It started with tingling hands. Then Mallory was plunged into a 'waking coma' unable even to scream. What she heard still haunts her...
Mallory Wilkerson refers to it as a 'waking coma', and it was her horrifying reality for three agonizing months back in the fall of 2024.
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Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Cancer treatment ‘on brink of golden age'
Cancer treatment is on the brink of a golden age, the most senior doctor in the NHS has said. Sir Stephen Powis said treatments are 'developing at such a pace' that a diagnosis should no longer be seen as a death sentence. In recent years, advances in immunotherapy, medication and early detection have improved survival rates, with thousands of patients now living longer and with better quality of life. He compared recent progress in fighting cancer to the way treatment for Aids has been revolutionised over the past four decades. 'As a young doctor, I saw the terrible pain and the death HIV/Aids caused to patients. Then, as you roll the clock forward, you see treatments coming in, successful therapies. 'We are now at the point where it is a condition that can be managed, and people can live a normal life that just couldn't have been imagined back in those dark days of the 1980s. When you look at that wider time frame, then goodness me — doesn't medicine advance?' Drugs which train the immune system to kill cancer cells and genetic tests which personalise treatment will all form part of a 'treatment revolution' in the coming years, he told The Times. 'Cancer treatment will get much more individualised. That's being driven by genetics.' In his last interview before stepping down as the medical director of NHS England, he said: 'We are at the cusp of a golden era in terms of the way we treat a range of cancers. People are living longer with cancers and surviving cancers, and we are curing some cancers, and that trend will continue over time. 'For many cancers now, people should be confident that it's not a death sentence and that more treatments will become available. 'Our understanding of the genetics of cancer, of the way we can target cancers with particular drugs, and how we can use the body's own immune system to target cancers itself, is being revolutionised. Half of the population will get cancer in their lifetime and 385,000 people are diagnosed with it every year in Britain. Better treatment means half now survive for 10 years after a diagnosis, compared with one in four in the 1970s. For breast cancer, three in four women now survive at least ten years after diagnosis. Lung cancers will become 'a lot rarer' because of vaccines which have shown promise in clinical trials and tests that identify the genetic profile of lung and breast cancer tumours so patients can quickly be given personalised treatment plans, he said. A revolutionary blood test that allows personalised cancer treatment is already being be rolled out on the NHS in a world first. He also claimed the smoking ban for younger generations will lead to the elimination of some types of cancer. 'Some of the diseases I've seen over my 40 years will be rare diseases for doctors in the next 40 years. The lung cancers that I've seen hopefully will be a lot rarer because of the interventions that we made. 'We can't prevent all cancers, but there are cancers that we can certainly prevent,' he said.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Monday briefing: The ‘toxic cocktail' of climate denial, federal cuts and the Texas floods
Good morning. The death toll from the catastrophic floods in Texas has climbed to 129, including at least 27 children and counsellors at Camp Mystic in Kerr County. With more than 160 people still missing, authorities warn that the number of casualties is likely to rise. On Sunday morning, some search operations were cancelled as heavy rain and strong winds battered the state once again. The flash floods, which swept through large parts of central Texas, are being described as one of the worst natural disasters in the state's history. At Camp Mystic, rain gauges recorded 6.5in (16.5cm) of rainfall in just 180 minutes. In addition to the human cost, the floods have caused widespread destruction. According to a preliminary estimate by private forecaster AccuWeather, the economic toll could range from $18bn to $22bn (£13.2bn to £16.2bn). The floods struck as the climate crisis worsens, and as the Trump administration's hollowing out of federal agencies has left critical services such as the National Weather Service under severe strain. