Health News

Saybie was born in San Diego, California, in December 2018 at just 23 weeks and three days. At birth she weighed 8.6 ounces, which is about as much as a large apple weighs (left). She spent five months in the neonatal intensive care unit at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns. In mid-May, she was discharged, weighing 5.6 pounds, about as heavy as a small bag of rice (right). Doctors were stunned that she didn't have many complications such as brain bleeding or heart issues.

Nurse-midwife Karli-Rae Kerrschneider, 32, from Baldwin, Wisconsin, gave birth to her second child in December 2018. She used nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, to manage her pain over an epidural (pictured). At the hospital where she works, the gas is billed at a flat fee of $100. Kerrschneider was charged $12,000 for her hospital stay, including $4,836 for the nitrous oxide alone. After negotiating with the hospital, the nitrous oxide charge was reduced to $496, leaving Kerrschneider to pay $3,635, including deductibles and co-pays.

Linda Nall, 72 (right), from Austin, Texas, was diagnosed with lupus in 1986. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder that causes the body's immune system to attack its own tissues and organs. Nall's kidneys began scarring and doctors told her that her best chance of survival was to find a living donor. She started a Facebook campaign and put a sign on her front lawn that read: 'I am [blood] type O and I need a kidney transplant'. Her neighbor, Frank Dewhurst, 84, saw the sign and offered to donate his kidney. The transplant was completed on April 30, which makes Dewhurst the oldest kidney donor in the US (left).

Graeme Heward, 58, of Lymm, Cheshire, was thought to have the condition dry eye or a blocked tear duct when he saw doctors. But eventually, a mass was discovered in his nose which led to a cancer of the nasal lining diagnosis in 2010. Mr Heward, a physiotherapist, was so 'embarrassed' about the tumour growing in his face, he preferred to call it 'the Alien' than cancer. A hole (left) was left in his face after around 30 surgeries before Mr Heward was told that his cancer was incurable. With only palliative chemotherapy left, Mr Heward is living the rest of his shortened life raising money for charity. He has since had a skin graft and wears a prosthetic nose and right eye (pictured right).

Riley Dibble (left), born with a heart defect, suffered an almost fatal cardiac arrest just moments after he was delivered last year. Doctors rushed Riley, from Staffordshire, into theatre for emergency open heart surgery when he was only an hour old. But his ordeal was far from over. Riley (pictured inset in hospital), who is now 11 months, suffered another cardiac arrest three months later and was whisked to hospital in an ambulance. He suffered a third cardiac arrest during another emergency procedure to correct his pulmonary artery stenosis, meaning one of his large arteries is too narrow. Pictured right with his mother Beth, father Jordan, and sister Millie

Freya Gibbs, 18 months old (pictured centre), was diagnosed with rare tibial hemimelia, a lower limb deficiency believed to occur in one in a million births (pictured right inset, as a newborn). Parents Danielle, 27, and Michael Gibbs, of Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, Wales, didn't know anything was wrong with their baby until she was born. They were warned their daughter would never walk, with the lack of bone causing her legs to turn inwards. Mr and Mrs Gibbs (pictred left inset with Freya) spent a long time pondering over the decision to have Freya's legs amputated, concluding that a life of surgery was not worth it. Freya had both legs removed below the knee in an operation, and her parents hope it means she will be able to adapt to prosthetic limbs at an early age.

It may look like a question mark – but it's not. In fact, it's actually a medical scan of a newborn baby's uniquely-shaped large intestine. Doctors were worried when the boy was vomiting, unable to pass stools and had a swollen stomach 24 hours after being born. Scans showed a 'shortened colon that appeared in the shape of a question mark' (pictured left), medics wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine. The report was written by Dr Peter Masiakos, of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr Paul Wales, of the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. However, it was not mentioned where the baby was from. Pictured right, what a colon is meant to look like

