Inspiring Healthy Living

One paramedic today warned patients in Sheffield considered Category 3 - those suffering burns, diabetic problems or in late stage labour - were now waiting almost 24 hours for care. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3mJHJbg

The NHS is still yet to prominently display the update to guidance a week after the change was made. Ministers have slashed self-isolation to seven days for those that test negative for the virus. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3z99oHI

Africa Health Research Institute scientists found Omicron fighting antibody levels spiked 14-fold, but those against Delta also rose 4-fold. The tests were carried out in Durban, South Africa. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3ezr8m3

The rapid home testing kits were available to order around 1pm today. But by 1.15pm the Government's website shared a message saying 'Sorry, there are no home delivery slots left for these tests right now'. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3pGT5yZ

King's College London experts - who monitor the outbreak using a symptom-tracking app - estimate infections jumped 33 per cent in a week to around 192,000 per day. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3zdk8Fi

NHS statistics revealed the proportion of so-called 'incidental' coronavirus admissions had risen to a record 29 per cent in England - sparking claims that official figures were misleading. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3ewb5pn

EXCLUSIVE: Analysis of official data shows just 1.5 per cent of people in England catching Covid during the Omicron crisis are hospitalised, compared to 10.9 per cent during the Delta wave. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3zmr8jf

The count - which eclipses yesterday's previous record by more than 45,000 - is skewed upwards because it includes five days' worth of backlogged data from Northern Ireland. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3qxC1uq

The Government has said there are 'no further changes' planned Chloe Smith, minister for disabled people, health and work, said the current seven-day isolation span was the 'right' length. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3qy4zE3

EXCLUSIVE: Around 30,0000 Londoners tested positive at the most recent peak on December 21, before falling over the last two days, UK Health Security Agency data shows. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3qywjsb

Early US Government data reports lateral flow tests are less effective at detecting Omicron. The finding is at odds with UK health chiefs who insist that the tests can detect the new Covid variant. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/346aSHs

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale says there was a global shortage of testing supplies but that the UK was buying 'all that is available' as Brits scramble to stay Covid free before NYE. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3FHz7JR

Sol Smith-Ryan, six, (pictured) from Anglesey, had his drumming dream has come true after his father created an attachment that snaps the drumsticks in place. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3z7r7iH

A breakthrough could help thousands of women with the 'Jolie gene' to delay or avoid cancer surgery and allow doctors to predict when and if patients with a faulty gene develop breast and ovarian cancer. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3pzZE6n

South Africa, which was one of the first in the world to fall victim to Omicron, hit its peak in the seven days to December 17, when an average of 23,437 cases were recorded. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Hg4g7y

NHS England data reveals another 1,374 coronavirus-infected patients were admitted onto wards on Boxing Day, up nearly 50 per cent in a week. It marks the highest daily toll since February. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3FARfFn

There have now been 668 hospital admissions among patients in England who have either swabbed positive for Omicron or are heavily suspected of having it, according to the UKHSA. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3HlwTQC

Those who received two AstraZeneca doses, plus a Pfizer or Moderna booster, have 60 per cent protection against Omicron for two to weeks after the third jab. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3pnQYQv

In minutes published today, No10's top scientists predicted hospitalisations this winter were set to hit the peak recorded last winter when they surged to 4,000 a day. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3pm5Dvr

No10 has only 9 days to meet the ambitious target of boosting every eligible Briton by the end of 2021 as the Covid booster programme once again misses its elusive 1million-jabs-a-day target. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Jd5fr0

Data from South Africa, the world's first Omicron hotspot, suggest that the country's current Covid wave is fading after just one month. The case rate dropped by 22% between December 15 and 22. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3eiBMgS

Official figures from the country show its Covid cases have fallen for the last four days in a row. Yesterday they dipped 21 per cent in a week after 21,099 were recorded. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Je6o1j

