Covid-19 has changed the world. Millions have died; the economic and social impacts are massive to say the least. The question of disease-severity and co-morbidities has gained a lot of attention. We all know that it is the elderly and those with certain co-morbidities that are at most risk of poor outcomes when they [...]
You may have heard of people like Wim Hof, who has become quite well known for his cold-exposure exploits, ice-water-bathing, cold-water-swimming, barefoot-marathon-running, etc. You probably know about various athletes who use post-match ice-baths to aid recovery. Could this be for you? Is there any real evidence that cold-therapy works? The term “cold therapy” is [...]
Covid-19, the illness caused by Coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) is well-known to you by now. You know that it is a new (previously unknown/unseen) virus that causes a cold/flu type illness that can develop into a severe and life-threatening pneumonia and multi-organ disease, most commonly in older, frail or already-unwell persons. You know that viral [...]
We all know that exercise is good for us. We’d all like to be fit. In today’s world of personal trainers, smart watches, clever fitness apps, and more, it can seem a bit complicated. Sometimes “simple is best” and so here are two very simple ways to assess your fitness. Resting pulse The fitter [...]
Active living is good for us. Very good indeed. The simple truth is that you cannot be well, truly well, unless you live actively. You know that don’t you? And you’ve been active, at times, have you not? But you’ve battled to stick with it and so your life-with-exercise has been a bit of [...]
We have been living with this world-changing pandemic for a while now and most of us probably feel that we know enough about it. Certainly, we know that it is the elderly and those with pre-existing illness, also known as comorbidities, that are most at risk (while the young and the well are at [...]
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is also sometimes known as “spastic colon” or “nervous colon”. It’s a common condition that affects some 15% of adults. IBS is characterised by abdominal pain or cramping and a change in bowel habit (diarrhoea or constipation or both alternating). It is a chronic (long-term) condition that usually begins before [...]
From the outset of this pandemic, one of the biggest questions has been "How dangerous is it really?" or "How much more dangerous than normal flu is it?". Initial estimates varied wildly, because we really just did not know. It did start to become clear that more Covid-19 was more dangerous than seasonal flu, [...]
We’ve been living with Coronavirus for about a year now and it’s been pretty terrible if we’re honest. Over 2 million deaths worldwide, lockdowns such as we have never experienced before, huge social and financial disruptions, and more. And just when we started to think (in late 2020) that the worst might be over, [...]
Bugs......a topic that can give us "the creeps". For clarity we are not talking about computer-code glitches or planet-invading aliens or even about creepy-crawlies. In this short Quite-Interesting-Science article we'll describe the four most common types of micro-organisms that infect humans and cause disease. This should help you understand what these conditions are and [...]
