Health

The Colorado beetle that threatened the potato crop of the former GDR in 1950 might have been an American method of sabotage against the Eastern bloc. A sinister German plot might have been the cause of the Spanish flu. Perhaps AIDS emerged as a biological weapon developed by the United States and has been tested on prisoners and minorities. Every crisis humanity has...

Tueday, 31 March 2020, marked exactly three months since the World Health Organization, the Chinese office, was notified of incidences of pneumonia from an unknown cause. According to specialists from the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, we have not yet reached the peak of the pandemic in Europe. We hear about mild and asymptomatic cases, but also about many deaths globally.

Let me ask you a question: if a friend of yours or I were to stand in front of you today and ask, “Are you OK?” how would you respond? Could you, or would you, share how you really are? As a society, we seem to be becoming more and more aware of the mental health crisis we are in. On 8 September, Australia...

In developed countries, where the public debate on tobacco consumption has been so widespread that even those who had no desire for it were educated on the negative effects of smoking, the prevalence of this toxic habit dropped so drastically that it caused trouble for cigarette manufacturers.

Any large-scale phenomenon, such as a pandemic, activates our instinct to preserve our state of being—especially when we feel like we are losing it.

It was terrifying. They kept trying to comfort me by telling me they had the best surgeons. But they also said that I needed a new liver and that my body might reject it. – Christopher Herrera

Many certainties and convictions will be swept away. Many things that we thought were impossible are happening. The day after we have won, it will not be a return to the day before; we will be stronger morally.

Here’s a disturbing fact: Medical doctors have the highest suicide rate of any profession. It may be uncomfortable to read that in the USA nearly 400 doctors take their life every year. So how does a physician find assistance in a system that seems to be clearly failing its own? I sat down recently with Dr Charles, a fitness enthusiast, soccer fanatic and dad, to...

The latest global statistics on the incidence of depression indicate that more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from this disorder, out of the 7.6 billion people on the planet. This means that about 4% of the world’s population suffers from depression.

Although they are constantly improving their preparedness for crises and disasters, modern societies find themselves powerless in the face of a growing threat: transnational crises.

Lack of access to menstrual hygiene is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide among women. In the world, 1 in 3 girls faces the impossibility of ensuring adequate hygiene during menstruation, and many others face sometimes fatal arbitrary limitations imposed by culture.

Studies have increasingly shown that vitamin D, also known as the sun vitamin, plays a vital role in protecting the body from a number of chronic illnesses. It is important to know both the symptoms of a deficiency in vitamin D, and the valuable sources that can provide us with a daily healthy dose.

Most of the time, we tend to blame lack of sleep for our permanent fatigue. Yet other causes should be factored in, too. Addressing them could help us avoid or treat our constant feelings of tiredness.

Even in difficult times there are many things we can do at home to help children as well as teenagers to feel less worried.

One of the reasons quoted most often by those who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is the hypothesis that vaccines cause infertility.