A single dose of an experimental drug from Eli Lilly & Co. cut by 94% a risk factor

TV star Jonnie Irwin has admitted that he “never thought” he’d be alive to see his 50th birthday, which is next week. Irwin, 49, who is best known for presenting property TV shows A Place in the Sun and Escape to the Country, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022. In January, Irwin threw an early 50th birthday party, ahead of the actual date next week, with a huge part with 170 friends and family. But in a new interview, the presenter has said he will be jetting off on holiday to Spain with his family for his actual birthday. “I never thought I’d be here,” Irwin told The Sun. “I’m really looking forward to some time with [wife] Jess and the boys.” Irwin shares three young sons with his wife, Jessica Holmes. He has been praised for his transparency about his condition, and his experiences with various cancer treatments. Since his diagnosis, Irwin has followed a strict diet and spends one to two hours a day in an O2Worx hyperbaric oxygen tent. Some studies have shown that flooding the body with oxygen does not promote tumour growth and has been linked to preventing cancer growth. In July this year, Irwin discussed his “really good” experience with palliative care, which focuses on improving the quality of life for anyone facing a life-threatening condition. Irwin said that he has been in palliative care since the day he received his terminal cancer diagnosis. He was first diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2020, but only publicly shared the news in November 2022 after the cancer spread to his brain. His hospice experience was a “delight”, Irwin said, challenging his initial perception that such facilities were “very much a boiling hot room full of people who looked frail and towards the end of their days”. In September, the presenter made his long-awaited return to TV when he hosted a new episode of Escape to the Country on BBC One. Looking back at his time in a hospice six months ago, Irwin said he was “on the cusp of death”. “Lying in the hospice, I thought I’d had it,” he told The Sun. ​​“But at my weakest point I thought, ‘This is it, this is the beginning of the end.’” ​​Irwin returned home and resumed his strict diet, drinking protein shakes and spending time in the oxygen tent to attempt to curb the growth of his cancer. “I won’t let cancer define me,” Irwin told the publication from his newly renovated home in Newcastle. “A friend of mine told me, ‘Your body achieves what your mind achieves’, and I want to live by that.” Read More Jonnie Irwin jokes he’s ‘whacked’ after attending The Streets gig in Newcastle Billy Connolly shares health update on Parkinson’s disease: ‘Every day gets stranger’ What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and how can it be treated? Billy Connolly shares health update on Parkinson’s disease: ‘Every day gets stranger’ What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and how can it be treated? Tracey Emin says she ‘totally accepted death’ following cancer diagnosis

By Patrick Wingrove PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk on Saturday said the heart protective benefits of its wildly popular Wegovy obesity

A new exhibit coming to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City examines elephants’ past, present, and future.

Willem Dafoe had to arrive on the 'Poor Things' set in the early hours of the morning to have the makeup applied for his disfigured character Dr. Godwin Baxter.

Mia McKenna-Bruce found it straightforward to relate to her character Tara in the movie 'How to Have Sex'.

The world’s biggest producer of iPhones is going to outer space. Two prototype low-Earth orbit satellites made by

Parkinson’s disease is the world’s second most common neurodegenerative disorder, behind Alzheimer’s disease. While it’s unknown exactly why people develop the condition, according to Parkinson’s UK, experts believe its a combination of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the damage of nerve cells in the brain. So what are the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and how can it be treated? Here’s everything you need to know. What is Parkinson’s disease? Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative neurological condition. This means that over time the brain of an individual living with the disease becomes more damaged, the NHS explains. A person living with Parkinson’s disease doesn’t have enough of the chemical dopamine in their brain, the Parkinson’s Foundation states. Dopamine is responsible for transmitting signals between nerve cells in the brain. When an individual experiences a loss of nerve cells in the brain, this causes a reduction in the quantity of dopamine in the brain. What are the symptoms? The main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include involuntary shaking (otherwise known as tremors), movement that’s slower than usual and stiffness in the muscles, the NHS outlines. Other symptoms may include difficulty balancing, nerve pain, incontinence, insomnia, excessive sweating, depression and anxiety. For more information about the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, visit the NHS here. How many people does it affect? Around 145,000 people in the UK are affected by Parkinson’s disease, Parkinson’s UK explains. This means that around one in every 350 adults is living with the degenerative condition. According to the NHS, symptoms of Parkinson’s usually develop after the age of 50. However, for every one in 20 people affected by the disease, symptoms may appear when they’re under the age of 40. The Parkinson’s Foundation outlines that men are 1.5 more likely than women to be affected by the condition. High-profile individuals to have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s include former US president George H. W. Bush, Back to the Future star Michael J. Fox and The Chase star Paul Sinha. How can it be treated? While there is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease, symptoms may be controlled through treatment. The most common form of treatment used for the condition is medication, Parkinson’s UK states. “Drug treatments aim to increase the level of dopamine that reaches the brain and stimulate the parts of the brain where dopamine works,” the charity explains. The medication used to treat Parkinson’s disease varies according to each patient. This is because as symptoms of the disorder progress, the drugs used to treat the condition may need to be changed. While drug treatment may help to manage Parkinson’s symptoms, it cannot slow the progression of the disease. The NHS explains that those living with Parkinson’s disease may also undergo physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and, in rare cases, brain surgery to treat the condition. For more information about Parkinson’s disease, visit Parkinson’s UK. Read More What are symptoms of coronavirus – and where has it spread? Latest travel updates as coronavirus continues to spread Can face masks really protect you against coronavirus or flu? The dirty truth about washing your hands Billy Connolly shares health update on Parkinson’s disease: ‘Every day gets stranger’ Tracey Emin says she ‘totally accepted death’ following cancer diagnosis Nicky Hilton calls out critics who made negative comments about nephew Phoenix’s head

