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First heat-health alert issued for 4 parts of the UK from tomorrow – amid warnings of ‘serious outcomes'

First heat-health alert issued for 4 parts of the UK from tomorrow – amid warnings of ‘serious outcomes'

The Suna day ago

PARTS of Britain face scorching 30°C heat this weekend, with health chiefs warning it could trigger "serious" health risks.
It comes as the first yellow heat health alert has been issued for 2025 by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
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"Even moderate heat can result in serious health outcomes," Dr Agostinho Sousa, from the health body said,
"[This is] especially for older adults, and it is therefore important that everyone takes sensible precautions while enjoying the sun."
The heat alert comes into force from 9pm on Thursday and runs until 8am on Sunday, covering the East of England, East Midlands, London and South East regions.
"The forecasted high temperatures are expected to be short-lived but could primarily impact those over the age of 65 or those with pre-existing health conditions," Dr Agostinho added.
"If you have friends, family or neighbours who are more vulnerable, it is important to check in on them and ensure they are aware of the forecasts and are following the necessary advice.''

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The misuse of ADHD drugs – and what they really do to your body and brain
The misuse of ADHD drugs – and what they really do to your body and brain

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The misuse of ADHD drugs – and what they really do to your body and brain

Be more alert; improve your focus; do better at work: these are the reasons why high-flyers, from surgeons to lawyers and bankers, take 'brain-doping' ADHD drugs despite not having the condition. Now, increasing numbers of elite athletes are joining them, looking for something extra to give them the competitive edge. But taking ADHD drugs when you don't need them will certainly do more harm than good, with many takers becoming more irritable, experiencing sleep disruption and, in the most serious cases, causing heart problems, anxiety and depression. Sportspeople are barred by the World Anti-Doping Agency from taking ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderall before competing, but those who have been diagnosed with ADHD are exempt, on the grounds that they need the drugs to function. Such exemptions have tripled in the last five years, so suspicion has turned to the 'subjective assessments' by doctors to diagnose athletes with ADHD in adulthood, John Brewer, a former UK Anti Doping board member told The Telegraph last month. There has been a known black market for ADHD drugs ever since they became available to buy online, with packets of Ritalin, the drug most commonly prescribed to people with ADHD in Britain, selling for less than £20 on the websites of unscrupulous online pharmacies. It's more common, however, for stressed students and professionals alike to acquire spare pills from friends and family. In fact parents, who believe they have ADHD but have never been diagnosed, have been known 'to take stimulants that have been prescribed for their children because they think it helps them to perform better', says Katya Rubia, professor of cognitive neuroscience at King's College London. What are the main ADHD drugs and how do they affect your brain? In Britain, the drug most commonly prescribed for ADHD is Ritalin, the brand name for the drug methylphenidate – a type of stimulant drug. Adderall, another stimulant drug, is typically prescribed in America, and sometimes finds its way into the hands of British students (or professionals) illegally. There is an important distinction between 'misuse' of ADHD drugs – taking them in their prescribed doses when you don't have ADHD – and 'abuse', which means taking large amounts of Adderall or Ritalin for a high, says Prof Rubia. ADHD drugs are considered to be 'very safe' in the small doses prescribed to treat the condition, adds Prof Rubia, but abusing the drugs can cause heart palpitations, stomach aches and can be 'neurotoxic'. 'They actually change your brain's dopamine system, producing effects like anxiety and depression, as well as inattention and difficulties with memory,' she adds. In other words, abusing ADHD drugs can leave you with a set of symptoms that look a lot like ADHD. 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Hay fever 2025: What is it and how can you treat the symptoms?
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The official start of summer is just around the corner. The weather is feeling warmer and lots of plants are in bloom. This also means that there is more pollen in the air. With pollen comes hay fever, an allergic reaction to pollen, which can mean a runny nose and itchy eyes for many to the Met Office, the UK's national weather service, pollen levels will be high in many areas of the UK over the next five days, with differences depending on where you what exactly is hay fever and what are the ways we can improve symptoms? Read on to find out. What is the pollen count? People with hay fever can check how high the levels of pollen in the air are by watching special weather well as telling you about the weather, presenters can also give a pollen count, to warn people when the levels are Met Office record the pollen count for five days ahead across the whole of the the next five days they have predicted that in some areas the pollen will be high, and in some it could be very high. However, this does vary depending on where you live, so it is important to check the information for your local area. What is hay fever? Hay fever is an allergy. People who have it are allergic to is a type of fine powder which is released by lots of different plants and are three different types of pollen - tree pollen, grass pollen and weed are lots of proteins in pollen which can cause your nose, eyes and throat to become swollen or irritated if you are allergic to you have hay fever you might suffer from an itchy throat, itchy eyes, a runny nose, or sneezing. All of these are signs of your body is trying to protect itself by getting rid of the pollen. Who is likely to get hay fever? Hay fever is one of the most common allergies in the UK, affecting about 13 million can get it at any age, although it usually starts when you are everyone has hay fever, but it is more common in people whose family members already have it or if you have fever is also more common in people with other can be affected by different types of pollen as example, there is a lot of tree pollen in the spring, grass pollen in the summer and weed pollen in the autumn. Tips for dealing with hay fever symptoms Although there is no cure for hay fever, people who have it can manage the symptoms in many different tips include:Wearing sunglasses to help stop as much pollen getting into your freshly cut clothes if you have been spending too long outside in the early evening when the pollen count can be windows at night-time.

