As children pile back into classrooms, many parents fear their child returning home with head lice – the tiny insects that live in hair, feeding on blood and laying eggs near the scalp.
All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by Martyn Jones.
The pancreas is responsible for helping you digest food (Image: Getty)
A doctor is urging people to keep an eye out for potential warning signs of pancreatic cancer. The pancreas, located behind the stomach, helps digest food and manage blood sugar. What makes this form of cancer extremely dangerous is that it often grows silently without early symptoms, spreads rapidly, and forms a dense physical barrier that blocks treatments. Pancreatic cancer kills around three-quarters of patients within a year of diagnosis.
However, according to Dr Philippa Kaye, there are early signs that people should not ignore. She explains that these signs are usually not “a dramatic symptom” but rather “simply something about a patient’s health suddenly doesn’t make sense”.
Writing in the Daily Mail, she shared two stories about patients with the disease. One, who was suddenly diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and died within a few months, and then a second, who had developed Type 2 diabetes.
While Type 2 diabetes is “extremely common”, Dr Kaye explained that this patient did not look like the typical patient she would expect to develop it, in the sense that he was not overweight and had no family history of the condition and had been losing weight.
The combination of the signs rang alarm bells for the doctor, and further investigations revealed that the patient had pancreatic cancer.
Now, Dr Kaye is hoping to help people pay more attention to sudden changes that may seem unnoticeable, but are worth speaking to a doctor about.
Sudden development of Type 2 diabetes can be a warning (Image: Getty)
7 early warning signs of pancreatic cancer
1. Sudden development of diabetes
Developing Type 2 diabetes does not automatically mean the cause is a tumour. However, developing the disease in later life without the risk factors, such as being overweight or having a family history, should be looked into.
2. Unexplained weight loss
A sudden development of diabetes with unexpected weight loss would cause significant concern, as Type 2 diabetes is often seen in people who are overweight or suffering from obesity. Weight loss can be a sign of unmanaged sugar levels.
Following the first two, diabetes linked to pancreatic cancer can behave differently, with blood sugar rising rapidly and it being difficult to control. Levels can also climb despite treatment.
4. Change in bowel movements
Persistent change in your typical bowel movements is also a symptom that should be brought to your doctor’s attention. Your pancreas is what helps you digest food, and so if a tumour disrupts this process, then stools can become greasy, oily, pale, foul-smelling and prone to floating in the toilet.
Similarly, the urine is noticeably darker. Research examining symptoms in primary care suggests that this symptom can appear months before the cancer is diagnosed.
While back pain is extremely common, there is a particular pattern that patients should be aware of. According to Dr Kaye, the pain can begin in the upper abdomen and go straight through to the back. Some patients have found that it worsens after eating or when lying flat.
Jaundice is when your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow. Pancreatic cancer causes jaundice by blocking the common bile duct, which stops digestive fluid from flowing properly from the liver into the small intestine.
It is important to note that none of these symptoms automatically means you have pancreatic cancer. However, if something about your health changes unexpectedly, persists or doesn’t make sense, do not ignore it. Speak to your GP.
Looking for an easy, low-calorie way to add fiber and crunch to meals without turning to processed ingredients or the same-old recipes you’ve relied on for years?
For years, Roger Hardy kept trying to explain away the agonising pain in his nose.
10,000 steps has become the norm (Image: gbh007 via Getty Images)
People embarking on an ambitious “Winter Arc” fitness transformation may not require a full 10,000 steps daily to secure substantial health gains. Significant research indicates that approximately 7,000 daily steps could represent a more realistic goal, with advantages emerging at considerably lower levels.
When measured against completing 2,000 steps, achieving 7,000 was linked to a 47 per cent reduced risk of death from any cause and a 25 per cent decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The research could provide encouragement to those who discard their fitness trackers in exasperation after consistently falling short of the well-known five-figure benchmark, according to one doctor.
Dr Asiya Maula, private GP at The Health Suite, said: “10,000 steps has become embedded in our idea of what an active day should look like, but it is not a magic threshold separating success from failure. For someone currently completing 2,000 or 3,000 steps, aiming immediately for 10,000 may feel overwhelming. A smaller increase that can be repeated consistently is likely to be far more useful than an ambitious target that lasts for three days.”
Why 7,000 steps could prove sufficient
The systematic review and meta-analysis, published in The Lancet Public Health, analysed 57 studies from 35 cohorts spanning more than ten countries. Scientists discovered that 7,000 steps, when compared with 2,000, was associated with reduced risks of dementia, depressive symptoms, type 2 diabetes, falls and death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
A doctor has explained the details (Image: EmirMemedovski via Getty Images)
However, the research was observational in nature, indicating it shows correlations rather than proving the extra steps directly caused each improvement.
