Health News

British charity The Lullaby Trust has said influential mothers need to be careful what they post to their millions of followers because they may be promoting unsafe sleeping practices for babies. Kim Kardashian, Hilary Duff and Amy Childs, who have more than 150million Instagram followers between them – 139m of whom follow Kim – have all shared pictures on social media of their babies sleeping with loose bedding, on soft surfaces or while wearing hats. These may all increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, known as cot death, which kills five babies per day in the UK, according to the charity.

Alzheimer's Society has awarded £100,000 each to the 'How do I?' app (see right) and Juice Drops (see inset). The app reminds sufferers how to boil a kettle, for example, with 'how to' videos. Lewis Hornby created Juice Drops, sweets that are 90 per cent water, when his grandmother Pat, pictured left, was hospitalised with dehydration. The charity said the ideas could help up to 120,000 people in the UK living alone with dementia.

Jessica Cox, 36 (left and right), from Phoenix, Arizona, was born with no arms. Doctors have not been able to understand why she didn't develop arms in her mother's womb. It's not been confirmed, but it's believed that Cox was likely born with amelia, a rare condition in which one or more limbs doesn't form. In 2005, Cox began training to fly airplanes with dual controls, with one foot on the yoke and the other on the throttle. Cox became certified in October 2008 by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly an Ercoupe, a light aircraft with a single engine.

James Longman (pictured), 32, is a successful journalist whose work takes him to dangerous corners of the world. But on the Life After Suicide podcast (inset), he revealed that after losing both his father and grandfather to suicide, Longman wondered if he was 'destined' to take his own life - and once came very close, before reaching out to a friend and learning to speak out about the depression that he sometimes suffers.

Slade Thompson, five, from Renovo, Pennsylvania, had tonsil surgery last month. He woke up crying for his mother, but she couldn't enter the room until his team of nurses checked his vitals. Slade asked one of his nurses, Annie Hager, 35, if she would snuggle with him. Hager climbed into bed and held him for five to 10 minutes until he fell asleep (left). Slade's mother, Layla, snapped a photo of the moment, which has gone viral on social media. At a follow-up appointment a few days later, Slade and his mother brought flowers - which the boy picked out himself - for 'his Miss Annie' (right).

Tammy Le, 28 (left and right), from San Jose, California, was napping in the back seat of a friend's car when they swerved after another driver cut them off in April 2008. The then-17-year-old was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered two vertebrae were shattered and her spine required reconstruction. Doctors told Le she was paralyzed from the accident and would be a quadriplegic for the rest of her life. Le has since regained some movement in her arms and hands and wants her recovery to inspire others to not give up hope.

Researchers from City, University of London, and Cardiff University collected images of adverts used by fertility clinics in the UK and Australia over recent years to pick out masculine stereotypes. Images include suggestions that donating sperm is noble like joining the military (top left, a British National Sperm Bank advert), heroic (top right, Aberdeen Fertility Clinic), that it could make someone a 'good man' (bottom left, Sperm Donors Australia) or is comparable to the masculinity of a typically male job like a firefighter (bottom right, Australian firm MedicineX).

First-grader Lauren Zehner (right) spent six days in hospital after she was bitten and was left unable to recognize her own parents for a short time. She was diagnosed with a rare condition called La Crosse encephalitis and received the treatment required for her to recover. Now her family (left) is warning other parents about it, and calling on their home state of Ohio to test mosquitoes for La Crosse.

Paul Mason, 59, who was from Ipswich, Suffolk, was 70 stone (980lb, 445kg) at his heaviest and once branded himself the heaviest person on the planet. He moved to Massachusetts in the US in 2014, where he ballooned in size from 19 stone (121kg) to 35 stone (222kg) despite having gastric band surgery. After being charged with stealing from supermarket Walmart and splitting from his fiancee, Mr Mason said he plans to return to Britain with his US visa about to expire. He wrote on his Facebook page last night: 'I need to return to the UK where I will be eligible for the assistance I need to get my life back on track.' In recent months Mr Mason has piled the weight back on, gorging on pizza and crisps all night following the split from fiancée Rebecca Mountain last year.