Man, 21, hospitalised due to risky 'sounding' sex act involving a USB cable
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A 21-year-old man ended up needing emergency surgery after a sexual experiment with a USB cable went horribly wrong. The unnamed college student inserted the object into his urethra—the tube in the penis that carries urine out of the body—as part of a dangerous practice called 'sounding'. But the thick cable—which he had inserted in a U-shaped loop leaving both ends hanging outside of him—had gotten stuck, requiring an urgent trip to A&E. American medics, who reported the case, said their patient admitted to having inserted objects like 'cotton swabs and wire cables' in a similar manner before. But on this occasion he found himself unable to extract the USB cable. Scans show how the man had pushed the looped cable so deep inside his urethra that it had entered his bladder, where it then become lodged. Writing in the journal Cureus, the medics said that initial attempts by staff to pull the cable out by hand were unsuccessful. As a result, they decided to anaesthetise the man and attempted to extract the cable using special tools inserted into the urethra. This proved successful and the cable was 'gently' pulled out until it could be snipped with scissors and each section extracted more easily. After keeping him in hospital for a week for monitoring, the man was then discharged with painkillers and antibiotics. One month later he returned to hospital for a follow up which showed he had suffered no long term problems from his ordeal. Writing in the report the medics noted: 'Self-insertion of objects into the urethra for sexual or other reasons is rare but can cause serious harm.' Known risks include an infection, which can in turn lead to life-threatening sepsis as permanent damage to the reproductive organs. If inserted objects reach the bladder, it also carries the potential of rupturing the organ. Sounding is a sexual kink whereby people, mostly men, insert long thin objects into their urethra. Examples of objects previously used include forks, telephone cables metal piping, nail clippers, an allen key, needles, olive seeds, batteries, a skipping rope, a coyote rib, and even a decapitated snake. While most famously done for sexual pleasure the act is has carried out by people with serious mental health conditions as well as men undertaking an ill-advised attempt to maintain an erection. UK experts have previously reported a rise in the number of men having sounding issues over the past few years. They have blamed it the surge in men looking to 'expand their sexual activities and enhance their sexual experiences'. How many men perform sounding is unknown. However, the NHS in England reported treating 258 cases where patients had a 'foreign body' stuck in their urethra last financial year. The vast majority of these cases, 231, were in men with an average patient age of 47.

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