Readers on the government’s plans to move away from financial support for those with mental health conditions given through personal independence paymentPerhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the government has continued to attack “mental health culture” (Mentally ill people being used as ‘political football’, campaigners say, 29 April). The publication...

Exclusive: Ceilings in two units in Stepping Hill hospital collapse days apart including in critical care unitParts of ceilings have fallen in at two key units of a decrepit NHS hospital, forcing it to evacuate patients and cancel X-rays and scans, the Guardian can reveal.The problems at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, which is plagued by leaks...

Athletes are breaking their silence about their experience of eating disorders and disordered eating. Why is this happening in an arena celebrated as the epitome of health?Elite sport has long been consumed with the idea of the superhuman. Pushing the capabilities of the human body to its extremes in the hopes of uncovering the blueprint to engineer...

Genetic analysis of Winchester samples shows similar strains of disease and supports theory that fur trade played role in spreadLeprosy passed between humans and red squirrels in medieval England, research suggests, supporting the theory that the fur trade could have played a role in the spread of the disease.Leprosy is one of the oldest infectious...

State’s fall as the last bastion of access to the procedure in the deep south means women will have to travel farther for careRose hadn’t even missed her period when the thought hit her: “I need to take a test.”The Florida resident, who has two kids, had given birth just three months ago. She thought that she and her husband were being careful. But...

Philip Morris International has supported non-smoking programmes around the world ‘to advance its own interests’, say health professionalsThe tobacco company Philip Morris has sponsored courses for doctors in multiple countries, in what critics have called a “grotesque” strategy.Medical education programmes on quitting smoking and harm reduction in...