Lisa Ross (pictured left) thought she just had a migraine while bending down to pick up weights during a body-pump class on March 2 2017. With the pain soon becoming agonising, the now 35-year-old was rushed to A&E;, where doctors detected a brain aneurysm behind her right eye had ruptured. Mrs Ross, of Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, went under the knife to stop the brain bleed, only for the swelling to trigger a stroke just two days later. In an effort to save her life, doctors were forced to remove part of Mrs Ross' skull to ease the swelling. Pictured right in intensive care

Ainul Mardhiah Ahmad Safiuddin has reportedly been receiving chemotherapy since she was just three months old but it has done little to prevent the growth engulfing her jaw (pictured left). Pictured right as a newborn, Ainul seemed healthy until the mass suddenly developed. The now nine-month-old is thought to have an extragonadal germ-cell tumour, which occurs when cells that ordinarily form sperm and eggs get misplaced in the womb. She is due to travel from her home in the state constituency of Ayer Molek, in south-western Malacca State, Malaysia, to London for an MRI scan and subsequent treatment.

Limiting the testosterone levels of professional female athletes is fair because the hormone can give them man-like strength, according to scientists. Experts have backed up a ruling from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAFS) requiring women to keep their testosterone within set limits. The ruling came in a case about South African runner Caster Semenya (pictured), who lives as a woman but was born intersex, making her biologically both male and female. Female athletes are already more likely to have high testosterone, researchers said, and a biological spike could further add to its performance-enhancing benefits.

Becca Bundy's daughter had a seizure at home in Bearsville, Minnesota in 2016. Bill Cox responded to their 911 call, and his kindness moved Becca. When they met again in 2018 and she heard he needed a kidney, she didn't think twice. Bill was born with just one kidney, it was failing, and his prospects for survival on dialysis were bleak. They underwent surgery in February 2019, and both are now doing well.

Grayson Heagren (right), who is 13 months old, was diagnosed with the heart condition dilated cardiomyopathy at two months old (inset, in hospital after diagnosis). The youngster, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was put on the heart transplant list on Christmas Eve last year with his heart function at only 14 per cent. Full-time mother-of-four Shannon Heagren, 24 (pictured with Grayson left), has been told her son is unlikely to live beyond two years because of the strain his heart is under as he gets older. Grayson is frequently in hospital fighting off infections as his other organs are under strain - meaning his family live in constant fear of his heart failing at any time.

Lavinia Newlands, from Amberley, West Sussex, is one of thousands to have dangerous sun damage - including the general type (1), more severe damage (2) and pre-cancerous changes (3), but a single treatment of Daylight PDT could be the answer. It is based on a principle known as daylight photodynamic therapy (daylight PDT). It contains aminolevulinic acid (ALA), which harnesses the body’s immune system to kill the pre-cancerous cells, and is activated by sunlight. There may be tingling for a few days and some crusting, which peaks within a week and clears within a fortnight.

Heidi Plamping, 42, of Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, had been trying to calm down her cat, Storm, who had been freaked by a large dog. As three-year-old Storm clambered on to her head for refuge, her claws caught Ms Plamping's skin ten times, drawing blood. When Ms Plamping's woke up with a black eye (inset), and swollen eyes and hands three days later, she initially thought it been caused by dust mites due to having sensitive skin. But her face worsened over the next few days, to the point where it was covered in rashes. Ms Plamping had to go to hospital every day for four days to receive a drip of antibiotics, and doctors warned her cat scratches can be very serious. (Pictured left, six days after being scratched. Right, Ms Plamping with Storm).

Landscape architects Adam White and Andree Davies are the two professionals behind the Royal Horticultural Society's Back To Nature Garden – co-designed by the Duchess of Cambridge. They invited The Mail on Sunday for an exclusive preview ahead of the grand opening. Pictured: Kate helps Adam White and Andree Davies create their Back To Nature Garden.

A 26-year-old woman has claimed how she relieved her severe period pain by rubbing menstrual blood on her face during a ritual meditation. Yazmina Jade Adler, from Melbourne, said she was suffering from excruciating cramps but was advised by doctors to 'go on the pill'. She said she stumbled across the unusual remedy when she met a shamanic womb woman who encouraged her to 'connect' to her blood. Appearing on SBS's show Medicine or Myth? , which premiers on Monday night, Yazmina claimed she noticed instantly her cramps were gone when she started meditating in a sacred space about a year ago.

