Recalling the 'horrible' time she had as a first-year student when her hair fell out in handfuls, Jayne Waddell (pictured with and without wig, inset) says as well as the hair loss, her scalp felt hot and angry. After ten years finding herself, Jayne, now 34, has now retrained as a semi-permanent make-up artist and set up in a wig shop in Glasgow

Kirstie Allsopp's admission last year that she had not undergone a mastectomy despite discovering that she has a one-in-three genetic risk of developing breast cancer must have seemed surprising to some. Her decision was in contrast to that of her younger sister Sofie, 35, who chose to have the operation. But today, the forthright 44-year- old Location, Location, Location host is passionate that women in the same situation know the facts about her choice. And she says it is wrong to describe hers as a 'wait and see' approach. 'I'm not mucking around or burying my head in the sand,' Kirstie states firmly. 'I'm not doing this without medical advice.

At 53, Tom Cruise is still in good shape. The Top Gun legend admits that he trains rigorously to keep in shape for film roles, often putting in four to five hours a day of intense workouts, including dancing, boxing and circuit training.

Catrina Raiford, from Florida, weighed 1,000lbs and was bed-bound (left) until her house was bulldozed to remove her and she had the push that she needed in order to lose weight. The 38-year-old, who has struggled with her size since she was a youngster, now weighs 500lbs (right) but has been left with 140lbs of excess skin (inset). She is currently raising the $10,000 (£6,468) needed to pay for the surgery through crowdfunding website GoFundMe.

Former Dance Moms star Chloe Lukasiak recently underwent surgery to correct silent sinus syndrome, which caused one eye to appear larger than the other for which she suffered bullying online by trolls calling her 'ugly' because of her 'lazy eye'.

Kirath Mann, six, from Coventry, suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which causes progressive muscle weakness. Most children with DMD have to use a wheelchair by age 10 and don't live past 30 years old. Kirath and his mother, Jaspal, 29 (pictured inset) have joined forces with other families to campaign to end delays to a breakthrough treatment called Translarna. Kirath has even written a letter to David Cameron about the issue (pictured right). The drug helps prevent muscle deterioration but can cost up to £400,000 per patient per year. However, NICE have decided that more information on the benefits of the drug is needed so they can decide if it represents value for money. Ms Mann said: 'Every day and week that ticks by for these children, their muscles are weakening and wasting away. The urgency - seems to get lost on these organisations. They aren't concerned that time is ticking for these boys.'

Lauren Starkey, 27, from Manchester (pictured left), used a home test kit offered by Manchester University Hospitals in 2013 because she was nervous about having a smear tests. Weeks later, she was relieved to be told that her test results had come back normal. But now, doctors say they were wrong and she does in fact have Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) - which can lead to cervical cancer if not treated (the email informing her of the mistake is pictured, right). Now, Mrs Starkey faces an anxious weight for her smear test appointment next week, where she will find out if she has any abnormal cells that could indicate cancer. Mrs Starkey said: 'I'm terrified. I have two children so the thought of anything bad happening is too much to even think about right now. The doctors said they are sorry but it's not good enough.'

Energy drinks provide a quick boost of energy, but are associated with a range of health problems, according to an infographic created by online games company bwin.com. The caffeine in the drinks causes the brain cells to fire, stimulating the same kind of instant boost that occurs when your body senses a physical threat. The pituitary gland in the brain causes adrenaline levels to rise, releasing glucose into the bloodstream. The adrenaline makes the heart beat faster, driving more blood and oxygen to the muscles. While this can increase concentration and physical performance, the drinks are also associated with problems including headaches, heart problems, tremors, stomach upset, chest pain, numbness and insomnia.

Debbie Murphy, 39, from Cardiff, has been chosen as the face of Lorna Drew after her son Rory told her she looked beautiful during gruelling chemotherapy. Her photo will appear on the cover of Lorna Drew's 2016 mastectomy lingerie catalogue after she was crowned the winner of the Everyday Superwoman competition. She saw the contest as an opportunity to feel body-confident after losing her hair and breasts to cancer.

Maggie Russell, 20, has stopped eating carbs and exercises twice a day in the lead up to the World Beauty, Fitness and Fashion competition on the Gold Coast on Saturday. The fitness model only consumes a paltry 1,100 calories a day. 'I train six days a week with weights and seven days a week cardio, twice a day,' Ms Russell said. 'It's very intense. I spend four hours a day in the gym. It's all strict dieting.' The 20-year-old is now at the end of her 'depletion week', which means she hasn't eaten any carbohydrates but has dramtically increased the time she spends in the gym.

Stacey Hewitt, (pictured in the main image wearing a black top and pictured in top left inset) was suffering kidney failure. She hugs mother-of-two Louise Drewery, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, (pictured wearing a check shirt in main image and pictured in top right inset) who offered to help after reading an appeal on Facebook. Stacey's Father posted a message asking: 'Is there anyone out there that would like to donate a kidney to help my daughter?' The transplant was successful and is believed to be the first ever live organ donation in Britain to have been instigated through social media.

Kate Battersby, pictured, has been suffering from binge eating disorder for 34 years and can eat 4,000 calories in one sitting - she loves feeling nauseously full. She now know her triggers for the disease and can cope, but recently suffered a relapse that caused her to gain 10 lb when her beloved spaniel Tam O'Shanter died. She has to avoid buying certain food like bread and can keep multipacks in the house, because she compulsively eats the whole pack.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: Jeffrey Ortega, 26, from Deerfield Beach, Florida, was born with Proteus syndrome, which causes the body's tissue to grow abnormally. The condition affects his hands, hips, legs, and especially his feet (pictured left and bottom right), and he must use a wheelchair as walking is painful and difficult. Currently his left foot is 17 inches in circumference and 14 inches long while his right foot is 14.5 inches in circumference and 12 inches long. He believes amputation of his left foot will relieve his pain and stop the growth. He is desperate for the operation (pictured top right), but doctors said he will have to fund the $40,000 [£25,811] cost himself. He said: 'Having the amputation would improve my life so much. It would help me walk again and I won't have to use a wheelchair anymore.'