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is also facing continued threats of defunding. Yet, despite the scale of devastation, there has been little public reckoning over climate breakdown or the erosion of essential public services. Instead, conspiracy theories have abounded. To understand how this catastrophe unfolded and the political response to it, I spoke to Oliver Milman, the Guardian US environment reporter. That's after the headlines. Israel-Gaza | An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 10 people, including six children, who were waiting to collect water in Gaza, Palestinian health officials have said. Dozens of others were killed in Gaza over the weekend in a separate strike that hit a home and a shooting near a food aid distribution site. Health | Health officials have urged people to come forward for the measles vaccine if they are not up to date with their shots after a child at Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool died from the disease. UK news | Charlotte Church, veteran peace campaigners, Trade unionists, activists and politicians, are among hundreds who have signed a letter describing the move to ban the group Palestine Action as 'a major assault on our freedoms'. Spain | Several people were hurt in a second night of anti-migrant unrest in the town of Torre Pacheco in south-east Spain after a pensioner was beaten up, authorities said. NHS | Health secretory Wes Streeting will meet representatives from the British Medical Association this week as he looks to avert five days of strikes by resident doctors. The devastating floods began in the early hours of 4 July, Independence Day in the US. Oliver Milman told me that what started out as a seemingly small storm stalled in an area where two rivers in central Texas meet, and dumped an enormous amount of rain. 'It caused the river to burst its banks, swept away homes, cars, flooded rivers and, most tragically, caught up on Camp Mystic,' Oliver said. 'There's still hope that some people could be rescued, but it's certainly going to be one of the biggest, deadliest natural disasters in recent US history.' Oliver said there are several factors that could explain why this flood was so devastating. We also get into the responses from elected officials and other players. How much of this is down to the climate crisis? As the planet gets hotter, mostly because of humans burning fossil fuels, the atmosphere is able to hold more moisture. One meteorologist told Oliver that the Earth's atmosphere is now like a giant sponge. 'You've got more moisture in the atmosphere, and more energy because it's getting hotter, and therefore you're getting more of these extreme precipitation events happening in several places around the world, including parts of the eastern US. But the western half of the US seems to be getting more drought,' Oliver said. 'So, very crudely speaking, half the country's not getting enough rain, and the other half is getting too much in these intense downpours.' He pointed to some interesting statistics from the Environment Protection Agency: of the 10 heaviest precipitation single-day events in US history going back to 1910, nine have happened since 1995. 'We're clearly getting more and more of these events. There's been research done showing they're becoming more common in Texas and will continue to as the world heats up,' Oliver added. The geography of central Texas also made the floods more catastrophic. 'It's hilly and has these canyons, lots of rivers, and not much topsoil. So when rain hits, it flies off the ground very quickly. It's known as 'Flash Flood Alley' in some places, so that was a factor. The rain hit, and the devastation followed.' What impact have Donald Trump's cuts had? The other factor, which Oliver likened to a toxic cocktail, is the political situation in the US. 'The Trump administration has essentially tried to gut the federal workforce: firing scientists, firing weather forecasters, trying to eliminate large sections of the scientific agencies that deal with climate change. So you had a situation where a lot of National Weather Service offices, which track storms and issue warnings, were critically understaffed,' Oliver explained. Democrats have called for an investigation into whether the sweeping cuts introduced by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), once led by Elon Musk, played any role in the disaster. The Trump administration has dismissed any suggestion that its policies had an impact. 'The Trump administration has pushed back quite hard and said this was an act of God, there were adequate resources, and so on,' Oliver said. Yet, understaffing was an issue and there was a disconnect between the meteorologists issuing warnings and the emergency services, he said. 'The National Weather Service issued a warning about dangerous flood conditions at 1.14am [on 4 July], but there wasn't – and it's still unclear why – coordination with emergency services to evacuate people, to mobilise resources in enough time. A lot of people are pointing fingers at the cuts Trump has made to the coordination services usually handled by the federal government.' And it's not just Trump that people are focusing on. The week before the floods, Texas senator Ted Cruz, ensured that the 'big, beautiful bill', a Republican spending bill pushed through and signed by Trump on Independence Day, would include particular cuts. 