SAGE member Professor Ferguson and his team at Imperial College London found Omicron sufferers are between 15 and 20 per cent less likely to be admitted than those who catch Delta. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/32mu5DP

Ministers are said to be watching admission rates in the capital before pulling the trigger on more curbs because London is a few weeks ahead of the rest of the country in its Omicron outbreak. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3piGYru

South Africa recorded 21,099 new cases in the last 24 hours, down by nearly a quarter on the 26,976 infections confirmed last Wednesday. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3HbHKNj

Doctors are braced for a 'difficult' Christmas and New Year as they treat a surging number of new Covid patients in hospital at the same time as more staff are absent because of the virus. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3eghyVd

The real-world analysis, of more than 160,000 people, comes ahead of a similar UK Government report believed to show Britons are less likely to be severely will with the variant. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/30OXWnV

Professor Rupert Pearse, who is on the frontlines at the Royal London Hospital, said most patients in critical care wards were in their 20s and 30s. He said unjabbed people were more at risk from Covid. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yX049R

Included in the order are 2.5million more doses of Pfizer's Paxlovid, which has been shown to slash the risk of vulnerable adults being hospitalised by up to 90%, and 1.75m courses of Lagevrio. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3plqMWG

Walgreens announced that it's limiting customers to purchases of four at-home COVID-19 test kits, due to an 'unprecedented increase in demand'. CVS and Walmart are also limiting test purchases. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3H1JyIl

Britons with antibodies from a prior Delta infection may have no protection from Omicron, a new Austrian study suggests, but if they go to get a Covid jab they may be the best protected of all. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3eaEzZA

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows just 764 of the nearly 12,000 fatalities recorded in England and Wales were linked with the virus in the seven days up to December 10. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3qi3T5s

Amid rising anger that millions of people are being left in limbo, Boris Johnson completely ruled out any further curbs being introduced before December 25. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3HiJMLF

These 'regulars' attend their GP surgery around 60 times a year, five times more than other patients. They are mainly elderly patients, in particular women, with chronic diseases such as diabetes. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3moZ2ON

The pledge to jab 1m adults a day has still not been hit, and means 2.1m adults must receive a booster every day - including on Christmas Day an Boxing Day - if the target is achieved. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Ec1wGv

According to Government modelling, up to 2million people could catch Omicron per day this winter, which could push the UK into a de facto lockdown with so many isolating. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3si4MOh

In advice to ministers published this weekend, the UK Government's scientific advisers said that without more 'stringent measures', there could be astronomical casualty numbers. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Fj5LkQ

Xevudy, made by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, was shown to slash the risk of hospitalisation and death by 79 per cent in clinical trials. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3GYUvuf

The number of cases of Covid in the UK has risen by 32,491, or 64.5 per cent, in seven days. But is lower than yesterday's figure of 90,418. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yJXp3a

A review of 95 studies carried out in Europe, the US and Asia found 40.5 per cent positive Covid cases do not display a single symptom, such as a fever or cough. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yGjpMs

Anyone infected with the virus must isolate for ten days after first developing symptoms or a positive test. The 'blunt tool' fails to account for infectiousness and is fuelling 'lockdown by stealth'. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3mfjIZy

Health minister Joe Phaahla said 1.7 per cent of cases were hospitalised during the second week of the current wave. For comparison, he said it was 19 per cent in the second week of Delta. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3EikGdX

Long lines formed at test sites on Thursday, as New York City's Covid test positivity rate doubled in a matter of only three days, from 3.9 percent to 7.8 percent from December 9 to December 12. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/32agDTi

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warns that many rapid response antigen Covid tests might not be able to accurately detect the Omicron variant. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3p2mbbN

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Covid infection survey - based on random swabs of 100,000 people - estimates around 936,000 had the virus on any given day last week. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3mcFu05

A study by Columbia University found Omicron's extensive mutations make it 'markedly resistant' to antibodies from a previous infection and vaccines, including boosters. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yCTg0N