One of Australia's leading chiropractors, Dr James Carter, has warned that 'text neck' - often brought on by staring at phones for several hours - is becoming an epidemic. He revealed he had seen an 'alarming increase' in the number of patients with abnormally curved spines over the past few years and said 50 per cent of them are school-age teenagers. Pictured left is a 17-year-old boy and in the centre a 16-year-old girl is developing a 'hunchback'. The chiropractor has even seen one seven-year-old patient, pictured right, with 'text neck.'

Catherine Keeney, from Newarthill, Scotland, underwent a bilateral mastectomy in March this year after learning she had a 97 per cent risk of getting breast cancer. The 30-year-old, who documented her recovery on Facebook, has since posted a photograph of her scars online. It has received more than 77,000 likes. Ms Keeney wrote: 'OK guys putting these pics up of my foobs I am in no way body beautiful as I'm not the fittest or best looking I'm just a normal woman but I want to show everyone that having a mastectomy is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.'

In a Nebraska town, with a population of just 14 people, four stores sold more than four million beer cans in a space of a year. The most frequent customers in Whiteclay are from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, across the border in South Dakota, where alcoholism is rampant, despite strict rules banning booze. Even when women get pregnant, they carry on drinking, and it leads to their children being born with deformities and blood alcohol levels. One in four children in the Native American community are born with fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes stunted growth, facial impairments and prevents the sufferer's mental ages from developing. Many have hyperactive or have attention disorders, suffer from learning disabilities, and can sometimes be smaller than other children.

Holli Gorveatt's babies were due in January next year, but baby Link (pictured top right) was born weighing just 1lb 2oz just 23 weeks into her pregnancy. And Gorveatt (left) remains pregnant with his brother Logan, who is not expected to be born until her 2016 due date. Doctors had expected to have both babies at the NICU (bottom right) at the Evergreen Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington. Dr Martin Walker had performed in-utero surgery to fix a complication - known as 'twin-twin transfusion syndrome' because the babies shared a placenta. Then, when Gorveatt went into labor a week later, Dr Walker was able to safely deliver Link while Logan stayed inside his mother's womb.

Richard McDonald, six and his brother Lennon, five, from Corby, Northhamptonshire, suffer from Ectodermal Dysplasia (ED), which causes their hair, teeth and nails to grow abnormally (Richard is pictured, left, in Red, and Lennon in green). The boys do not have any sweat glands meaning they cannot control their body temperature - something that risks them suffering fatal seizures if their bodies overheat or get too cold. They were born with no teeth and later developed malformed and pointy teeth which made eating difficult, as they also do not produce any saliva. Recently, they been fitted with dentures so they can eat without fear of choking (pictured right). Their mother, Zoe McDonald, 27, says they love their new false teeth. She said: 'Since having their new teeth they've been able to eat so much easier. They get really excited hearing their teeth grind together and are obsessed with hearing their food crunch because they've not had it before.'

Beau Jacobson, 23, from Colleyville, Texas, was 6'3" and weighed 285lbs when he was in high school (left). After losing 65lbs and developing an eating disorder in college that caused him to drop to 159lbs, Beau overcame his issues with food and is now 200lbs (right).

Two years after they tied the knot, Joel and Lauren Jackson, from Florida, have finally enjoyed their first dance as man and wife. Gazing into each other's eyes the 26 year olds the impromptu moment was one they never expected. Six years ago Joel cheated death, surviving a car crash that rendered him paralysed from the neck down. Such was the severity of his injuries, that Joel was effectively decapitated internally - his head separated from his spine. Lauren said: 'It is the little triumphs that are giant steps for us. And for the little things, I am grateful.'

Erika and Stephen Jones, from Jacksonville, were devastated when their daughter, Abigail, was diagnosed with deadly brain cancer in utero. Doctors in Florida said they couldn't save the baby, because any operation would be too dangerous - and they insisted that the tumor was aggressive. So the family, heartbroken, took the baby home to die. Luckily, Dr. Al Cohen from Boston Children's Hospital heard about Abigail's case and gave it a second look, discovering that he could actually save her. After safely removing the tumor, he learned that it wasn't malignant after all, but was, in fact, a rare type of tumor that looks very similar to a deadly one. Abigail is now home with her parents and her big sister, and the doctor says 'her prognosis is excellent'.

Jody Parcel, 30, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, went deaf at the age of two. She was given hearing aids, but they stopped working as she got older. In recent years, she found she could no longer hear her children. Four weeks ago, she underwent an operation to have cochlear implants fitted. These are surgically implanted electronic devices that provide a sense of sound to a person who is deaf. Here, a touching video shows the moment they are turned on, and she hears the voice of her fiancé Jeremy Carne, for the first time (Miss Parcel is pictured at this moment, left, centre and right). She is planning to marry Mr Carne (pictured, inset) next year, and hopes to be able to hear him speak at the wedding. She said: 'I will gradually introduced to this noisy, and I mean really noisy, world. I'm amazed at all the noises I hear even though it all sounds the same. We have our wedding booked for next September and I'm determined I'll be able to hear our vows.'

Nancy Binger, 40, of Illinois, was told that her baby would be born with Down syndrome when she was six months pregnant. The college administrator reveals that she completely shut down when she heard the news, and that she still feels terrified about how she is going to raise a child with special needs.