You don’t need to be surrounded by grass to fight hay fever, as city dwellers suffer worse symptoms, a study suggests.
Scientists at the University of Manchester analyzed 35,000 symptom reports over five years from 700 people.
Participants recorded how often they experienced a runny nose, eye pain and wheezing on an app, along with where they lived.
The researchers found that these three symptoms were twice as severe in urban areas as in rural areas.
The cause may be increased pollution, says study author Professor Sheena Cruickshank.
You don’t need to be surrounded by grass to fight hay fever as city dwellers suffer worse symptoms, study suggests (file photo)
Cannabis use is a “time bomb” for adolescents
Rising cannabis use among British teenagers is a “ticking time bomb” for mental health services, one of the UK’s leading psychiatrists has warned.
According to the ONS, one in five young people aged between 16 and 19 regularly use the class B drug.
Dr Shubulade Smith, incoming president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, tells the BMJ: “If you start smoking cannabis regularly, your risk of developing a psychotic illness is five times greater by the time you are 25.
“The Government should see this as a possible time bomb.”
Studies have linked frequent use to psychosis and schizophrenia. Dr Smith has called for a public campaign to inform young people about the harms of cannabis. She says: ‘We have a lot of education about alcohol, so we know what it does. But the same is not true with cannabis.”
According to the ONS, one in five young people between 16 and 19 years old regularly use this class B medication (file photo)
Two-thirds of people in the UK have avoided the dentist in the last year due to financial concerns.
Older adults were more likely to be affected: 81 percent of people over 65 said they had avoided dental checkups because of the high costs.
A survey of 2,000 Britons also shows an 83 percent increase in child tooth extractions in the last year, which dentists say is linked to a lack of controls.
Meanwhile, the survey, carried out by medical lawyers Patient Claim Line, found that half of respondents avoided opticians and a third did not purchase prescription drugs.
A spokesperson for the law firm advised those with financial concerns to visit the NHS website for advice and help covering medical costs.
The Covid-19 pandemic slowed the development of new diabetes and cancer drugs for eight in ten of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
The focus on creating tests and vaccines for the virus caused the delay, according to a survey of 100 pharmacy bosses by medical firm LogiPharma.
Only one in five say they are still on track to launch all the drugs planned for this year. Top company executives say safety trials of new drugs have been halted to help defeat the virus.
A 2021 analysis found that Covid-19 had disrupted 1,200 clinical trials of medical treatments worldwide.