Dentists also saw improvements in patients’ cholesterol and fatty acid levels, both associated with heart health If a looming root canal treatment is putting a dampener on the week, take heart: having the procedure can drive health benefits that are felt throughout the body, according to research. Patients who were successfully treated for root canal infections saw their blood sugar levels fall s

While every self-aware doctor knows no one is an expert on everything, the average person turning to the internet cannot distinguish evidence from gloss One of my children is irate at my deletion of an important school email. I claim that so many useless emails rain into my inbox that some useful ones will surely be missed. This excuse attracts zero sympathy but prompts me to comb through the hun

World’s largest scientific review warns consumption of UPFs poses seismic threat to global health and wellbeing Ultra-processed food (UPF) is linked to harm in every major organ system of the human body and poses a seismic threat to global health, according to the world’s largest review. UPF is also rapidly displacing fresh food in the diets of children and adults on every continent, and is assoc

The bursera plant’s leaves can squirt chemicals 1.5 metres, but over millions of years, some beetles have learned to disarm it Insects get a nasty surprise if they try biting into the leaves of bursera shrubs and trees: they use a sort of squirt gun to shoot a high-pressure stream of liquid resin at the attacking insect. This liquid is thoroughly repellent and poisonous, but for good measure the

Study from University of Oxford looks into evolutionary origins of kissing and its role in relations between species From Galápagos albatrosses to polar bears, chimpanzees to orangutans, certain species appear to kiss. Now researchers suggest Neanderthals did it too – and might even have locked lips with modern humans. It is not the first time scientists have suggested Neanderthals and early mode

This year’s flu season has begun more than a month earlier than usual, with a mutated strain spreading widely among younger people and expected to drive a wave of hospital admissions as it reaches the elderly. Science editor Ian Sample speaks to Madeleine Finlay about what we know so far and Prof Ed Hutchinson of the University of Glasgow explains how people can best protect themselves and each o

Decision over routine PSA testing is due at end of this month, though some feel the supporting data is unclear Junior Hemans was having a routine health check in 2014 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, at the age of 51. He knew there was an increased risk of the disease in black men so asked to have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which was not initially included. “And when I wen

Cetus, also known as the whale, is one of the faint constellations but you have a week to trace its outline This week, track down the constellation Cetus, variously referred to as the whale or sea monster. It is one of the faint constellations, but it sprawls across the sky, taking up roughly 1,230 square degrees, which makes it the fourth largest of the 88 modern constellations. Although it lack

More and more people are turning to egg freezing to increase their chances of becoming a parent. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering it – from the hidden costs to the chances of success When I first told my mother I was freezing my eggs, she asked: “So my grandchildren are going to be stored next to some Häagen-Dazs?” (Very funny, Mum.) I’m one of an increasing number of women in t

Once escapees from the pet trade, Los Angeles’s feral parrots have become a vibrant part of city life, and could even aid conservation in their native homelands A morning mist hung over the palm trees as birds chattered and cars roared by on the streets of Pasadena. It was a scene that evoked a tropical island rather than a bustling city in north-east Los Angeles county. “It feels parrot-y,” says