Dementia experts working with Babylon Health have revealed a series of impossible puzzles to illustrate the frustration and confusion many people with dementia suffer as their brains fail. Patients may become forgetful and disorientated, making them angry. Dementia UK expert, Professor June Andrews, said: 'Do everything in your power to avoid bringing to the attention of the person with dementia that they are failing a mental challenge, as this only makes their life harder than it needs to be.' (pictured are a selection of the puzzles)

Shayna Aldrich, 34, from New York, battled through a two-week virus over Thanksgiving, months after getting married (inset). Then she threw herself back into work, waitressing during the busiest season of the year. Then, her face froze, and she was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. Doctors believe it was caused by a combination of a weak immune system and stress.

Carli Henrotay, 23, of Saint Louis, Missouri, is one of 800 known people to have fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), also known as 'Stone Man Syndrome'. It causes muscle and connective tissue to slowly change into bone, in effect growing a second skeleton (see right, Miss Henrotay's back in 2005). Miss Henrotay's mobility is already severely restricted - she can't raise her arms above her head and uses a wheelchair to get around (pictured left) while her jaw only opens a few millimetres. At the age of five (pictured inset), doctors diagnosed the condition by chance when they noticed she had big toes shorter than her other toes - a tell-tale sign.

Rachel Palma, 42 (left and right), from Middletown, New York, started forgetting words and experiencing tremors in January 2018. Doctors performed brain scans at Mount Sinai Hospital, which appeared to show a small brain tumor, and planned to surgically remove it. During the procedure in September 2018, the tumor turned out to be a tapeworm (inset). Palma didn't eat undercooked meat or travel outside of the US and doesn't know how the tapeworm infected her.

Amba Smith, 17, was born with two rare conditions - cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita (CMTC) and Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS). CMTC gives the skin a red, marbled appearance, and the large birthmark on her face is caused by SWS, which can also cause learning disabilities and vision problems (see right, Miss Smith who has glaucoma in her left eye). Miss Smith has been hospitalised - at one point for eight months - due to her condition causing lesions inside her body affecting her spine, kidneys, liver and stomach. Parents, Kelly Smith (see left) 43, and Scott Smith, 40, faced hurtful comments from strangers accusing them of letting her get sunburnt or scalding her in the bath (pictured inset as a baby).

Sophie Wardle, 28, from Birmingham, West Midlands had unknowingly thought her seizures were anxiety attacks. The mother-of-five said doctors had believed her difficulty breathing and shaking muscles were onset by university stress and motherhood. After suffering a seizure while visiting her doctor she was quickly referred for an MRI scan which finally detected the cause of her problems. Ms Wardle endured a craniotomy - whereby part of the skull is removed - so that her brain was exposed and surgeons could get to her orange-sized tumour. The aspiring nurse was re-diagnosed with another cancerous tumour in August 2018 and is still undergoing treatment. (Pictured left, after surgery in 2018, right, before, and inset, Ms Wardle's hair fell out after chemo and radiotherapy).

John Frost, 87, from North London, developed malignant melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer. There are around 16,000 new cases of the disease every year, and incidence of the disease is rising. But he believes the 'sunshine vitamin' is helping him to fight it.

Karen Glean was waiting at the end of the London to Brighton 100k Challenge to congratulate Steve Dunster (pictured together left) and say hello face-to-face. The 50-year-old feared it may be awkward finally meeting Mr Dunster - even though they had exchanged emails for many months. But when she embraced the electrical engineer she 'got a sense of Ben', her 18-year-old (pictured with him right) who died in December 2017 from a cardiac arrest. Discussing the moment she met Mr Dunster, who needed a new liver after being given a cancer diagnosis, Ms Glean said it was 'surreal'.

The first sniff of sunshine and suddenly stodgy sandwiches or hearty soups aren’t what we feel like having for lunch. Fortunately, the High Street has plenty of new ‘healthy’ options, from plant-based wraps to meals boasting a high protein content to keep you feeling fuller for longer.  But are they as virtuous as they seem? We asked dietitian Duane Mellor, a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, to assess a selection. We then rated them...