Dr Maula explained: “The message is not that everybody must hit exactly 7,000 or that taking this number of steps guarantees protection from illness. It is that meaningful benefits appear well before 10,000. More activity may provide further advantages, so people already comfortably exceeding 7,000 do not need to reduce their movement.”
Step trackers also fail to capture activities such as swimming, cycling and certain strength training, meaning a reduced daily figure doesn’t necessarily reflect an inactive way of life.
Build your Winter Arc gradually
Dr Maula suggested monitoring your usual step count over several days before establishing a goal, rather than selecting a random figure from social media. Someone typically achieving 3,000 steps might initially increase by 500 to 1,000 through taking a brief stroll after lunch, alighting from public transport one stop sooner or walking while on a telephone call.
She said: “Break the total into manageable sections. Three 10-minute walks may feel much easier than finding time for one long session, but they still interrupt prolonged sitting and contribute to the daily total. Walking slightly faster for short stretches can also raise the intensity without requiring somebody to run or complete a formal workout.”
Adults are still advised to incorporate muscle-strengthening exercises and work towards the recommended weekly quota of moderate or vigorous physical activity, rather than depending solely on a step counter.
Dr Maula added: “A successful Winter Arc should leave you with habits that survive beyond Christmas. If 7,000 is currently unrealistic, begin lower and build gradually.
“The most valuable target is not the most impressive number on your screen. It is the one that encourages you to move more regularly without pain, exhaustion or guilt.”
Britons spend up to £4billion a year on supplements. But some of the most popular pills could be putting users at risk of excessive bleeding and kidney damage.
Modern life is giving our bottoms a bum rap, experts warn (Image: Getty)
As a nation we may spend millions of pounds trying to shape, tone and tighten our behinds. But your glutes are not just important for deciding how you look in your jeans. They‘re some of the most important muscles in the body, acting as powerful stabilisers that help us walk, climb stairs, stay balanced and keep our spines and pelvises supported.
Dr Andrew Gorecki, a doctor of physical therapy and author of The Truth About Lower Back Pain: The Hidden Culprits, says: “The glutes are the engine that power nearly every movement you do. They power standing up, walking, climbing stairs, catching your balance when you stumble, even just holding yourself upright. All of it runs through the glutes. They are stabilisers too. They hold your pelvis level while you walk, keep your knee tracking straight when you take a step, and prevent your spine from doing work it wasn’t designed for.”
Protecting them now will also protect your future health, adds Gorecki: “Strong glutes are also what let you keep doing the things that make life worth living into your 70s, 80s,and beyond.”
what’s your bottom made up of?
The gluteus maximus is the most superficial and largest of the three muscles in the bottom (Image: Getty)
The largest muscle in your behind is your gluteus maximus. This is a chunky, fan-shaped muscle that stretches around 15 to 20cm from the base of your spine and hip bones to the top of your thigh bone. It’s the muscle we use most when we run, step, squat and climb. It’s also the main structure that gives your bottom its shape.
However, Andrew says it’s vital not to forget the other key muscles in your behind. “The gluteus medius is the middle one, on the side of the hip,” he says. “Its main job is to stabilise the pelvis and hold you steady with every step you take. This is the muscle whose weakness causes the most trouble in older adults. But it gets the least attention in typical exercise programmes.”
Then there’s the gluteus minimus. “This is the smallest and deepest of the three, tucked underneath the medius. It works alongside it to control hip stability and contributes to inward rotation of the hip. While it’s a small muscle, it has a meaningful role.”
Modern life is weakening our glutes
Our ancestors would have walked, run, squatted, and climbed throughout the day. But from commuting in cars and working at desks to relaxing on sofas and scrolling on phones, modern life means we spend far more time sitting on our gluteal muscles than using them. The result is that this powerful group of muscles becomes underused and loses strength over time. Research has also found that regularly sitting for long periods can even make our bottoms bigger.
According to a study published in the Biophysical Journal in 2014, when the fat cells in our behinds get compressed, like when we sit down for long periods, it changes the distribution of fat tissue – encouraging it to expand.
