Health / Medical

An African history of cannabis offers fascinating and heartbreaking insights – an expert explains

By Chris S. Duvall, University of New Mexico When I tell people that I research cannabis, I sometimes receive a furtive gesture that implies and presumes: “We’re both stoners!”, as if two members of a secret society have met. Other times, I receive looks of concern. “You don’t want to be known as the guy who studies marijuana,” a professional colleague once counselled. Lastly, some respond with blank stares: “Why […]

January 11, 2024 18

Health / Medical

Social workers can help children more effectively by assessing the needs of the whole family – study

By Chris Desmond, University of the Witwatersrand and Kathryn Watt, University of KwaZulu-Natal What do children need most? The answer often depends on a person’s relationship with the child. When people think about children outside their family and close friends, they commonly make basic needs the priorities. Food, shelter and services such as health and education come first. When we think of children we have a close relationship with, […]

January 11, 2024 19

Health / Medical

Does exercise really do nothing for longevity, as a Finnish twins study suggests?

BGStock72/Shutterstock George M. Savva, Quadram Institute Surveys on lifestyle and longevity consistently find that people who do more exercise live longer. So it is surprising to see a report from the Finnish Twins Cohort Study that there is little direct effect of “leisure time physical activity” on lifespan. What makes this study different from others – and is it right? Human behaviour and biology are complex and interact with wider […]

January 10, 2024 17

Health / Medical

Stressed out? Why mindfulness and meditation help us cope with the world

By Lucy Draper-Clarke, University of the Witwatersrand In a world fraught with anxiety, stress, and environmental and humanitarian disasters, people are looking for ways to cope. Many have turned to practices originating in ancient eastern philosophies for guidance. Among these is mindfulness, which is linked to meditation. Lucy Draper-Clarke, researcher and author of The Compassionate Activist, spoke to health & medicine editor Nadine Dreyer about looking inwards and cultivating compassion, […]

January 10, 2024 26

Health / Medical

How living like a hunter-gatherer could improve your health

Prostock-studio/Shutterstock By Nicholas Bourne, University of East London; David Clayton, Nottingham Trent University, and Marcello Bertotti, University of East London Many of us want to live long, happy and healthy lives. Yet it’s often confusing to know the best way to achieve this, and many aspects of modern, westernised living conspire to keep us from achieving this goal. The solution may be to step back in time. For the bulk […]

January 10, 2024 17

Health / Medical

New Year, New You: Tips for Establishing and Maintaining an Exercise Routine

Are you looking to start the new year with a renewed commitment to your health and fitness? We've got you covered with some practical tips to help you establish and stick to an exercise routine, with a particular focus on outdoor activities. 1. Embrace the Great Outdoors If the thought of being confined to a gym doesn't excite you, consider taking your workouts outside. Outdoor activities like hiking, biking, running, […]

January 9, 2024 24

Health / Medical

Saving Lives: The Importance and Benefits of Donating Blood

Have you ever wondered what happens to the blood that you donate? Did you know that donating blood can save lives and has numerous benefits for the donors as well? Blood donation is an essential way of life that has proven to make a significant difference in the lives of many people. With the Namibian Blood Transfusion Service still facing a critically low supply of blood, here are some reasons […]

January 9, 2024 30

Health / Medical

Global COVID-19 cases increase

The World Health Organisation has revealed that the number of new Coronavirus cases increased by 52 percent during the past four weeks globally with over 850 000 new cases reported. Most infections have been caused by a new strain called JN. 1 which is now under close scrutiny by the UN health agency as a variant of interest. JN. 1 was reportedly first detected in the United States before spreading […]

January 8, 2024 63

Africa

Senegal’s small scale gold miners still use poisonous mercury: how to reduce the harm

By Jacqueline Gerson, Michigan State University “Do not fish in these waters.” “Contains high levels of mercury.” These warnings are shown at thousands of lakes and rivers globally, as well as on numerous fish products. But eating mercury-laden fish is not the only source of mercury exposure. Even more dangerous is the inhalation of mercury vapours, which are released as mercury is used in the extraction of another trace […]

January 8, 2024 11