Health News

While the scenario and the virus were completely fictitious, scientists warn the threat of 'zombie viruses' emerging from permafrost thawing due to climate change is very real. Experts have found these so-called 'Methuselah microbes' can remain dormant in the soil and the bodies of frozen animals, like mammoths, for tens of thousands of years. If such a disease emerged from the ice our bodies wouldn't have any natural defences to fight off an infection, much like Covid when it first emerged.

In a series of astonishing videos, Brooke Eby, from Maryland in the US, has shared the reality of living in a body that no longer functions as it used to. The healthy business development manager was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - the most common form of motor neurone disease - in 2022, three years after experiencing her first warning signs. The condition is incurable and gradually stops patients being able to move, talk and even eat. ALS claimed the life of Sandra Bullock's partner Bryan Randall in 2023 and the acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking famously suffered from it.

Synnovis, a lab service provider for almost 200 GP surgeries and six hospitals in London , is failing to deliver accurate results 'on a daily basis', medics say. Dozens of emails sent by the firm, whose NHS contract is worth £2 billion, show it has repeatedly apologised to GPs since 2021 for issues with blood tests for conditions including diabetes and malaria. Doctors claim it is now 'an everyday concern' for them, with the problem 'nothing short of a national scandal'. According to the BBC, who carried out the probe, issues with incorrect blood test results were also leading to unnecessary hospital referrals and wasted appointments.

Bisma Lalji, from California, was diagnosed with the disease in February 2023 with scans revealing her breast cancer had spread to the bones in her upper body. A sudden bout of agonising pain in her spine was her only symptom prior to diagnosis.

I have yearned for rivers, cemeteries, starlit fields, often returning from my walks feeling changed: some places seemed to intensify my emotions, while others calmed me. And having previously written a book about the health benefits of walking, it struck me that where I walked might also affect me, subtly influencing my thoughts and mood.

When Carla Sobrini's daughter Emilia failed her newborn hearing test, she had no idea that a virus she'd unknowingly caught from her older child during pregnancy was to blame.

Amanda Gruendell was desperate to have a baby and had tried everything from surrogacy to adoption. But nothing worked out until she made the lifechanging decision to undergo a uterus transplant...

The needle-free injection, given for up to two years, is custom-built for people to stop their melanoma returning - which experts believe will herald a new era in fighting the disease. It works by boosting the immune system's response helping it to 'attack' cancer cells to prevent them from coming back. It marks an expansion of NHS England's cancer vaccine launch pad programme, which has already allowed hundreds of patients to receive a bowel cancer vaccine in the last year. The health service now plans to provide up to 10,000 patients in England with personalised cancer treatments by 2030 through this scheme.

A 'new generation' treatment may help patients shed up to 10 per cent of their body weight in just three months - faster than blockbuster jabs like Ozempic. Diet pills have a chequered history and only one is approved for NHS use in the UK - Xenical - which is not hugely popular because of its mode of operation. The drug stops fat being absorbed, so that it passes straight through the body. However, this process can give rise to unpleasant stomach or bowel issues like diarrhoea, which studies suggest have caused people to stop taking it. Yet, slimmers trying a new weight-loss pill called Sirona - so far available only as a trial on the NHS - are yet to report any major adverse side effects.

When he was invited to be part of a groundbreaking trial, backed by Cancer Research UK, of a treatment that spares colorectal cancer patients from this invasive procedure, he jumped at the chance. Rather than surgery, researchers at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester have been offering some rectal cancer patients daily high-dose radiotherapy alongside a twice-daily chemotherapy tablet, called capecitabine. Experts believe the five-week treatment has proved so effective it could be widely used in the NHS by the end of next year.

Kyla Fuller (pictured) and others who have experimented with helminth therapy now post about their experiences on social media, in clips that often garner hundreds of thousands of views. And they genuinely believe that the treatment has proved life-changing. 'I feel like I've been given a second chance at life,' Kyla says. 'I don't have any pain, nausea, urgency or blood in my stool.

Grey's Anatomy and Euphoria fans reacted with shock and sadness at the news today that star Eric Dane is living with a form of deadly motor neurone disease. Around 5,000 adults in the UK and roughly the same number in the US have MND-there is a one in 300 risk of developing the condition. In a statement to People magazine, the actor, 52, revealed he had been handed the devastating diagnosis, and added: 'I am grateful to have my loving family by my side. Here, MailOnline breaks down the early warning signs of the fatal condition...

The bloated three-year-old had battled constipation, fever and had failed to pass stools for three days before his concerned parents sought medical help. After attending hospital, he was diagnosed with constipation, according to Indonesian medics who shared his story in a journal. But it was only after he began vomiting worms a day later, that an x-ray of his stomach then showed grey masses - indicating he had an 'intestinal obstruction'. Doctors carried out a laparotomy - when an incision is made in the abdomen - and discovered the packs of worms blocking three separate areas of his small intestine.