Lindsey Hubley, 35 (left, before her infection, and right, after the infection), from Nova Scotia, Canada, gave birth to her son, Myles, in March 2017. After being discharged, she was rushed back to the hospital after developing skin discoloration and abdominal pain. Doctors diagnosed her with necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria that destroys tissue under the skin. All four of her limbs had to be amputated and Hubley had to spend 420 days in the hospital before she was discharged. Hubley says sometimes she struggles to bond with her son and trying to kick an opioid dependence.

Irene Tempelaars, 29 (left), from Nijmegen, Netherlands, was diagnosed with eczema at age 10. Eczema causes red, fiercely itchy rashes on the face, arms and legs. As the rashes began to spread all over her body, dermatologists prescribed more potent topical steroids. Tempelaars stopped using the steroid creams in November 2018 when she realized they were no longer working. She went through Topical Steroid Withdrawal, which causes skin to redden, burns and peel (top right and bottom right).

Isabella de la Houssaye, 55 (left), was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in January 2018. It was a shock to the mother-of-five, who had never smoked, never drank and lived an incredibly active lifestyle. During treatment, she decided she wanted to have one last adventure with each of her five children. In January of this year, she and her daughter Bella Crane, 22, decided to hike up to the top of Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain not in the Himalayas. The climb takes about two weeks and requires battling temperatures as low as -40F. De la Houssaye and Bella reached the peak, which is elevated at nearly 22,300 feet (right).

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. Julia Khalil (see left), 21, of West Hampstead, London, said she had agonising cramps in her back, ribs, and chest due to her 'miserable' condition. She had been told by others her loud breathing was annoying, therefore was too ashamed to study in the university library. It wasn't until a friend suggested her constantly blocked nose could be due to swollen turbinates (see right, tissue removed in a procedure that resembled slugs). Stress, fatigue and thyroid disorders can cause the turbinates to enlarge, but symptoms can be mistaken for a cold.

Statistics released last week showed that some 28,000 people in the UK underwent cosmetic surgery in 2018 - about half the number in 2013. Instead, the choice these days seems to be ‘tweakments’: smaller procedures with, hopefully, subtle, natural results. Here are some of the latest advances, and what the experts had to say about them. They include EMsculpt (left) - which hones muscles by blasting them with electromagnetic energy; top right, a device from Renuvion, for non-surgical skin tightening and resurfacing. It emits a heated helium gas from a needle-like handpiece; and bottom right, the Recross rotational fractional resection, which tightens lax, wrinkly skin without cutting and stitching.

Abbie Bolt, 15, from Minster in Kent, suffers from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and has to be hooked up to a machine throughout the night to help her breathe. She is wheelchair-bound because of the crippling condition and struggles to find the strength to perform routine tasks such as brushing her hair. Now she may be able to access Spinraza (left), after health officials approved the drug in England and Wales following a negotiating deadlock which lasted 17 months. Abbie's mother, Mel (pictured together right), said the drug – thought to cost £450,000 for a patient's first year's supply - should 'have been made available in the first place'.

Angela Whiteford, a mother-of-two from South London, suffers from anorexia - the eating disorder with the highest mortality rate of any mental illness: it kills one in ten victims. What began as a diet to lose her post-pregnancy weight in 1994 quickly spiralled into a life-threatening illness. Now, 25 years on, it has destroyed more than half of her life. (Angela is pictured, left, and aged 18, before she developed anorexia.) NHS figures seen exclusively by The Mail on Sunday show one in five patients hospitalised for eating disorders in 2018 were aged over 40. Since 2012, the number of inpatients aged over 40 has doubled to almost 4,000, a much bigger increase than in those under 18.

