Do you have a Vitamin D deficiency?

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.

The war with Bacchus

On 17 January 1920, America officially "dried up". It wasn't a shortage of water or a prolonged drought, but a law banning the sale, transport, and commercial production of alcohol.

Can too much salt (really) affect your health?

Could it be true? Are we eating too much salt? Is too much salt dangerous or beneficial?

COVID-19: Rehearsal for the big surprise

There has been a lot of speculation in the online environment about COVID-19 and the end of the world, but the connection between the two is more subtle than it first appears. It has been suggested that the pandemic is only the tip of the iceberg, that it is one of the seven last plagues of Revelation, or that it is the fourth...

Vaping: New war, same enemy

Breathing is an act most of us take for granted, and there seems to be plenty of oxygen to go around. Yet, according to the World Health Organization, the use of e-cigarettes (aka vaping) has been on a steady incline during the last few years.

Protect yourself from the infodemic. Which doctors give us reliable information about COVID-19?

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the coronavirus, an "infodemia" is spreading, as described by the World Health Organization (WHO). The overabundance of information, some false or incomplete, about the virus, about its origin and effects, as well as the measures taken by the authorities to combat the pandemic reduce people’s chances of finding reliable information about COVID-19 and the advice...

Generation ”couch potatoes”

What you're doing, right now, at this very moment, is killing you. More than cars or the Internet or even that little mobile device we keep talking about, the technology you're using the most almost every day is this: your tush. Nowadays people are sitting 9.3 hours a day, which is more than we're sleeping, at 7.7 hours. Sitting is so incredibly prevalent,...

”The coronavirus has been anything but a great equalizer.” The impact of COVID-19 on the world’s poor

A famine of biblical scale is already looming on the horizon, says David Beasley, director of the World Food Program. More than 30 developing countries could be affected by the scourge – 1 million people are already affected. It's not just people going to bed hungry, Beasley insists, explaining that it's a state of emergency where outside help is the only hope.

COVID-19: Inequality and the pandemic

When confronted with the pandemic, we are anything but equals.

A sharp mind at the age of 100

Growing old is inevitable, but experiencing a significant cognitive decline isn’t. An encouraging piece of news uncovered by several studies that focus on people in their old age suggests that changing one’s lifestyle could increase the chances of having a sharp mind up until the age of 100.

The things we suffer from are not the things that define us

At 28, the world was hers. Ellie Finch Hulme was engaged to the man of her dreams, and a lifetime of experience lay before her, like an open field in which one could run freely in any direction. Then came the diagnosis.

Memory training: The allies we have in the fight against forgetfulness

Memory training is often the only difference between people with impressive memorization skills and those with average memory, researchers suggest. However, the long-term results intersect with a healthy life and learning style.

Breathe deep: An interview on vaping with Professor Renee Bittoun

Our brain develops, unfortunately, a quirky response to nicotine. It shouldn’t really be there. It shouldn’t be in your breath, let alone you reacting to it, let alone you smoking anything or vaping anything. We shouldn’t even be near it.

How lethal is COVID-19, and other (un)answered questions

There have now been over 12 million cases of COVID-19 infection globally, and half a million deaths. Researchers are constantly looking for new and better information to reduce the uncertainty around the virus.

COVID-19: Should we care about the environment in the midst of an economic crisis?

Our planet may be fittingly compared to the 1994 film, Speed: A bomb is planted on a bus and rigged to explode when the bus slows to less than 80 kilometres per hour. The bus barrels through Los Angeles, hitting obstacles and endangering the lives of passengers and pedestrians until a solution is found.