Health
Is medical screening bad for your health? Michael Mosley dons a pair of ‘dignity shorts’ to find out
When the link between tobacco and lung cancer was first established in the early 1950s, one obvious question arose: should…
My eco-home nightmare
Buying an eco-home? Expect stifling springs and summers
The joy of anti-psychotic drugs
The doctor eyed me suspiciously as I walked into her consulting room. ‘Ye-es?’ she said, nervously, eyeing me up and…
Living next door to someone rich, and beside a motorway, makes you fat and your blood pressure soar
I wrote last week about a swarm of bees that had attached itself to a wall of my house, as…
Of course you can choose to get up early (and maybe you can choose to be gay)
‘Oh, I’m an owl,’ said my friend Nick. ‘You’re probably a lark.’ I raised an eyebrow. He explained. Apparently all…
The real reason GPs are grumpy: the robots are coming for them
There’s something wrong with the relationship between patients and their GPs. I’ve spent much of this winter in my local…
In praise of cyberchondria
There’s something perversely satisfying in discovering that your children have inherited your vices. That’s why I was so quietly pleased…
How France’s left-wing government learned to love austerity
How France learned to love cuts
Spectator letters: Bereaved parents against press regulation, and a defence of Tony Benn
Why we need a free press Sir: As bereaved parents and (to borrow from some signatories of last week’s advertisement)…
When posters told us our place
As a sign of the way things have changed, nothing could better this. Hester Vaizey, Cambridge history don and ‘publishing…
Jeffrey Archer’s diary: My personal trainer only smiles when I’m in pain
The week leading up to publication is a strange time for any author. You subject yourself to doing everything from…
Would you let parents destroy ‘gay’ embryos?
Because I’d like to have a child, and I’m getting on a bit, my husband and I have spent time…
Penelope Lively’s diary: My old-age MOT
My surgery has been calling in all those over 75 for a special session with their doctor — a sort…
Clarissa Tan's Notebook: Why I stopped drinking petrol
Florence was in fog the day I arrived. Its buildings were bathed in white cloud, its people moved as though…
A successful obesity campaign? Fat chance
Fat chances The National Obesity Forum said that Britain is reaching a ‘doomsday scenario’ where half the population is obese.…
Barometer: Storm waves? It could be three times worse
The test of a wave Waves measuring 27ft from peak to trough were seen off Land’s End as the stormy…
Don't tax sugar - it doesn't make you fat. Gluttony does
Obesity isn’t a matter of addiction. It’s a question of self-control
I got a call from Jeremy Hunt about health tourism — but he still doesn't get it
Ministers are finally acting on my warnings about health tourism. But they aren’t doing enough
Letters: On quitting Facebook, and putting down Nigel
Why we joined Sir: I was astonished by the assertion made by Wyn Grant (Letters, 21 September) that ‘the postwar…
How can I be a member of the Chipping Norton set?
Q. I am working on becoming a member of the Chipping Norton set. Should I be pronouncing the excellent open-air…
The BMA’s bizarre jihad against e-cigarettes
What strategy should we adopt to cope with the British Medical Association? Its members kill more people each year than…
Andrew Marr’s diary: Holidays after a stroke, and what the Germans really think of us
It’s been a strange summer. After a stroke, holidays are not what they used to be. We went to Juan-les-Pins…