The guidance update comes four months after self-isolation for vaccinated close contacts was dropped in England. It has raised questions over why it took so long to make the update. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3p2OBC9

The ONS quizzed more than 3,000 people during the first two weeks of December, as the first cases of Omicron in the UK were identified and the Prime Minister confirmed Plan B measures. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/30BaY8B

The UK has only ordered 250,000 courses of 'game changing' new anti-Covid pill that slashes the risk of serious disease by up to 90%, less than half of the doses ordered by smaller countries like Australia. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3e3l98S

Dr Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, said it took 16 months to publish a conflict of interest statement in which he revealed Peter Daszack had links to the Wuhan laboratory. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3p5C55e

EXCLUSIVE: Department of Health data shows London is now seeing just as many cases as last January, when it was battered by the Alpha variant. Cases are rising in elderly people now too. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3m9DJ3T

UK epidemiologist professor Tim Spector has warned that Omicron's symptoms are more like that of a classic cold than Covid, with jabs possibly helping to reduce severe symptoms of the virus. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3mcZ0cG

Nic Sanger, 38, from Kent has watched her young children - now aged ten and seven - growing up and returned to work as a midwife thanks to one such medicine, called nivolumab. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3oPyw2D

England's chief medical officer said he expects a universal jab to be ready at some point in mid-2023. But he admitted that in the meantime, ministers will have to rely on a mix of social curbs and boosters. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3E0oKPJ

The CDC projects that the U.S. will record up to 1.3 million new COVID-19 cases during the week of Christmas, a 55 percent increase over current totals. It also predicts a sharp death increase. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3ysqDnb

The head of Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital trust in London - which looks after two of the largest hospitals in the country - this morning said 10 per cent of staff are currently off due to Covid. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33BoVEH

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong combined lung tissue with the original Covid strain, Delta and Omicron to compare the infections they trigger. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3H43jiP

An analysis by KFF finds that 163,000 Covid deaths, or one fifth of the 800,000 recorded in America, could have been prevented if the person was vaccinated. The virus is the third leading killer of Americans. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3ysks2t

The Omicron variant now accounts for three percent of U.S. cases, a seven-fold increase from last week. The variant has now been detected nearly 250 times in 33 U.S. states and Washington D.C. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33nvpGY

Researchers from Oxford University found that countries with lower vaccine uptake than their peers benefitted from the use of vaccine passports and vaccine mandates, especially for the young. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/31VsFjG

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is less effective against the Omicron variant than it is against other strains, the company revealed Wednesday, though a booster shot can up antibody levels. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3IURfBQ

About 40% of COVID-19 cases may occur without symptoms, according to a new Chinese study compiling results from past research. The number is higher for travelers and other populations. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yrlewq

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied J&J a bid to block a Mississippi lawsuit alleging the company did not do enough to inform consumers about the risks in using its talc-based baby powder. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3dPlqfC

The Omicron variant is currently causing about 13% of new COVID-19 cases in New York and New Jersey, according to new data from the CDC. Nationwide, the variant is causing 3% of new cases. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3s2JRi5

Major trials are now under way to test the part inflammation plays in heart disease, though this is not a risk that many people are aware of. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3IJl3S2

A University of Leicester-led team of experts examined over 2,000 adults who were admitted to hospital with severe Covid during the first year of the pandemic. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3F3OTi2

Professor Chris Whitty told a Downing Street press briefing this afternoon that lower hospitalisations seen in South Africa this wave would be expected, because its population have greater immunity. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/324sgLM

Health service statistics show there were 5,697 beds taken up by people who had tested positive for the virus on December 7, the latest date available. But 1,483 were being treated for something else. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3eaphUV

Dr Susan Hopkins (pictured), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser, refused to confirm being consulted on the scheme nine times in a grilling with MPs today. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33whfUb

England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty warned the Cabinet during an update on Tuesday that the new Covid variant was spreading 'unbelievably fast'. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/31Z0kc2

