Health & Wellbeing

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‘After losing my husband to suicide, I had two choices: sink or swim’

In August 2013 I lost my husband John to suicide. My two children Callum and Amelya were nine and five at the time and we were completely shell-shocked.

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Niara Mae Opinion Being diagnosed with endometriosis finally taught me how to say ‘no’

It’s not that I was unfamiliar with pain before all of this. I’ve been in and out of physical therapy since middle school. I stopped taking Advil and jumped to prescription Ibuprofen early on.

10 expert tips to alleviate, reduce and prevent back pain

The majority of us will experience lower back pain at some point. Working from home and reduced exercise opportunities over the past year have not helped our backs. We can do our best to prevent back pain, but when it does happen, what can we do to manage our pain and prevent it from happening again?

Ask the doctor: I woke up one morning to banging noises and the GP says it is tinnitus. Is there really no cure?

Question: I recently developed tinnitus. I woke up one morning to a banging noise in the house and tried to locate it. I went and woke my teenage son as I was worried, and he said he couldn’t hear a thing. After getting my ears tested, my GP says it is tinnitus and basically I just have to live with it. I’m finding it hard to come to terms with the fact I have to spend the next 30 years with this — I’m a healthy 50-year-old woman. Is there really nothing that can be done? Why did this happen?

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‘What you never had you never missed — look at all I did, the places I went and the people I met' – Stories from the survivors of Ireland’s polio epidemic

In June this year, the UK declared a ‘national incident’ after the polio virus was detected in the country for the first time since 1984. The infection, which is caused by a virus, causes fever, vomiting and muscle stiffness.

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A widower’s diary: ‘After my wife died, I had a compulsive urge to throw out all her stuff. Maybe it was grief by Marie Kondo’

After my wife died, I had a compulsive urge to throw out all her stuff. I gave her nice clothes to people who would treasure them — or at least wear them. I binned her lockdown wardrobe of cheap hoodies and baggy tracksuit bottoms she didn’t even have the chance to wear out.

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Ask Allison: I want my kids vaccinated against Covid but my ex disagrees – how do we resolve this?

Allison Keating answers your queries about life & relationships.

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Could immunotherapy be the answer to Kate Middleton’s horse allergy? And what other allergies can it cure?

For longtime sufferers, any hint of itchy eyes or a streaming nose may sound the alarm. Those with allergies are well-accustomed to the telltale signs of an imminent attack and are often armed with an array of prophylactics, from sprays to pills and ointments, to head off the worst symptoms. This can be particularly heartbreaking for animal lovers whose families develop allergies to dander (skin cells shed from animals with fur).

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Dietitian Orla Walsh: how to shop for the perfect back-to-school lunch for your kids

Let’s start with the most important thing to remember when packing a lunchbox: an uneaten lunch has zero nutrients. So, don’t start the year packing a lunchbox full of foods you only wish they would eat! Do you want them to eat a healthy meal today or love nourishing food forever? Patience leads to progress. Acknowledge where they are at, have an idea where you’d like them to be, and move there slowly.

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‘Three years ago I flew to Estonia for a gastric sleeve. The only side effect I’ve experienced is effortless weight loss’

When you read about weight loss surgery (WLS), it’s always about the immediate before and after stages — making the decision, how it feels at the time, and how much weight falls off in the first few months. Fat photos, thin photos. Yet despite its high levels of success and low-level risk factors; unlike obesity, WLS has still not gone mainstream.

Operation Transformation fitness expert Karl Henry says fellow marathon runners jeer at him

Fitness guru Karl Henry has revealed the cruel jibes he gets from members of the public who sneer at him with claims they’re fitter than him.

Ask the doctor: My X-rays were clear but knee pain is excruciating. What could it be?

Question: I’m an avid gardener in my late 50s but recently I have been unable to do anything due to pain in my knees. I am very slim and active and my GP sent me for X-rays which came back normal. I use knee pads in the garden and always have. Have you any ideas about what it could be? I feel like I can’t go back to my GP as they were dismissive after the X-rays and I would like advice on further tests.

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More adults are developing hay fever – here’s what to do about it

For most of us, the arrival of the summer months means sunshine (hopefully), warm days, long evenings, and a general holiday buzz. But for at least 20pc of the Irish population, the season is punctuated by hay fever, also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis. The ailment causes an allergic reaction to pollen and triggers an inflammatory response, including inflammation of the airways (nose, sinuses, and lungs), eyes and skin. In Ireland, tree pollen tends to be highest from March to May, grass pollen from May to June and weed pollen from June to September.

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‘There are people who are fat, who don’t necessarily want to change that, who are OK with being fat’

‘What I wanted to achieve with Fat Eire was to make fatness in Ireland first of all even a subject matter that people were aware of. And also, to start a conversation about what fatness is, versus it just simply being something that is ridiculed or shamed.” Emily O’Brien is talking about her new Arts Council funded publication, Fat Eire, an annual magazine whose first issue will be published this September, and which she shall edit.