Dessiree (pictured left) – we are only told her first name – is the face, and body, of a new ad campaign from cosmetic medicine giant Allergan, the company behind the famous anti-wrinkle jab Botox. A quote from Dessiree, billed as an ‘actual aesthetic surgery patient’, sits beside her picture, which neatly explains the procedure she has allegedly undergone. ‘I was so excited. I had no idea my fat could be transferred to another area of my body,’ she says. However, fat transfer is one of the riskiest cosmetic operations, linked to permanent disfigurement, blindness, and a significant chance of a rapid, agonising death. The most common areas for fat to be injected are the lips, cheeks or into the bottom to create a pert, lifted effect – emulating the silhouettes of reality star Kim Kardashian (right), and singers Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé (although none of them have admitted to having buttock enhancing surgery).

Last week, NHS England announced that the drug, Spinraza, would be available to treat the genetic disease that affects an estimated 1,300 British children and adults. The condition, which robs the body’s muscles of their power, varies in severity. The worst and most common form, called type 1, usually leads to death within the first two to four years of life. Less severe types can still cause lifelong suffering, with few able to walk unaided. Two-year-old Hune Gascoigne (pictured; also with her mother, Zeedee Sawyer-Hartley, 27, and Zeedee's partner Ben Gascoigne, 30), from Stoke-on-Trent, was one of the first patients in England to benefit from the new drug.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Chris Gordon, 44, a teacher in New Ulm, Minnesota, woke up in March 2015 with a lump on his elbow. At first he was dismissed, but his condition deteriorated. He was airlifted to the Mayo Clinic where he was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection that destroys skin, fat and tissues around the muscles. Once he was diagnosed, he required 65 days in hospital to save his life.

Pizzas, puddings, crisps – they are just a few of our favourite ‘guilty pleasures’. But now the lines between healthy and unhealthy choices are becoming increasingly blurred, thanks to the latest drive to ‘health up’ our favourite treats with surreptitious use of superfoods or other virtuous-sounding ingredients. Take, for example, chocolate mousse made with avocado. Is it a salad or pudding, or something in between? And is posh-sounding cacao (pronounced ca-cow) better for us than cocoa, or just a ploy to sell us a more expensive version of chocolate? From chickpea puffs to cauliflower rice, the Mail on Sunday reveals how these ‘healthy alternatives’ compare with our well-loved favourites.

'Controlled breathing' can be an important part of treatment for managing chronic pain and stress. By taking long, deep breaths, you are forcing your diaphragm - the big muscle that lies beneath the lungs - downwards, making your belly expand. This reduces tension and stress. There are lots of different deep breathing exercises you can try. Here are three I’ve used, which advocates say may help you cope with pain, says Dr Mosley (pictured) - namely, three-four-five breathing; four square breathing; and alternative nostril breathing.

Experts at the British Society for Surgery of the Hand say they are regularly having to treat fractures, lacerations and dislocated fingers among people injured while walking their dogs. A single hospital - Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – treated 30 serious hand injuries caused by 'dog lead or collar misuse' in just one year, the society reports. Pictured: How you shouldn't hold the lead (left) and how you should (right).

Hannah Dalton from Benfleet, Essex, was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which left her bed-bound and unable to hold down food for the first six months of her pregnancy. The 30-year-old was confined to a wheelchair (pictured left) for the final three months and had to relearn how to walk after her second daughter Alexandra (inset) was born. Mrs Dalton threw up 50 times a day, with the faintest of smells and even noises triggering vomiting episodes. The business analyst became so malnourished from not being able to eat that clumps of her hair fell out. Pictured right: The mother mustered the strength to stand up with her first daughter Elizabeth toward the end of the pregnancy.

PHE said its renewed call was triggered by concerns about outbreaks of the virus, which can kill children if they aren't protected. Measles cases in England have more than doubled in the last two quarters, with 231 confirmed reports in the first quarter of 2019. In comparison, PHE data shows there was just 97 cases in the last quarter of 2018, and 143 confirmed reports in the quarter before. 'Measles can kill and it is incredibly easy to catch, especially if you are not vaccinated,' said PHE's head of immunisation, Dr Mary Ramsay.