Ward: Environment

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FDA approves first GLP-1 pill for weight loss

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a daily pill version of Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy that the company said will be available early in the new year. Why it matters: It's the first oral GLP-1 drug approved for weight loss and could provide a more convenient an…

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How to extend and improve your life by getting more creative

Growing evidence reveals that creativity is one of the best-kept secrets for boosting your health. From live theatre to a quick crafting break, here’s how to harness the power of art in your everyday life

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What I’ll be doing to help detox my brain in the new year

We have only just started to understand how our brains clean themselves, but columnist Helen Thomson finds promising evidence for how to boost this process

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Why do I feel lonely even when I'm surrounded by a festive crowd?

Feeling alienated in others' company, or "existential isolation", can happen to us all. David Robson digs into the psychological literature for a solution for one reader

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MIT-Hood Pediatric Innovation Hub convenes leaders to advance pediatric health

The Hood Pediatric Innovation Hub brings together clinicians, researchers, and industry to bridge the gap between discovery and care.

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Drug-resistant Candida auris harnesses CO₂ to survive on skin, research reveals

A new study involving the Medical University of Vienna shows how the multi-resistant fungus Candida auris utilizes carbon dioxide (CO₂) to survive on the skin and become resistant to antifungal therapies. The research team identified several new targets that could be used in the future to curb the s…

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Former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse says he has stage-four pancreatic cancer

Republican Ben Sasse represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate from 2015 to 2023, then became president of the University of Florida.

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Washington state officials warn of toilet rats after floods: ‘Try to stay calm’

Tips include flushing rat, squirt soap into toilet or if the rat is too large close toilet lid and call pest control expertsResidents in Washington state have been told to be aware of unwanted festive visitors before Santa comes down the chimney – rats coming up from the toilet.Health officials in W…

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The Guardian view on gene editing: breakthroughs need a new social contract | Editorial

Cutting-edge therapies exist, but the market cannot deliver them cheaply. Britain must build NHS capacity so that cures become collective goods, not expensive productsJust a small fraction of our 20,000 genes can cause disease when disrupted – yet that sliver accounts for thousands of rare disorders…

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One in eight of 14- to 17-year-olds in Great Britain say they have used nicotine pouches

Survey adds to experts’ concern about addiction risk and highlights support for plan to ban sales to under-18sOne in eight teenagers aged 14 to 17 have used nicotine pouches, a survey has found, adding to health experts’ concern about their growing popularity.Users hold the small sachets, which look…

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Timing cancer drug delivery around our body clock may boost survival

The time of day that cancer drugs are administered could make a big difference to a patient's outcomes, and would be a relatively simple intervention to roll out

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The potential of GLP-1 drugs to transform medicine exploded in 2025

We knew that GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy did more than just help control type 2 diabetes and aid weight loss, but the extent of that potential really came to light in 2025

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Cold-water swimming has benefits for the brain as well as the body

There is a growing body of research on the physical benefits of going for a dip in chilly water, but now researchers are starting to find that cold-water swimming may also be reshaping our brains for the better in lasting ways

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Gene therapy for Huntington’s disease showed great promise in 2025

An experimental gene therapy seems to slow the progression of Huntington’s disease by about 75 per cent, and researchers are working to make its complicated delivery much more practical

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How worried should you be about spending too much time on your phone?

Screen time has been linked to all sorts of problems, from depression and obesity to poor sleep. But how worried should you really be? Jacob Aron sifts through the evidence

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How I learned to keep my brain in better repair this year

Neuroscience columnist Helen Thomson on how she discovered a host of evidence-based ways to keep her brain healthier in 2026

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Chronic fatigue syndrome seems to have a very strong genetic element

The largest study so far into the genetics of chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalomyelitis, has implicated 259 genes – six times more than those identified just four months ago

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Prognostic tool could help clinicians identify high-risk cancer patients

Using a versatile problem-solving framework, researchers show how early relapse in lymphoma patients influences their chance for survival.

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Young adults are using cannabis to sleep at alarming rates

More than 20% of young adults say they use cannabis or alcohol to fall asleep, with cannabis leading by a wide margin. Researchers warn this strategy can backfire, disrupting sleep quality and increasing the risk of long-term sleep and substance-use problems.

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Deaths of despair were rising long before opioids

Long before opioids flooded communities, something else was quietly changing—and it may have helped set the stage for today’s crisis. A new study finds that as church attendance dropped among middle-aged, less educated white Americans, deaths from overdoses, suicide, and alcohol-related disease bega…