A record 78,610 people tested positive in the past 24 hours, eclipsing the previous highest count by more than 10,000 - when 68,053 were recorded on January 8 at the peak of the second wave. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3oYVeWp

The UK's Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced it had struck a deal with the postal service to ramp up testing kit deliveries to 900,000 a day. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yql5JT

Britons who caught Covid in the last six months should be 'relatively well protected' from Omicron the expert who runs the UK's largest Covid symptom-tracking study has said as cases rise. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33xBdOl

Findings from Pfizer's trial of 2,200 adults showed those most at-risk from the virus who took Paxlovid within a few days of Covid symptoms were 89 per cent less likely to need hospital treatment or die. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3dRINoH

South Africa's weekly Covid surveillance report this morning revealed that cases fell in the epicentre of Gauteng province last week, in an early sign that the variant has peaked within a month. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3m6E6MB

Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford found there were no cases myocarditis per million second doses of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca's Covid vaccines. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3yEttFT

Officials who analysed 78,000 Omicron cases in South Africa estimated t he risk of hospitalisation was significantly lower than in all previous waves, which lends weight to theory Omicron is milder. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3IKiT4N

Dr Paul Burton, its chief medical officer, said he expected the two strains to co-exist for some time. This raised the risk of them infecting the same cell, and possibly swapping genes. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3sbeYIp

Experts have cast doubt over gloomy predictions that 200,000 Britons are catching Omicron everyday with Sajid Javid and health officials accused of blatant scare over the modelling. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3m4aQGc

In a letter to healthcare providers published late last night, NHS England said all patients in hospital beds should be discharged if it is safe to do so. Hotels and care homes will be used for care instead. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3dPuktv

Professor Kevin Fenton, London's director of public health, said data suggested Omicron was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44% just yesterday. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3dV8aG8

DR. ANGELIQUE COETZEE: With predictions of one million cases by the end of the month, I gather there is talk of Christmas being cancelled and a possible New Year lockdown. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/324Bo32

Tens of thousands of Britons trying to get their hands on home testing kits are being told 'no more' are available. Many pharmacies, town halls and sports clubs have also run out of the swabs. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3GGOkes

In the year up to March 2021, just seven in 10 eligible women in England were screened for abnormalities in their cervix that can lead to cancer, dropping two per cent on the previous year. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3GMOQaP

Experts told MailOnline more information is needed on the fatality, as otherwise the Government 'is placing further strain on people's trust in their judgements, which is already pretty thin'. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3m22rmu

Dr Michael Osterholm, who predicted the emergence of the Delta variant as it was starting to look like the pandemic would end, said he believes Omicron will soon overtake Delta. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3rVSWsM

The cold weather has arrived in America, and with winter around the corner, many states are starting feel the early stages of a Covid surge. Michigan is one of the worst off states in the U.S. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3dIvsiK

Consultant breast cancer surgeon Dr Liz O'Riordan said women reporting pain in the breast such as Alexandra Shulman and Sarah Harding with no other symptoms are incredibly rare. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33gvYSV

The Mail on Sunday has researched this year's must-have healthy Christmas gifts from a £2,249 exercise bike, £329 smart socks for babies and an £8.99 music box for timing hand washes. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3GCosjC

The test has been developed by scientists at Imperial College London, pictured, and can spot if an infection is resistant to powerful antibiotics almost immediately. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3m1ddt9

Carla Marsh, 37, a sales manager from Stoke-on-Trent, says: 'For the first two months I could barely hold my baby - I was struck by this unbearable fear that I would hurt her.' from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3DM7PAc

Today's reader asks Dr Ellie Cannon about gastritis which has left her feeling constantly nauseous and unable to eat, which can be brought about by stress or eating certain food. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3rWnkDr

One public health expert believes that 32,000 Americans will die of Covid between now and New Years, but still says holiday travel is fine if a person is vaccinated, boostered, and wears a mask. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3DGTPrl

DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: The winter months are when we put on the most weight (typically 1-2lb) as we huddle indoors eating comfort foods. We then spend the next few months trying to shed the extra fat. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3rSLEGb

A team led by King's College London reviewed 77 research papers from five countries, including the UK, looking at mental health care provided by phone and video calls in the pandemic. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3q1pnnl

Researchers at Clalit Health in Israel found that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot can reduce a fully vaccinated person's risk of death from the virus by 90 percent. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3IBHHM8

Dr Anthony Fauci says that the definition of 'fully vaccinated' may soon only include people who have received their booster shots, and that a fourth dose may soon be needed. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3DCRYnp

Around one in 50 people suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) during their lives, and there are more than a million people with the condition in the UK. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3EHMrgW

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in the wake of new data showing the Omicron variant can bypass protection provided by the first two doses. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3pFUqVm

Every borough in the capital is seeing an uptick in Covid infections, and each has already detected at least one suspected case of Omicron. But hospitalisations and deaths remain static. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3lTp78D

People in their 40s have been left unable to secure a vital Covid booster vaccine dose via the NHS website for at least another two weeks. The rollout was extended to the age group yesterday. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3pF2AgA

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data - based on random swabs of 100,000 people - shows 891,500 people per day had Covid during the week ending December 1 in England. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3rYl1Qf

With an average 48,000 Britons testing positive for Covid every day, it suggests more than 4,000 of them are the Omicron variant - even though less than 1,000 cases are confirmed in the UK. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33iKee1

Nicola Sturgeon today announced entire families in Scotland will have to self-isolate for 10 days if one member of the household tests positive for coronavirus. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3oEnFss

Younger Britons are getting personalised invitations for a Covid booster from GPs while some over 40s were being turned away from their jab appointments even if they booked them via the NHS. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3GBgW8R

Jack Doyle, then the PM's Deputy Director of Communications, is said to have made a 'thank you' speech to up to 50 people who attended the Downing Street bash. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/31OaqN3

SAGE member Professor John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said jabs for children aged five to 11 should be brought in 'as soon as possible'. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3ESfzlq

Professor Christina Pagel, a mathematician at University College London, said infections in Guateng have dipped below the 25 per cent daily growth rate that had been seen since November 15. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/33fjkDQ

The beleaguered booster drive was dealt a fresh blow today as over 40s which were only yesterday urged to come forward for their booster were turned away by staff contrary to official NHS guidance. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Izi5iO

West Northamptonshire is at the centre of England's Covid outbreak, official figures reveal today. But eight of ten areas with the most cases are in London. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3Gvp1M2

Antibody drug Evusheld, which was found to cuts the risk of falling ill with Covid by more than 80 per cent, has received emergency approval in the US for the immunocompromised. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3dCloaU

Boris Johnson activated England's coronavirus contingency plan last night in response to the highly-mutated variant after being warned it would overwhelm the NHS if left to spread unchecked. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3DCjJNa

NHS England data shows 5.98million people were waiting for routine surgery, such as hip and knee replacements, including more than 300,000 who had waited for more than a year. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3rOlZys

King's College London scientists estimated 83,658 people were catching the virus on any given day over the week to December 4, up slightly from 80,483 previously. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/30d2WTc

The country's National Institute for Communicable Diseases recorded another 19,842 infections over the past 24 hours, more than double the tally from last Wednesday. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3lNlsZQ

Some over 40s in the UK have been knocked back from the NHS Covid booster booking system despite officials urging eligible Britons to come forward and book their jab to help ward off Omicron. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3y39K2c

A new 'sister' lineage of Omicron has been discovered in Australia, with cases also found in South Africa and Canada. Officials say the new type is not as easy to detect as the original Omicron. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3y1aJjq

Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, is standing by his sweeping vaccine mandates announced Monday, even saying in an interview with CNN that he believes it will protect businesses. from Health News | Mail Online https://ift.tt/3ItzoSl