1 per cent rise on 2020's figure and a seven-fold increase from the 112 recorded in 2011. ONS statisticians said cocaine's rising death toll is likely a direct consequence of rising use of the drug among people in England and Wales in recent years as the purity of the drug has increased whilst the price has dropped. Britons snort about 117 tonnes of cocaine per year, with the market for the illegal drug estimated to be worth more than £25.7million a day. Cocaine has become increasingly easy to access in the UK with some users reporting they can get the drug delivered to them with 30 minutes, less time than it takes to order a pizza. ONS data also shows fatalities from 'designer' pills that work similar to the anti-anxiety drug Valium, but can be up to 40 times stronger, have also risen sharply (bottom right), with 155 deaths recorded last year, more than triple the death toll from the year before. The ONS's figures cover drug abuse and dependence, fatal accidents, suicides and complications involving controlled and non-controlled drugs, prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Housework and exercise - they both feel like a chore for most of us, especially as we get older. But a study this week found regularly hoovering, ironing, and taking out the rubbish in middle and older age can lower your risk of dementia. Those who did the housework most often were a fifth less likely to be struck down with the cruel memory-robbing disorder than those who did the least. It came after researchers in February found that strenuous gardening was just as beneficial for fending off an early death as hundreds of push-ups, sit-ups or squats every week. Researchers believe putting a bit of oomph into housework acts like a form of exercise - not only for the body but also for the mind. Maintaining both is crucial for fending off dementia. We know that as we get older we tend to move less. So, MailOnline has compiled a list of six ways to turn mundane chores into mini-workouts - and it's been backed by experts.

The above shows how almost every state in America has now detected monkeypox. Scientists told DailyMail.com that this showed the date the virus was first detected in each state and in what numbers, but that it had likely been circulating for 'some time' beforehand. They pointed to anecdotal reports from Spain suggesting people were presenting with symptoms as early as February, or three months before the disease was confirmed. There are growing signs in the U.S. that the runaway outbreak - with hundreds of cases being detected every day - may now be spreading to more vulnerable groups. Five cases have now been detected in children and one in a pregnant woman, both of whom are more at risk from the virus should they catch it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been repeatedly slammed for its slow response.

Derek Cornelius (left), 71, from West Parley, Dorset, was given months to live after doctors first found the 22lb tumour at Royal Bournemouth Hospital last October. His stomach had started to grow so big he looked pregnant at the start of 2021 but blood tests by his GP did not pick up on the cancer. Doctors operated in December and he survived, despite losing a kidney, with the tumour completely removed.

Under the Covid recovery plan, former Health Secretary Sajid Javid said no one in England would be waiting more than 24 months for hospital care, such as hip and knee operations, by July. But Health Minister Maria Caulfield (top right) has admitted that 'a small number of patients' were still waiting beyond two years by the end of last month. Pictured: two year waiters (left) and total backlog (bottom right).

Trusts in England are beginning to publicly declare the number of patients who have been left waiting over 12 hours from entering an emergency department. Regularly published NHS England statistics show trusts logged 5,309 12-hour waits between them during their most recent collection period. But the new more in-depth data reveal the true toll was closer to the 34,000 mark over the same timespan (left). One per cent of all A&E attendees now face a 12-hour wait (bottom right). Campaigners warned the 'apocalyptic' figures show the 'real state' of the country's overwhelmed emergency care service, which has seen performance standards fall to an all-time low (top right).