http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/the-ultimate-herbal-remedy-can-cannabis-improve-autism-1814756.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/the-ultimate-herbal-remedy-can-cannabis-improve-autism-1814756.html ]]> <p>My son, J, has autism. He's also had two serious operations for a spinal cord tumour and has an inflammatory bowel condition, all of which may be causing him pain, if he could tell us. He can say words, but many of them – "duck in the water, duck in the water", for instance – don't convey what he means. For a time, anti-inflammatory medication seemed to control his pain. But in the last year, it stopped working. He began to bite and to smack the glasses off my face. If you were in that much pain, you'd probably want to hit someone, too.</p> Features Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-scientists-can-be-as-irrational-about-drugs-as-the-rest-of-us-1813574.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-scientists-can-be-as-irrational-about-drugs-as-the-rest-of-us-1813574.html <p>The war of Nutt's mouth is warming up nicely. The Professor of Psychopharmacology from Bristol University – who until Friday was the Government's chief adviser on drugs – insisted on opening it, while Home Secretary Alan Johnson was determined to shut it. </p> Features Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/what-does-your-gp-really-think-of-his-patients-1813575.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/what-does-your-gp-really-think-of-his-patients-1813575.html ]]> <p>There is, says Phil Hammond, something missing from medicine. It is pleasure. Pleasure gets just two mentions in the Oxford Textbook of Medicine, and none whatever on the website of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). Doctors rarely tell patients to pleasure themselves, for fear of getting struck off, but something a little less directive might actually improve all our lives.</p> Features Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/beach-body-babylon-cosmetic-surgery-on-the-queensland-coast-1813060.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/beach-body-babylon-cosmetic-surgery-on-the-queensland-coast-1813060.html ]]> <p>Breast implants are arrayed in neat rows on top of a cabinet in Pamela Noon's sun-drenched office on Australia's Gold Coast. She picks up two and weighs them, one in each hand, like a market trader showing off a couple of ripe melons. One, now obsolete, contains saline liquid; the other, a contemporary model, is filled with silicone gel.</p> Features Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/moments-in-medicine-podcast-the-500year-old-medicine-chest-1811428.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/moments-in-medicine-podcast-the-500year-old-medicine-chest-1811428.html ]]> <p> In this edition of Moments in Medicine, reporter Dylan Winter joins Rear Admiral John Lippiet and Andy Elkerton from the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth to investigate a 500 year old medicine chest. </p> Features Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:47 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jennie-bristow-stand-up-to-supernanny-1811427.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jennie-bristow-stand-up-to-supernanny-1811427.html <p> Before I had children, I was bothered that politicians today have an unhealthy interest in lecturing people about how they conduct their personal lives – what they eat, how much they drink, whether they take enough exercise, and so on. </p> Features Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:07:16 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/yohei-sasakawa-leprosy-also-requires-a-social-cure-1810151.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/yohei-sasakawa-leprosy-also-requires-a-social-cure-1810151.html <p> Earlier this month, Father Damien was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. This religious and spiritual ceremony was an opportunity to reflect on Father Damien's life and the lives of those with whom he is most closely associated - people affected by leprosy. </p> Features Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:40:35 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-my-niece-had-worldclass-emergency-care-ndash-but-now-what-1809846.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-my-niece-had-worldclass-emergency-care-ndash-but-now-what-1809846.html <p>Friday 18 September, a warm, dry afternoon and a motorcyclist is cruising down the M3 at 70mph. Her name is Cathy, she is wearing a full-face helmet and expensive black leathers and she happens to be my niece. Then – bam – a car slams into her from behind and she is tumbling and rolling down the tarmac at 65mph. Seconds later she comes to rest against the central reservation and her bike slides in neatly beside her. </p> Features Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/two-of-a-kind-the-donor-babies-who-are-all-ours-1809847.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/two-of-a-kind-the-donor-babies-who-are-all-ours-1809847.html ]]> <p>Last month, Nicola and Nigel Dawson played host to a rowdy collection of friends, family, and babies. The party gathered to attend the naming ceremony, and celebrate the first birthday, of the Dawsons' twin daughters, Mia and Hannah. Like virtually every parent on their child's first birthday, Nicola and Nigel were brimming with pride. "We still look at them every day and can't believe it. They mean the world to us."</p> Features Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/breast-cancer-how-to-reduce-your-risk-1809862.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/breast-cancer-how-to-reduce-your-risk-1809862.html ]]> <p>The fear of breast cancer is a source of persistent anxiety for many women alongside a fatalistic feeling that, short of radical surgery, there's little if anything that can be done to reduce the risk of this frightening disease.</p> Features Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/the-top-50-websites-and-blogs-for-parents-1807067.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/the-top-50-websites-and-blogs-for-parents-1807067.html ]]> <p> With so many websites and blogs out there, and so little time to look through them all, we decided to give you a helping hand. </p> Features Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:08:52 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/ten-ways-to-beat-the-winter-blues-1806001.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/ten-ways-to-beat-the-winter-blues-1806001.html ]]> <p> As the days draw in, the temperature plunges and daylight takes on the greyish hue of winter, it’s hardly surprising that some of us will be feeling a bit down in the dumps. </p> Features Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:53:56 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/neil-patrick-observing-zambias-aids-crisis-1806013.