Health & Beauty

Meditate on the word meditation and it is likely that certain images will come to mind. A Buddhist monk perhaps in saffron robes, or a lycra-clad young woman folded into the lotus position.

In the last couple of decades, meditation has risen from the realm of Eastern spiritual practice to emerge as a stress-busting antidote to modern life. Science has corroborated what Zen masters have known for years; that regular meditation helps people cope with stress, illness and chronic pain as well as promoting wellbeing and a host of other benefits. In fact, regular meditation practice is...

AS South West children prepare to start school, new statistics* released by Cancer Research UK today (Thursday) reveal the scale of the child obesity crisis facing the region. Every year, around 4,000 children in the South West who started primary school at a healthy weight end up obese or overweight by the time they leave. This worrying statistic adds to the fact that nearly one in five children (22.3%)in the South West are already overweight or obese when they start primary school. And by the time they leave, that figure rises to more than one in three (30.5%) in year 6. To highlight the...

A test has been developed that could help to diagnose bacterial infections, including meningitis in minutes. If made available through the NHS, this test would significantly reduce the time taken to diagnose the disease and minimise the risk of misdiagnosis.

The new test, developed by a team at Imperial College London, is a major breakthrough in the rapid diagnosis of meningitis and sepsis in children. If made available through the NHS, it could allow treatment to begin much earlier, saving hundreds of lives and reducing the risk of life-changing after-effects.

The signs...

Flexible working can provide an antidote to the health risks associated with sedentary office jobs in Exeter according to a new survey from Regus. Medical journal The Lancet recently published a paper outlining the risks to health of sitting at the desk all day.

The Regus survey suggests that flexible work could be an antidote. Regus canvassed business people from across Exeter on their attitudes and approaches to work. 74% of respondents believe that working closer to home helps improve health, and more than three fifths (61%) believe working closer to home would encourage them to...