'It does a lot of things: cuts the social safety net, people lose health care, gives tax breaks to the wealthy, removes food assistance, guts support for clean energy,' Oliver said. 'But one thing it also did was remove a $150m fund to improve weather forecasting at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Cruz personally inserted the language to cut that and then, tragically, just days later this storm hit his home state and killed many people. So there are a lot of questions being asked about his role and whether those cuts played a significant role.' Republicans have largely fallen into line on the Texas floods, lavishing praise on Trump, while avoiding questions around the effect of Doge. Has this moved the dial on the climate emergency? In Texas, the reaction on the ground has been one of disbelief and devastation, Oliver said. 'There's a lot of 'thoughts and prayers' rhetoric in Texas right now, a sense of rallying to help those in need. People are mainly stunned rather than immediately pointing fingers, although local officials are raising questions about how much warning they got from the National Weather Service. There are also concerns about the local government's actions. There had been a plan to install an early-warning flood system along the river, but the idea was ditched because it was considered too expensive. So you've got this local angle, too.' Far-right players have descended on central Texas in a stunt they claim is part of a 'disaster relief' effort. In a video posted by one group, they say their so-called 'activists' are distributing supplies to survivors, but make clear that they are prioritising 'their people' and 'European peoples' in those operations. As is now common when disaster strikes, conspiracy theories are being spread, Oliver said, by rightwing influencers and elected representatives such as Marjorie Taylor Greene. 'They have questioned the cause [of the flood], whether it's weather modification, cloud seeding, some nefarious machine. There's this irony: we are modifying the weather – it's called climate change. But it's not the kind of weather modification they're talking about.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Oliver isn't surprised by this reaction. 'People are now able to live in their own realities, sealed off from facts,' he said. 'Whatever people believed before the storm, the storm just reinforced it. That's become a recurring theme, not just in disasters but in politics more broadly. People are very entrenched here. I know that's also an issue in the UK and Europe, but in the US things feel paralysed. I don't know if this will move anyone's opinion.' Two museums in Ukraine, writes Charlotte Higgins, have found new ways to propagate the history and culture the Russian invasion had hoped to erase. It's a haunting tribute to resourcefulness under fire. Alex Needham, acting head of newsletters In a devastating New Yorker interview (£), Unicef's James Elder speaks of seeing children in Gaza with fourth-degree burns and shrapnel wounds, screaming in agony due to a lack of painkillers, all amid a deadly crisis of hunger and thirst. Aamna We're told that Britain is an angry nation, hostile to refugees, climate activists and people on benefits. But in fact, John Harris argues, the population's views are broadly in line with those of the audience at Glastonbury – so why aren't we represented by the mainstream political parties? Alex The Guardian's Dan Sabbagh reports from northern France on the enduring human drive to reach the UK – a spirit that continues to defy 20 years of political and security efforts to stop irregular migration. Aamna Are you reading this after a terrible night's sleep? In that case, click on this piece by Joel Snape, which is full of tips on how to make it through today without resorting to sugar, carbs and excessive amounts of coffee. Alex Tennis | Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the Wimbledon men's singles final, a month after losing to the Spaniard at the French Open. Sinner is the first Italian player to win a Wimbledon title. Cricket | India finished on 58 for 4 in the third test, needing another 135 runs to beat England on the final day after a sensational day's play at Lord's. Football | England surged into the last eight after Georgia Stanway sparked an emphatic 6-1 win against Wales. France trailed 2-1 at half-time but hit back to beat the Netherlands 5-2 – with two goals from Delphine Cascarino – to top Group D. The Guardian splashes on 'Warning over Israeli 'ethnic cleansing' plan for Gaza,' an interview with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. The Times leads on 'Bank could cut rates if jobs market slows down,' while the Telegraph goes with 'Tax raid looms for middle classes.' The Metro splashes on 