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/neil-patrick-observing-zambias-aids-crisis-1806013.html <p> Six o’clock in the morning at Lusaka International Airport and the flight from London disgorges its load onto the already hot tarmac. </p> Africa Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:36:51 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/can-we-learn-from-american-schools-1805587.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/can-we-learn-from-american-schools-1805587.html ]]> <p>This time two years ago, my daughter Rosie was getting used to life as a "kindergartener" in an American elementary school. This was actually the second time she'd begun her education. The first time had been the September before, when, aged four-and-a-half, she'd started at the reception class of a West Country primary school. </p> Features Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-last-goodbyes-that-keep-our-loved-ones-memories-alive-1805588.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-last-goodbyes-that-keep-our-loved-ones-memories-alive-1805588.html <p>I had never seen human ash until Sunday morning, when my brother-in-law shook a small part of Grandma out of the green plastic urn into the lid and handed it to his sister, my wife. It was much grittier than I expected. My first thought, which I guiltily suppressed, was that it looked like the Growmore I scatter on the roses each spring. Then I thought: could there be a better one-word epitaph for grandparents?</p> Features Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/longdistance-walking-iron-in-the-soles-1805596.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/longdistance-walking-iron-in-the-soles-1805596.html ]]> <p>This is the maddest thing you can do to yourself ever. It turns your feet into bleeding stumps, your muscles into concrete and your brain into oatmeal. In the last five minutes, you've pictured yourself in a taxi, just to torture yourself; in your mind's eye, you're having a hot shower and someone is waiting to hand you a fluffy towel and a pair of cashmere socks.</p> Features Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeweller-jade-randeria-now-ive-a-chance-to-shine-1805599.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeweller-jade-randeria-now-ive-a-chance-to-shine-1805599.html ]]> <p>A stunning woman in her early 20s models a gold bauble crystal bracelet, and another made of silver flowers. She appears every inch the chiconomic dresser, someone appropriating couture style at cost price. Her trendy exterior, however, belies the complexity of her life. </p> Features Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/energy-drinks-do-they-work-1805598.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/energy-drinks-do-they-work-1805598.html ]]> <p>Sales of soft drinks have, like most non-essential items, been decreasing since the credit crunched. But it seems our appetite for stimulating energy drinks such as Red Bull, Rockstar and Relentless, is, well, relentless. The energy and sports drink market continues to thrive, with 484 million litres drunk in the UK last year, according to a report by consumer research group Mintel last month.</p> Features Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/big-think-is-the-human-life-span-accelerating-faster-than-people-age-1805536.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/big-think-is-the-human-life-span-accelerating-faster-than-people-age-1805536.html <p> At a certain point in time - perhaps sooner than most people think - the ever-increasing average human lifespan will begin accelerating faster than people age. This moment, according to anti-aging expert <a target="_blank" href="http://bigthink.com/aubreydegrey">Aubrey de Grey</a>, will be more important than the Singularity - when the human race achieves this “longevity escape velocity,” we will essentially become immortal. </p> Features Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:12:19 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/on-your-bike-what-the-world-can-learn-about-cycling-from-copenhagen-1803227.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/on-your-bike-what-the-world-can-learn-about-cycling-from-copenhagen-1803227.html ]]> <p> Gordon Brown is not known for his cheery disposition, but even he might crack a smile at the sight of a mother pedalling three grinning children to school by cargo-bike in Copenhagen. The Prime Minister will be visiting the Danish capital – where such scenes of urban pragmatism are normal – during the UN Climate Change Conference, which takes place from 7-18 December. </p> Features Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/moments-in-medicine-podcast-forensics---the-real-life-csi-1803903.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/moments-in-medicine-podcast-forensics---the-real-life-csi-1803903.html ]]> <p> In the second in our series of podcasts from Oxford Brookes University, Lizz Pearson investigates the origins of modern forensic medicine. </p> Features Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:56:47 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-what-you-should-know-before-you-pop-a-vitamin-pill-1801672.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/jeremy-laurance-what-you-should-know-before-you-pop-a-vitamin-pill-1801672.html <p>Absolute and total health excellence, every day, forever," it says on the front of the pack of vitamin pills sitting on my desk – the latest of the free gifties from the world of PR that always brighten my day. Actually, I preferred the real thing – a fresh lemon, newly waxed and polished, that arrived beautifully packaged in a square, red cardboard box last week advertising some cold remedy. I took it home and put it in my tea – delicious. </p> Features Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/doctors-cant-be-depressed-1801673.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/doctors-cant-be-depressed-1801673.html ]]> <p>Liz Miller was a doctor. Then she became a patient. No surprises there – people from all walks of life fall ill. But if you are a doctor it is different, and if it is a mental illness you are suffering from, it is doubly different. There is a sense that you have let the side down. When a doctor falls ill, the medical profession closes ranks and goes into collective denial. </p> Features Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/tinnitus-the-noise-that-annoys-1801750.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/tinnitus-the-noise-that-annoys-1801750.html ]]> <p>Eeeeeeeeee. Eee, eee, eee. Hmmmm. Ssssssss. Or maybe even whoooooosh. Irritating, aren't they? These are just some of the kinds of invasive noises experienced by people living with tinnitus, a condition characterised by ringing, buzzing, humming or whistling noises heard in one or both ears without any external source. </p> Features Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100