"Women and men who regularly trim or remove all their pubic hair run a greater risk of sexually transmitted infections," BBC News reports. A survey of around 7,500 Americans, aged between 18 and 65 years, found "groomers" had a higher rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as herpes. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that
"People consuming at least 20 grams of nuts daily less likely to develop potentially fatal conditions such as heart disease and cancer," The Independent reports. That was the main finding of a review looking at 20 previous studies on the benefits of nuts. Researchers found consistent evidence that a 28 gram daily serving of nuts –
In 2014, Behind the Headlines has covered more than 500 health stories that made it into the mainstream media. If you’ve been paying attention you should find this quiz easy and fun. Why not test your knowledge of 2014’s health news with our month-by-month quiz? Answers are at the foot of the page (no peeking!).
"Parkinson’s disease ‘may start in gut’," BBC News reports. New research involving mice suggests that bacteria in the gut may lead to a greater decline in motor function in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The study involved a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. The researchers gave some of the mice gut bacteria from people with Parkinson’s disease,
"Aspirin a day could dramatically cut cancer and heart disease risk … study claims," the Mail Online reports. U.S. researchers ran a simulation of what might happen if all Americans over 50 years old took aspirin on a daily basis. Their results found that people would live about four months longer on average, adding 900,000
"Women who suffer a miscarriage should try for a baby again within six months, a major study has found," the Daily Mail reports. Current guidance from the World Health Organization recommends couples wait at least six months before trying to conceive again after a miscarriage. But the researchers decided to investigate the validity of this
"If you want to stave off death for as long as possible, you might want to reach for a tennis racquet," The Guardian reports. A study looking at the impact of individual sports on mortality found racquet sports reduced the risk of death by around 47%. Researchers also found reduced risks of death for people
"New brain scans reveal sleep deprivation damages children’s brains more than previously thought," the Mail Online reports. Researchers measured the brain activity of children whose sleep had been restricted by four hours and found some potentially worrying signs. The study included 13 children aged between five and 12 and compared the effects of a normal
"Nearly all costly add-on treatments offered by UK fertility clinics to increase the chance of a birth through IVF are not supported by high-quality evidence," BBC News reports, covering the findings of a review by experts in evidence-based medicine. IVF "add-ons" include a wide variety of treatments such as pre-implantation genetic screening, where the chromosomes of conceived
"Simply being at the bottom of the social heap directly alters the body," BBC News reports. The headline is based on a study in which researchers used female monkeys to simulate social hierarchies. Monkeys of low social status were found to have biomarkers indicating poor immune function and possible increased vulnerability to infection. The researchers
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