Portfolio: Health, Wellbeing & Medicine
Why are you so tired all the time? Could your mystery symptom be a sign of cancer? Are you looking after your heart well enough? Is there anything you can do to reduce your risk of dementia? Is your itchy skin something you need to take seriously? How can you treat your health problems without going to a doctor? What is the perfect fitness routine for your personality?
I enjoy covering a huge range of health topics, and I’m as comfortable writing about mental health and general wellbeing as surgery and medicine.
New Year, New You?
I am embracing neither Veganuary nor Dry January. But I am trying to be more mindful about what I eat and drink. This is a time of year when we are naturally more hibernatory and reflective creatur...
3 of the best anti-ageing strategies
Goldie Hawn was featured in The Times last weekend, and she looked AMAZING! I had to press my face closer to check I wasn’t imagining it: she really was a 73 year old woman with no sign of a wri...
How to be more focused
My favourite newspaper feature this week: Peta Bee’s interview with Chris Bailey in The Times, Thursday 30th August. Bailey is the 29 year old Canadian behind Hyperfocus: How to Work Less and Ach...
Could you spot the signs of a heart attack?
It may seem impossible that you could have a heart attack and not know it. Yet a disturbing study recently found that early warning signs had been missed in one in six people who later died in Engl...
Is walking the best exercise you can do?
Walk the dog, jump off your bus two stops early, and leg it up the stairs instead of taking the lift… We’re all being urged to get to our feet to boost our health and work off excess pounds –...
How do you know if you have a thyroid problem?
You’re probably not that familiar with your thyroid gland. But, behind the scenes, this is the little powerhouse that controls your metabolism, regulating your energy, body temperature and weight...
Is veganism really good for your health?
There are many reasons to turn vegan – but is better health really one of them? Giving up animal produce and loading up on plant-based foods… It’s good for the planet and great for your consc...
What is Kangaroo Care for your baby?
Kangaroo care or Skin to Skin Contact is one of the best things you can give your newborn… This blog is taken from a piece I wrote for Water Wipes… Baby love… Skin-to-skin contact will help y...
What can your face reveal about your health – and how can your diet improve your looks and wellbeing?
If you want to know what’s really going on in your body, take a good long look in the mirror… Your face reveals all sorts of secrets about your health according to the nutritionist and naturopa...
Are you thinking of giving up gluten?
Gluten-free is all the rage – but is it a food fad that you really need to follow? This blog is adapted from a feature I wrote for Woman’s Own magazine. Know your enemy Think back to the last t...
What’s causing your high blood pressure?
Hypertension – high blood pressure – is a subject that I often find myself writing about. It raises our risk of stroke, heart disease, and dementia and is something we should all be taking se...
Is it better to sleep naked?
Ditch the winter wynceyette – you’ll sleep better in the buff… That was the argument I made in this feature for My Weekly (link to pdf) – but, of course, the truth, as was soon to be establ...
What happens when you have a stroke?
Of all the health conditions I’ve covered, I think stroke has got to be the most terrifying. The prospect of being left permanently paralysed, disfigured, or unable to communicate is mind bogglin...
When is the best time of day to moisturise your skin?
Morning, night, or both? Does it make any difference what time of day you apply your moisturiser? Yes! So says Dr Michaela Arens-Corell of the skin care company Sebamed. In this fun health feature ...
Cancer myths – sorting fact from fiction
Can your tight bra cause cancer? Will dyeing your hair put you at risk? Is sugar really fuel for cancer cells? In this feature I explored the truths and myths about cancer. One fact is sure: 50% of...
Is tiny handwriting a warning sign of Parkinson’s disease?
Take a look at your old diaries and letters… Was your handwriting once much bigger than it is now? If so, your shrinking scrawls could be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease. So I was told by ...
Can diet help you reverse type 2 diabetes?
Interviewing Dr Michael Mosley recently, I was inspired to discover that he has reversed his type 2 diabetes with a fairly simple change of diet. Michael, whose best-selling book The Fast Diet (wri...
Is there a cure for ME – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Over the years I’ve interviewed many people with ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Usually their treatment has focused on managing their symptoms and pacing themselves to maintain their energy leve...
Does my age affect my fertility?
When I first started writing about women with fertility problems, a quarter of a century ago, I was told by the fertility expert Professor Robert Winston that a woman’s chances of getting pregnan...
Are you at risk of hearing loss?
Six years ago I was introduced to Emma whose hearing problem went undiagnosed until her 30s. Ironically, while writing Emma’s story, I started to realise that my own hearing was not 100 per cent....
Considering becoming an organ donor?
If you live in Wales you are now considered to have agreed to donate your organs after death unless you have taken steps to opt out. In England you still have to actively opt-in – by joining the ...
Are you at risk of osteoporosis?
Fifty is the magic number… After this age you have 50-50 chance of developing osteoporosis. Your genes, lifestyle choices, and medical history can all contribute to your risk. After your menopaus...
What’s causing your headaches?
It’s shocking to think that migraine – affecting one in seven people in the UK – costs the nation more than £2billion a year. But even more astounding is the realisation that many of these f...
Is there a cure for your cold?
Officially there is no cure for the common cold… But I swear by the herbal remedy Echinacea. At the first sign of a tingle in my throat I will reach for A. Vogel’s Echinaforce Sore Throat Spray...
What does stress do to your body?
A dry mouth, racing heart and tummy ache… They’re all signs that you’re going into fight or flight mode. There’s no saber-toothed tiger in sight – but your body doesn’t know it. That tr...
Are you younger than your chronological age?
You may also be interested in... Turning 50! Are you at risk of osteoporosis? Is it faux depression? Considering becoming an organ donor? Cancer myths – sorting fact from fiction What can...
Is there a downside to combining prescription drugs?
Will taking medicine for one problem lead to you developing something else needing yet another drug? It’s something we all worry about when we read the litany of potential side effects on our pat...
Sweet dreams are made of this…
Lavender in my bath, Melissa on my pillow… You can see where this is going. I – who like to think of myself as one of the world’s best sleepers – am having trouble sleeping at night. Like m...
Turning 50!
The Times recently reported that 50 is the age at which people start to think about their own mortality. Not really very surprising news, but someone went to the trouble of commissioning an opinion...
So spa, so good…
My name’s Karen and I am a spa junkie. There – I’ve come clean and fessed up. I love being pummeled by jet sprays and slow cooked in saunas and steam rooms. And I have no trouble submitting t...
The truth about painkillers
I’m scratching my head to remember the last time I had to take a painkiller… Oh yes – it was on holiday in August in Roquebrune Cap-Martin. We’d been on our feet all day, trying to fit ...
Oh I do like a little bit of butter on my bread…
I was raised on AA Milne’s The King’s Breakfast. I, like the King, preferred plain butter to marmalade on my bread. I still do… spreading it thickly on nasty old crusts to make them more pala...
Good night, sleep tight…
Apparently the national average of zzzzs has fallen to just 6.5 hours a night – and sleep researchers say that could be damaging our health more than if we skip a session in the gym. Getting that e...
Is it faux depression?
Where I live, the Thames riverside is gorgeous at the moment, lined with golden leafed trees. But let’s not forget that these are also a sign that we are in the season of melancholy – the time ...