'Politicians? We don't trust any of you,' for the Express, it's 'Toothless' new sex abuse laws won't protect children,' the Mirror has 'King backs Harry peace talks' on their family feud, and the Mail goes with 'Labour's doctors strike hypocrisy.' The FT leads on 'Germany urges weapons suppliers to speed up European rearmament,' and for the i Paper, it's 'Measles surge fears for summer holidays after child dies amid low jab uptake.' Syria's treasure hunting fever After the fall of Assad, a new business is booming in Syria: metal detectors. The items were banned by the regime but their return to shops means treasure hunters are searching for millenia-old burial sites, leaving the ancient city of Palmyra covered in holes. Reporter William Christou and Syrian archaeologist Amr Al-Azm speak with Michael Safi. A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad Social media can be brutal, but Brenda Allen is doing her bit to make it more benign. The 95-year-old, who lives in Cheshire, has proved a huge hit on TikTok. Her videos, in which she talks through her collection of Jellycat soft toys, have garnered more than 2m views, along with a flood of requests in the comments from people asking to adopt her as their gran. Brenda is now planning to auction her collection of Jellycats in aid of a children's hospice. Her daughter Julie said that the family had been 'blown away' by her moment of internet fame. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Doctor warns about the huge mistake millions make in the car every day: 'Your brain slows down'
A doctor has shocked millions of drivers after revealing that a common setting in your car could be quietly sabotaging your brain function. Dr Clay Moss has racked up more than 6.9million views on a video after issuing a blunt warning about the recirculation button - a familiar feature most drivers flick on without a second thought. 'Did you know there's a single button in your car that could be causing more harm than good?' the American expert began in the eye-opening video. 'You guys remember this little guy right here that we always love putting on?' he said, pointing to the well-known recirculation symbol, which is typically found on the dashboard near the air conditioning controls. 'That little recirculation symbol stops outside air from getting in, which is great when you're trying to quickly cool off the air on a hot day, but it can have unintended consequences over time,' he explained. It's not just smog it's stopping, it's your the brain from functioning at its best, too. While many hit the button to block pollution or get cool air flowing fast, Dr Moss says keeping the car in recirculation mode for too long can quietly poison the air inside. 'You see, when you're breathing in a sealed car, carbon dioxide builds up pretty quickly. Thirty minutes of recirculation and you could easily exceed 12,000 PPM [parts per million] of CO2, where your brain literally starts to slow down.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Clay Moss, MD (@drclaymoss) With two or three passengers, the issue gets worse: 'You could easily hit 2500–3000ppm of carbon dioxide. That's when you start to get drowsy, foggy and irritable.' And he's not just talking hypothetically. In a 2018 study on U.S. driving conditions, the levels of carbon dioxide recorded were alarming. It found that under recirculation mode, even single-occupant drives can reach up to 2,500ppm in longer or multi-occupant trips, well above cognitive risk thresholds. According to Dr Moss, that's where cognitive performance drops, reaction time slows, and you're more prone to drowsiness and brain fog. Before you panic, Dr Moss says there's an easy hack that takes just seconds and could make a massive difference to your alertness behind the wheel. 'Now, the fix is super easy,' he said. 'You just either crack the window, or switch to the fresh air mode and turn off the recirculation mode for just two minutes. It flushes the CO2 out and keeps your brain sharp.' 'Your car's climate settings aren't just about comfort, they mess with your cognition too,' he added. 'So breathe better, drive safe.' The clip has sparked major debate online, with many drivers admitting they had no idea something so minor could affect their brain so dramatically. 'I drive to work two hours each way every day… is this why I get so sleepy by the time I get to my destination?' one person commented. 'I've actually never used it to cool off, but I've used it when driving through stuff that I don't want getting in my car (like truck exhaust, dust, dirt, grass, etc),' said another. 'Is that why I suffer from road rage?' Another joked. Others pointed out they use it 'all the time to avoid city smog,' while some confessed that they've never switched it off. However, in a silver lining, more modern cars have an automatic recirculation mode that have timers to effectively shut-off by themselves to keep drivers safe.
