Poor sleep may undermine attempts to maintain weight loss, research has suggested.Millions of people who are overweight or obese manage to lose weight every year. But many often then face a struggle to keep the pounds creeping back.Now results from a randomised trial, which was conducted by the University of Copenhagen and presented at the…
Researchers are hoping to unleash a generation of smarter guide dogs by studying the cognitive behaviour of puppies and finding out who the clever boys and girls really are.Guide Dogs, the sight loss charity, will analyse the responses of eight-week-old puppies to see which ones best handle surprises, how they interact with human voices and…
Hundreds of thousands of cancer patients are putting their lives at risk by cutting back on meals, heating and other essentials as a result of the cost of living crisis, a charity has said.Macmillan Cancer Support said it was “hugely concerning” that large numbers of people living with the disease were having to resort to…
Children as young as between three and six years old are becoming the latest victims in a growing trend of self-generated child sexual abuse, a report from an internet safety watchdog has said.The Internet Watch Foundation said over a one month period it saw 51 examples of self-generated abuse imagery – where children are manipulated…
A woman has been convicted of manslaughter after her seven-year-old son died in Birmingham alone and “gasping for air” in a garden after suffering an asthma attack.Laura Heath “prioritised her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine”, leading to the neglect of Hakeem Hussain, who died in the Nechells area of the city on 26 November…
Scientists have discovered bacteria linked to aggressive prostate cancer in work hailed as a potential revolution for the prevention and treatment of the most deadly form of the disease.Researchers led by the University of East Anglia performed sophisticated genetic analyses on the urine and prostate tissue of more than 600 men with and without prostate…
For Grantly Dick-Read, the Victorian originator of the UK’s natural childbirth movement, birthing women in Britain should emulate those, as he phrased it, “of more primitive types”. In Natural Childbirth, 1933, he pictured one of these individuals disappearing into a “thicket” – it sounded plausible enough from Woking – to await her pain-free labour.“Natural birth…
My friend Maureen Lahiff, who has died aged 90 of pancreatic cancer, was a pioneering nurse leader and innovator in nurse education. Her strong Christian faith enabled her to come to terms with the death of both her sons.Maureen was born in Richmond, Surrey, younger sister of Margaret, and daughter of parents Catherine (nee Wale)…
My father-in-law, Mick May, who has died aged 63 of mesothelioma, spent the first 20 years of his professional life in financial services before realising his true passion for the voluntary sector, and co-founding the charitable enterprise Blue Sky. In the latter years of his life, Mick also added “author” to his list of accolades,…
A former medal-winning Paralympian footballer has been banned from being a trustee by the charities watchdog after an investigation found a disability sports charity he founded paid £1m raised by the public to companies run by him and his wife.The Charity Commission said Matt Dimbylow, 51, who represented the GB seven-a-side football team in the…
The father of a 23-year-old who died after running away from a mental health hospital by jumping over a fence said staff knew patients regularly absconded.Matthew Caseby died after being struck by a train in September 2020, having run away from the Priory hospital Woodbourne in Birmingham where he had been detained as a mental…
The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, has pressed ahead with the appointment of former Tory parliamentary candidate Orlando Fraser to chair the Charity Commission, despite his rejection by an MPs’ scrutiny committee.The news that Dorries had ignored the cross-party group of MPs to appoint Fraser was slipped out in a brief statement by the Department for…