The President this week announced he would 'very shortly' impose 'major' tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry to shift the overseas production of medications back to the United States. It was a 'tremendous problem' that the country 'can no longer produce enough antibiotics to treat our sick,' he claimed. But now, British industry leaders fear such tariffs could disrupt the supply and even the price of drugs including slimming jabs Mounjaro and Ozempic - both hailed as a monumental breakthrough in the war on obesity. Experts today warned that patients may 'end up the casualties of a global trade war' and urged the UK Government to 'closely monitor' the evolving situation.

Medics have previously warned that many drinkers fail to recognise they have a problem because their body hasn't yet become reliant on alcohol which causes telltale signs like shakes. However, there is a simple test that doctors use to spot a hidden, 'functioning' alcoholic.

Use MailOnline's ultimate NHS data tracker to see exactly how your hospital is faring amid the 'quad-demic'. Wards and A&E units are 'full to bursting' because of the relentless pressure from a flood of patients infected with influenza, Covid, norovirus and RSV . Cases of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) - another respiratory bug that causes cold-like symptoms - are also rising. Creaking at the seams in one of the NHS' toughest ever winters, trusts battling crises on every front have declared critical incidents and warned patients they face being turned away unless they are genuinely sick. Others have re-introduced face masks and restricted visitors to cope with the 'tidal wave' of infections. Even before this year's winter carnage struck, NHS sites were struggling to hit key A&E and cancer targets. Waiting lists had rocketed to all-time highs in the wake of the pandemic. Our postcode search tool, hailed by NHS chiefs, utilises monthly performance figures collated centrally. It covers all 120-plus NHS trusts and can be searched by entering the first half of your postcode.

The anonymous mother was mistakenly implanted with another couple's embryo due to 'human error' at a Monash IVF clinic in Brisbane, Australia. While details of the case are only just emerging, it is believed the baby was born last year. But the shocking blunder was only discovered in February after the birth parents requested that their remaining embryos be transferred to another IVF provider. Here the clinic discovered an additional embryo remained in storage and the parents were notified of the mistake within a week.

I want to thank the Mail for its important campaign to raise awareness about prostate cancer. The UK National Screening Committee is thoroughly examining all the evidence for prostate cancer screening programmes, including targeted approaches for those at higher risk. I hope they can recommend a way forward that allows the NHS to seek out prostate cancer more proactively for those most at risk, but any programme must be evidence led and clinically led.

Sydney Stoner, 31, Arkansas cafe worker claims that she 'nearly died' after her bowel cancer symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by doctors and diagnosed as IBS. Stage 4 bowel cancer occurs when cancer in the colon spreads, or metastasizes, to other tissues and organs. The five-year survival rate for people with stage 4 colon cancer is about 13 percent.

For years they've berated meat-lovers, desperately trying to convert people to veganism. But going plant-based really could boost your health, if new research is to be believed. For a pair of identical twins have given fascinating insight into which is best for the body when it comes to performance. Ross and Hugo Turner, 36, from Christow in Devon, both took vitamins daily, while following similar a diet and workout plan.

A grief-stricken mother has told of doctors' multiple failings to spot the lethal bone cancer that killed her 'beautiful, kind and funny' daughter at just 19. By the time her daughter, Megan, was diagnosed it had spread to her lungs and lymph nodes. The first sign was a complaint suffered by millions every year.

In the first episode of her new podcast Confessions Of A Female Founder, the Duchess of Sussex said she had post-partum pre-eclampsia after welcoming one of her children. Speaking with friend and entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd, who founded the female-focused dating app Bumble and co-founded Tinder, Meghan confessed it was 'so rare' and 'so scary'. The little-known condition is similar to pre-eclampsia - which affects women during pregnancy - and involves dangerously high blood pressure. Experts don't know exactly what causes post-partum pre-eclampsia but believe there may be some contributing factors including q uick changes in hormonal levels and fluids which then affect blood pressure.

Doctors told the mother of Brianne Cullen that 'children are dying' from the life-long condition that can mean sufferers need a lung transplant. Her mother knew nothing of Brianne's habit, which began as a way of 'easing anxiety' about returning to school after the Covid lockdowns.

Mark Smith, then aged 36, was still coming to terms with his diagnosis of mesothelioma when he spoke to Good Health about it in December. He had no idea then that he had just weeks to live.

When Lindsey married partner Neil, 56, in September 2021, 'I wore a flower crown with hair pieces clipped in to cover the bald patches,' she says. 'I insisted no photos were taken which showed the top of my head.' It was at this point she considered a hair transplant.'

Experts have discovered that individuals conceived in certain seasons show higher activity in their brown adipose tissue - the type of fat that burns calories to produce heat. This leads to increased energy expenditure, a lower BMI and less fat accumulation around internal organs, they found.