She switched to the service and has now been left without the internet or a working phoneIn January, BT somehow managed to convince my 75-year-old mother that it would be a good idea for her to switch her landline over to its new Digital Voice service. As far as I can see, she has been overcharged ever since.And then it got worse. After an engineer’s...

Genetics alone can mean a 21% greater risk of early death, research finds, but people can improve their chancesA healthy lifestyle may offset the impact of genetics by more than 60% and add another five years to your life, according to the first study of its kind.It is well established that some people are genetically predisposed to a shorter lifespan....

From runner’s knee to fraying cartilage, knees are involved in 40% of sports injuries. But it can be hard to pin down what’s wrong, or what to do about it. Here’s what the physios saySign up for Well Actually, a free weekly newsletter about health and wellness“I could talk for days about knees,” says physiotherapist Patricia Collins. “After backs, they...

Often misused by politicians, nostalgia is a positive emotion that could do with a makeoverI have always been prone to homesickness. As a child, I didn’t really enjoy holidays, I dreaded going away on school trips and I hated sleepovers. At the beginning of 2021, when I first started thinking about the history of nostalgia, and in the midst of the pandemic,...

Having a baby led to an unexpected disease and then surgery that altered Lauren Bensted’s body for ever. She talks about the pain she felt in being separated from her newborn, and her journey to learn to accept her new life“We’re going to have to disconnect you,” says the man at my bedside. Since I was hospitalised a fortnight ago, this man and his...

We can get into the habit of thinking about our sibling with judgment and criticismThe question Since our mother’s death, my brother and I have had no contact. He lives more than 100 miles away. Our relationship has been very difficult for over 40 years. When we both had young children, things were better for a time. When our dad died, Mum’s health...