Lead author, Professor Amit Gefen from Tel Aviv University, explained: “We found fat cells exposed to sustained, chronic pressure, like what happens to the buttocks when you’re sitting down, experienced accelerated growth of lipid droplets, which are molecules that carry fats. Contrary to muscle and bone tissue, which get mechanically weaker with disuse, fat deposits in fat cells expanded when they experienced sustained loading – by as much as 50%. This was a substantial discovery.”
Why your bum droops as you age
Dr Andrew Gorecki ia s physical therapy expert and author of the The Truth About Lower Back Pain (Image: Courtesy Andrew Gorecki)
As the years pass, many of us notice our once perky bottoms becoming flatter and well… “deflated”. And there’s a range of reasons why our derrieres lose their pert shape. Our bottoms contain a network of fibres designed to help them resist gravity. These are strong, collagen-rich threads that weave vertically out from the deep muscle fascia, go straight through your fat layers, and thread tightly into the underside of the skin, keeping it firm and supported. However, as we get older, these stretch and become less elastic, contributing to a droopier appearance.
Meanwhile, as levels of collagen, elastin and other connective tissues decline, the skin also loses its firmness, becoming uneven and wrinkled. Furthermore, unless we actively work to maintain muscle strength, our glute start to shrink from our 40s onwards, also making our bums looks flatter.
Why buttocks get dimples
Bottoms change in shape and texture as you age (Image: Getty)
More than nine out of 10 women develop cellulite at some point in their lives, particularly around their hips and buttocks. But why is this dimpled appearance more common in women than men? One reason is that women’s hormone patterns encourage them to store fat in this area.
Women also have differences in the make-up of the tissues here. In females, the fine bands of connective tissue running through this area are arranged more vertically, allowing fat cells to push up towards the skin’s surface. When their fat cells expand, they start to rise above the surface, creating a bumpy “orange peel” effect.
Men tend to have more connective tissue fibres, which are also arranged in a more criss-crossed pattern. This creates a firmer structure that holds their buttock fat more securely in place, so they get less of a dimpled effect. Men also typically have 25% thicker skin in this area. This helps make the surface of their buttocks look smoother.
How to make your glutes stronger.
Target your glutes directly: Dr Gorecki says: “Two to three sessions a week is enough. Exercises like glute bridges, single-leg glute bridges, side-lying leg lifts, clamshells, sit-to-stands, and single-leg deadlifts all belong in the mix. No gym equipment needed.”
Work on each side separately too: As well as squats which use both legs, try exercises that target one leg at a time. Gorecki adds: “Two-legged exercises let your strong side compensate for your weak side. Single-leg exercises expose and correct asymmetries, and they train the exact pattern you use when you walk.”
Move throughout the day: Dr Gorecki suggests working glute movement into your day daily to keep them active. “Standing up every 45-60 minutes, walking after meals, and building in movement breaks prevents the gluteal amnesia that hours of sitting create. Ten minutes of movement every hour matters more than one intense workout at 6pm.”
Don’t let the years get in your way: It doesn’t matter how old you are. It’s never too later to make glutes stronger. Dr Gorecki says: “Adults in their 70s and 80s still respond to glute training. The gains are meaningful and often show up quickly, within six to 12 weeks of consistent work. Don’t accept muscle loss as inevitable.”
Weak buttocks put your health at risk as you age – really
Use them or loose them (Image: Getty)
Think of your glutes as a bridge between your legs and your spine. When they lose strength, your body has to find stability elsewhere, placing more strain on other muscles and joints. This can increase the risk of back pain. Over time, weak glutes can also affect your postureand balance. When they are strong, they help keep your pelvis in a neutral position, supporting your spine’s natural curves.
Your gluteus medius, in particular, helps keep your pelvis level when you walk. If it gets weak, your hips get less stable, throwing you off balance and making trips more likely. Physiotherapist Tim Allardyce, of surreyphysio.co.uk, says: “Strong glutes help to stabilise your hips and lower back, which can in theory, help improve posture and reduce the risk of back pain. They also give you better balance and stability, which becomes increasingly important as we age.”
Bottom muscles can influence how you age
Walking speed is considered by many researchers to be one of the best signs of healthy ageing. This is because strong glutes help provide the power you need to push your body forwards with every step. As your glute strength declines, you are likely to become slower and less confident on your feet.
Dr Gorecki also runs movement platform mymovementrx.com. He has this main takeaway: “Strong glutes aren’t simply about how the buttocks look. They’re about whether you can climb the stairs at 70, walk on uneven ground at 75, get up off the floor at 80, and stay independent at 85. Everyone in the fitness industry sells the appearance of strong glutes. Fewer people talk about what they actually do – which is to keep you moving through your life.”