A simple hour-long operation could be ‘life-changing’ for the thousands of Britons left permanently disabled due to damaged nerves. The procedure can banish the crippling, constant pain which sufferers describe as being like lying on broken glass, scorched by a flame or stung by bees.

SERENA LIPSCOMB, now 23, was five years old and living in Essex with her mother Melanie and father Ian when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. She was given the all-clear aged eight, but Serena reveals how she is still impacted both mentally and physically by the toll it took on her small body all those years ago. Pictured left: Serena today. Right: Aged five with mother Melanie.

Oliver, eight, and Amelia Carroll, six, of Poynton, Cheshire (pictured left), suffer from fatal neuro-degenerative condition Batten disease. There is no cure for the condition, meaning Oliver and Amelia are unlikely to live past the age of 12. Their plight captured the hearts of the nation in 2016 after a striking image emerged of Oliver being cradled by Prince Harry in hospital (see right). Oliver and Amelia currently receive access to a specialist treatment as part of a trial, but the pharmaceutical company has said it cannot fund the drug indefinitely. Health regulators have decided that the drug cannot be used on the NHS, leaving mother, Lucy, and father, Mike, devastated.

The increasingly popular cosmetic surgery is a growing concern among experts due to an 'alarming' number of deaths, including Miami mother Danea Plasencia, 29, last week (pictured). By injecting the fat into the muscle - rather than just beneath the skin - the fat cells are able to enter the bloodstream, the study by Boston researchers found. They could cause a blockage to the arteries in the lungs, which is life-threatening due to reducing blood flow. Although they suggest there is a 'safe' way to administer the injections, British experts are not convinced.

Medics at King's College Hospital led the procedure to correct the defect in a baby being carried by a woman who was 27-weeks pregnant. Sherrie Sharp, 29, refused to abort her son, Jaxson, when she discovered he had the defect at her 20-week scan. Instead, she opted for the pioneering procedure, which took three hours to repair her unborn son's bulging spine. Ms Sharp told the BBC: 'I wanted to do the best for my baby, I wanted him to have a better life and there's nothing wrong with that.'

Sima Davarian thought she had piles when she saw bright red blood in the toilet while 35 weeks pregnant. But a hospital examination revealed a small lump in the then 34-year-old's rectum, with a biopsy confirming she had stage-three cancer. Just five days after her devastating diagnosis, Mrs Davarian, of Plymouth, gave birth to her daughter Mathilda on September 7 2015 via C-section. She was given a few weeks to recover before having chemo (seen right), radiotherapy and surgery to remove her colon, leaving the English teacher with a stoma bag. Although cancer-free, radiotherapy triggered an early menopause, leaving the mother-of-one unable to have any more children. Mrs Davarian is pictured left the day before her C-section, and in the inset with her now three-year-old daughter and husband Michael, 43, on their way to the Canary Islands.

The NHS advises parents to take children to the dentist as soon as a milk tooth appears. However, data analysis by the University of Birmingham found the majority are failing to do so. One of the lowest rates of dental attendance was in West Berkshire, where under one per cent of children aged one had seen the dentist. But deprivation in the area is ranked low, compared to South Tyneside, one of the most deprived local authorities in England. The authority recorded the highest rate of attendance in children aged under one - 12.3 per cent.

Erin Rollins, 33, of Chicago, was driving in November 2014 when she was involved in a collision that paramedics said she was lucky to survive (pictured inset, in hospital after). The shards cut holes into her bowel, causing internal bleeding which needed emergency surgery, and paralysis from the waist down. Over the next few years, she had to re-learn how to walk with the loving support of her husband, Dennis, 39, and endure a total of eight surgeries (pictured right, on their wedding day in October 2016). Despite her life and health being permanently damaged (pictured, left, with the assistance of a wheelchair), Mrs Rollins forgave the drunk driver on the day of her sentencing, hugging her in court.