John Walsh talks to Virginia Ironside about 20 years of answering your dilemmas

Climbing stairs is possibly the best and cheapest route to fitness ever invented. It's even a sport in its own right. Jane Taylor explains why we should give the lift a miss

The micro-scooter ‘fad’ has proved to be anything but. And now parental transport has gone wheely mad with the advent of the skatepram. Simon Usborne takes a ride to the school gates

Pfizer’s chemists stumbled upon it by accident. A happy chance that promised the earth for millions of men ... and delivered. This week, the brand loses its British patent, opening the door to rival providers, so Simon Usborne pays homage

How does a self-confessed rookie get ready for the London Triathlon? Sign up for a training camp in Greece, says Edmund Vallance

Her unbearable sadness after the death of her father first drew Genevieve Roberts to the yoga mat. It turned out to be the start of a life-changing journey

From divorce rates to the 'man shortage', there's little about love that can't be explained by market values, according to one economist. She explains her theories to Gillian Orr

Her book about facing life-threatening illness as a teenager is now given to every child who's diagnosed. It's Megan Blunt's tribute to all the friends who didn't make it, she tells Emily Jupp

Claire Hodgson used to think that insanity was rather romantic, until she admitted her mother – not a crazed genius or a troubled celebrity, but a broken and distressed housewife – into a psychiatric ward

Is your dad sick of socks? There’s no need to be stuck for ideas when buying a present for the most important man in your life.

When her son was 12, Mary Taylor helped him through the savageries of chemotherapy. So how does it feel to see him with children of his own?

A woman's friendship circle almost doubles when she has children, research shows. But bonding at the baby swings has pitfalls as well as pleasures, says Charlotte Philby

Rob and Paul Forkan survived the catastrophe in Sri Lanka – but both their parents died that day. Now they run a charity in their memory to help some of the world's poorest children

For the rich and famous it usually means a lavish party. But they're not alone in saying 'I (still) do', says Joanna Moorhead

The murder of her husband by al-Qa'ida shocked the world. But the bereavement inspired her work for peace and justice, she tells Simon Usborne