Dental issues can feel easy to shrug off.
In fact, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures estimate as many as one in three Americans – or 100 million – don’t get regular dental checkups, leaving issues such as tooth pain and puffy gums to linger undetected.
But an increasing body of research shows the mouth is a crucial indicator of overall health – often showing the first signs of chronic and debilitating conditions such as infections, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and even some forms of cancer.
‘The mouth is the one part of the body where a doctor can see bone, soft tissue, blood supply, and bacteria at the same time without cutting anything open,’ Dr Yev Davydov, general dentist and owner of Chroma Dental in New York City, told the Daily Mail.
‘It is also the entry point for everything you eat, drink and breathe. Whatever is happening in the rest of the body tends to show up there early.’
The mouth is home to billions of healthy and harmful bacteria. When gums become inflamed or bleed, bacteria seep into the blood vessels and carry germs to major organs such as the heart.
And while bad breath may be easy to blame on eating too much garlic or smelly fish, it may be a sign of harmful infections and uncontrolled health conditions.
Below, dentists have revealed to the Daily Mail the dental woes that should never be ignored.
While it’s easy to overlook dental care, the mouth can signal multiple chronic diseases, dentists warn
Tooth pain
‘Contrary to many people’s beliefs, tooth pain is a late signal, not an early one,’ Davydov said. ‘By the time a tooth hurts, the problem has usually been building for months or years.’
Davydov explains that bacteria in the mouth feed on sugar and starch, producing acid that, along with the bacteria, forms a sticky film on the teeth called plaque.
If that plaque is not removed through cleaning, it hardens into tartar that dissolves enamel and forms a tiny hole in the tooth, otherwise known as a cavity.
Early cavities are painless and likely to go unnoticed unless a dentist spots them during a regular cleaning. As the decay worsens, sensitivity to cold and sweets may begin. Pain, however, typically starts once the decay reaches the nerve.
Dr Kami Hoss, orthodontist and founder and CEO of SuperMouth, cautions that once the affected nerve dies, pain may disappear, but that does not mean the threat is gone.
‘Left alone, that becomes an abscess, a pocket of infection in the jawbone with open access to the bloodstream,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘That is no longer a dental problem. It is a chronic infection in the body.’
That infection can spread directly to the jawbone, surrounding teeth, sinuses and soft tissues in the face and neck.
Untreated dental infections have also been linked to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and dementia due to chronic inflammation and the bacteria hardening arteries, making cells resistant to insulin and triggering damage in the brain’s memory centers.
The CDC estimates about one in five adults ages 20 to 64 have at least one untreated cavity.
‘The practical point is simple. A cavity caught early is a small filling,’ Davydov said. ‘A cavity caught late is a root canal and a crown, or an extraction and an implant.
‘Pain is the body telling you that you have already skipped the cheap option and the dentist is now trying their best to perform damage control.’
Swollen or bleeding gums
Gum disease has been associated with heart disease, diabetes and blood cancers such as leukemia
‘If your hands bled every time you washed them, you would see a doctor that afternoon. Yet millions of people see pink in the sink every night and call it “sensitive gums,”‘ Hoss said.
‘Gums are not sensitive. They are inflamed, and inflamed gums mean the barrier between your mouth and your blood has already been breached.’
Puffy and bleeding gums are a sign of gum disease, or gingivitis. In the early stages, regular brushing and flossing can alleviate this, but if the issue persists for multiple weeks, it may be a sign of more advanced disease, known as periodontitis.
‘The bacteria move below the gumline, the body’s inflammatory response starts destroying the bone that holds the teeth in place, and that bone does not grow back,’ Davydov said.
‘This is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults, and it is almost entirely preventable if treated early.’
He also notes that the ‘systemic links are well documented.’ Periodontitis has long been associated with higher rates of heart disease, stroke and poorly controlled diabetes.
Severe gum disease triggers a constant immune response, raising inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein and cytokines, which over time damage blood vessels, raising blood pressure and potentially cutting off blood flow to the heart and brain.
Dr Kami Hoss, pictured above, told the Daily Mail that people with bleeding gums should use a toothbrush with soft bristles
Chronic inflammation from infected gums also makes the body less responsive to insulin, which may worsen diabetes.
‘Gums that swell, turn purple or bleed far more than the plaque would explain can also be the first visible sign of leukemia or a clotting disorder, and bleeding that comes with bruising, fatigue or fevers is a doctor visit, not just a dental one,’ Hoss said.