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A widower’s diary: ‘Post-death red tape requires a printer, a car and a lot of free time’

When my wife was dying, I lost all track of time. Was that a day? A week? A month? Who knows! All the normal events that break our days and weeks into meaningful chunks lost their stickiness. After Kate died, time refused to return to its normal rhythm for a while, passing instead in fits and starts.

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Ask Allison: My sister-in-law’s snide remarks hurt me — should my husband speak up?

Allison Keating answers your queries about life & relationships

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Chronic migraines: All you need to know about stages, triggers and treatments

My migraines are a constant burden in my life. I get migraines regularly and they don’t care that I work full-time, have small kids, or that I’m at a close friend’s wedding. They’re ruthless. I don’t know why I feel shame and embarrassment when it comes to my migraines, but I do.

Sustainable living: This rosemary tincture recipe can help lift your lethargy and battle brain fog

Having spent 10 days in a Covid-19 vacuum where I couldn’t move for symptoms, what followed was a fuggy slowness and general lethargy.

‘I was 22 stone but I was on a mission to a healthier me’ – First Dates mum who lost 11 stone finishes runner-up in Las Vegas beauty pageant

A mum who lost over 11 stone in the past three years has competed in her first beauty pageant since her dramatic weight loss– and managed to finish runner-up in the international competition.

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‘It’s sad there’s still a need for it after all this time’ – Brother Kevin to retire from Capuchin Day Centre he founded 53 years ago

At 87 years of age, Br Kevin Crowley is set to retire from the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin that has helped generations of homeless people and families afflicted by growing poverty and drug addiction.

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A widower’s diary: What I miss most frequently about Kate is the version of her I interacted with on WhatsApp

Haircuts were always one of my jobs. Four unruly boys meant I had to divide and conquer: I’d bring two at a time to the barbers and have them shorn. My wife stayed at home and enjoyed the relative silence.

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Ask Allison: My dad has dementia and his much younger partner wants to put him in a home against our wishes. Help!

Allison Keating answers your queries about life & relationships

Ask the doctor: I still look pregnant five years after my last baby was born. How can I fix this?

Question: I still look pregnant — especially after a large meal, five years after my last baby. She was transverse oblique and a C-section. I exercise regularly — strength training with lots of compound exercises and still, nothing helps. I may have diastasis recti — I feel I can get one and a half fingers in the gap. Is there anything I can do at this stage? Also, does this cause problems aside from the cosmetic?

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‘I thought I was tired due to low iron – it was a shock to be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in my 40s’

With the busy pace of modern life, feeling exhausted seems to be an affliction which affects us all at some point or other. So, when Majella Hollywood began to feel more tired than usual, coupled with getting up to the bathroom more frequently at night and feeling thirstier than she would normally, she put it down to working too much and having just turned 40.

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‘Everest was such a sensory experience. Even though I couldn’t see, all the sounds and smells were amazing’

Jennifer Doherty believes everyone has their own mountain to climb at some stage in their life. When the opportunity of a lifetime came up, she was determined not to let her blindness stop her from making it to Everest base camp.

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Life as a trans man: ‘We’re just people trying to survive in a world that only understands two options’

When we think about trans people, the conversation is noisiest around the culture wars. Lots of people continue to shout at each other on social media, arguing over who gets to call themselves a woman, who gets to use the ladies toilets, and who gets cancelled. It’s all a bit unhelpful in moving the conversation forward.

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‘I don’t want to go to my grave on a diet — it’s time to stop punishing my body and start thanking it’

In this part of the world, women and men of all ages seem to be at odds with their looks. Whether it is down to peer pressure, social media or the constant deluge of celebrity images ‘showcasing their perfect body’, most of us never cease to criticise ourselves.

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‘I was really struggling to get it up’: Why younger men are turning to Viagra

After the breakup of a five-year relationship, James was nervous about dating again. He was 27, healthy, and had a good sex life. But when it came to sleeping with new people, he was experiencing “performance anxiety”.

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Nutritious snack or unhealthy treat? The truth about protein bars

There was a time when people would look at you strangely if you said you were eating a protein bar, but these days they are so commonplace there are whole sections of supermarket aisles dedicated to various flavours and brands.

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Sibling loss: ‘The grief was so physical and so tangible… I actually thought I was having some sort of breakdown’

My sister Triona got sick in November 2016. She was nauseous and vomiting and it went on for weeks. Her GP told her there was a terrible gastro bug going around and that it would go away with time. Triona had Crohn’s disease so she was very used to being unwell. She was one of those people who could function very well [when she was sick], whereas the rest of us would take to the bed.