He suggests in addition to visiting a dentist, people with bleeding gums should use a toothbrush with soft bristles to reach the gumline and floss regularly.
Loose teeth
While losing your teeth is a rite of passage in childhood, in adulthood, ‘a loose tooth is always a problem,’ Davydov told the Daily Mail.
‘Teeth are anchored in bone by a ligament. If a tooth is loose, something has damaged the bone, the ligament or both,’ he added.
Tooth loss is normally caused by advanced gum disease, in which chronic infection over several years has eaten away at the bone, leaving it unstable.
Davydov notes it may also be due to teeth grinding at night, which puts excess force on teeth that supporting bones are not equipped to handle, leading to teeth loosening over time.
‘Once a tooth is loose from bone loss, it is on a path to being lost, and the bone around it keeps shrinking after the tooth is gone,’ he said.
‘That is why people who lose teeth to gum disease also lose the option of easy implants later. There is not enough bone left to put them in.’
In rare cases, a loose tooth that has no obvious dental cause such as grinding or gum disease may be a sign of a tumor or cyst in the jaw.
‘Tumors and cysts in the jaw, both benign and malignant, can destroy bone and loosen teeth from the inside,’ Davydov said. ‘Certain cancers that spread to the jaw present the same way.
‘A single loose tooth in an otherwise healthy mouth, with no gum disease and no history of trauma, needs imaging and a proper diagnosis. It should never be dismissed.’
Lingering bad breath or taste
Bad breath is normal from time to time, but a persistent foul smell may be linked to autoimmune disorders or kidney disease (stock image)
It’s common for strong foods like garlic and fish to cause smelly breath for a few hours.
But if foul breath doesn’t go away after brushing, it’s ‘a diagnosis waiting to be made, not a hygiene failure,’ Hoss told the Daily Mail.
Bacteria that gets trapped under the gums, within deep cavities in the crevices of the tongue or around a crown or filling produce sulfur compounds, creating a foul smell.
Hoss also notes a common cause is the tongue, which many people neglect to clean with a dedicated tongue cleaner.
‘Dry mouth is the most underestimated cause of all,’ he said. ‘Saliva is the mouth’s immune system: it buffers acid, rebuilds enamel and washes bacteria away, and hundreds of common medications, mouth breathing and alcohol-based mouthwash all reduce it.’
Additionally, a persistent bad taste ‘can also point beyond the mouth,’ Hoss notes.
Sjögren’s disease, an autoimmune condition that damages moisture-producing glands, has been shown to cause dryness in the mouth, causing microbes to multiply and result in bad odors.
Kidney disease also results in a failure to filter waste products from the blood, leading to a buildup of toxins called urea. When urea enters the saliva, it breaks down into ammonia, which causes a sharp odor.
Persistent mouth sores
Most sores in the mouth are canker sores, painful ulcers that usually come from biting the cheek, but in some cases, they could signal something serious.
‘The rule I give patients is simple. Any sore, lump, white patch, red patch or rough area in the mouth that has not healed in two weeks needs to be looked at,’ Davydov said.
‘Not watched. Looked at.’
Davydov warns sores that do not heal may be a sign of oral cancer, especially on the side of the tongue.
Striking about 60,000 Americans every year and killing 13,000, oral cancer is often caused by tobacco smoking, heavy alcohol use and the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus (HPV).
‘Caught early, survival is excellent. Caught late, it is one of the more disfiguring and deadly cancers there is,’ Davydov said.
‘The difference is often whether somebody looked in the mouth in time.’
Hoss also notes recurring sores canker sores have been linked to deficiencies in vitamins such as folate, iron and B12, as well as autoimmune conditions such as lupus due to inflamed mucous membranes in the mouth.
What you can do
People with a history of gum disease may require more frequent cleanings, such as every three months
Davydov stresses that preventing serious diseases in the mouth ‘is not complicated.’
He suggests brushing twice per day with a toothpaste containing fluoride, which has been shown to strengthen enamel and prevent tooth decay. Flossing is also key for preventing gum disease.
‘Do not smoke. Drink water,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘Get a professional cleaning and examination at least twice a year because plaque hardens into tartar within days, and no amount of home care removes tartar once it forms.’
Patients with a history of gum disease may need to be seen every three to four months to keep bacteria from repopulating below the gumline, and those with conditions linked to mouth issues, such as heart disease and diabetes, may require more frequent monitoring.
‘Oral care is medical care,’ Hoss told the Daily Mail. ‘Your mouth has been trying to tell you about the rest of your body your entire life. It is worth learning to listen.’