Billy Connolly has said that every day spent living with Parkinson’s disease “gets stranger”, as he shared an update on his health. The Scottish actor, 80, has been living with the condition since 2013, and said that the symptoms and lifestyle impacts of the disease often “creep up” on him. Parkinson’s is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and co-ordination. Often, the disease can become more severe over time. “Every day it gets stranger and more different,” the retired stand-up comedian told The Times. Connolly said that his newfound love for making drawings, painting and sculptures has helped him navigate the mental health toll of living with the condition. “I don’t know how I would have coped without drawing. It’s taken me out of the scene and put me somewhere else, where I can survey it from a different angle,” he said. “Art has made my life magical at a time when I thought it would be unbearable.” It’s been a decade since Connolly received his Parkinson’s diagnosis. The comedian was walking through the lobby of a Los Angeles hotel in 2013 when a fellow guest, a doctor, stopped him and said he shows physical signs of Parkinsons. This prompted Connolly to visit his doctor. “I’ll never forget what he said: ‘You have the gait of a Parkinson’s man,’” Connolly told the publication. According to Parkinson’s UK, Bradykinesia, which is a common condition among people with Parkinson’s, means slowness and a reduced range of movement when walking. It can make your steps smaller and it can take more time and effort to get around. When Connolly received his official diagnosis, he was also diagnosed with prostate cancer and gallstones in the same week. “It was a helluva week,” he said. “It got funny. My daughter Scarlett was with me in the ambulance on the way to the gallbladder surgery through Manhattan. The sirens were going – nee-naw nee-naw – and she said to me, ‘Is this your first Caribbean cruise?’ That’s a line I always said to her to make her laugh when her surroundings were awkward or boring.” During an interview published in September, it was revealed that Connolly had suffered “a couple of serious falls” and once broke his hip as a result of deteriorating balance. He no longer drives. Despite these growing physical challenges, the What We Did on Our Holiday star maintains a positive outlook on his health. In his memoir, Rambling Man: Life on the Road, which was released earlier this year, Connolly clarified that he doesn’t feel “close to death”. “You see, reports of my recent demise have been greatly exaggerated,” he stated in an extract shared with The Telegraph. “There was a week a few years ago where on Monday I got hearing aids, Tuesday I got pills for heartburn, and Wednesday I received news that I had prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease. But despite all that, I never ever felt close to dying.” Rambling Man: Life on the Road is available now. Read More What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and how can it be treated? Tracey Emin says she ‘totally accepted death’ following cancer diagnosis Nicky Hilton calls out critics who made negative comments about nephew Phoenix’s head What are the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and how can it be treated? Tracey Emin says she ‘totally accepted death’ following cancer diagnosis Nicky Hilton calls out critics who made negative comments about nephew Phoenix’s head

Grammys boss Harvey Mason Jr is "disappointed" Morgan Wallen was snubbed from the 2024 nominations, despite his commercial success.

Elon Musk has welcomed the news Daren Aronofsky will direct a biopic based on Walter Isaacson's biography of the Tesla boss.

Scientists have found that visiting friends and family at least once a month can help you live longer. According to a recent study published by the University of Glasgow in BioMed Central Medicine, researchers discovered that there was a correlation between how often a person was visited by their family and friends with their life expectancy. Those who were never visited by their family reportedly had a higher risk of dying. Amid the ongoing loneliness epidemic, social isolation has previously been linked by researchers to a shorter life expectancy. This latest study sought to understand the effect that different types of social interaction have on our quality of life, with visits from friends and family, participating in a weekly group activity, and not living alone reportedly making the biggest difference among a group of 458,146 participants in the United Kingdom. Participants were between the ages of 37 and 73, with the average age being 56 years old, and data was collected between 2006 and 2010. Researchers asked the participants questions about the five different forms of social interaction: how often they were able to confide in someone close to them, how often they felt lonely, how often friends and family visited, how often they participated in a weekly group activity, and whether or not they lived alone. “We also tried to take into account lots of other factors that could explain the findings — like how old people were, their gender, their socioeconomic status, whether they were a smoker and more,” Dr Hamish Foster, a clinical research fellow at the University of Glasgow and the lead study author, explained to Insider. “And even after removing those factors from the equation it still showed that these social connections were important for risk of death.” Depending on when the participants were recruited, researchers would revisit the questions with the participants an estimated 12.6 years later to follow up. They reportedly found that, within those years, 33,135 or 7.2 per cent of participants died, with 5112 or 1.1 per cent passing from cardiovascular-related deaths. Strikingly, the study also found that “regardless of weekly group activity or functional components,” those who never had friends or family visit while also living alone were 77 per cent more likely to have a higher risk of death. However, Dr Foster cautions that the study is unable to take into account both the complexity and the quality of human social interactions. “Humans are really complicated and so are our connections and our measures in this study are pretty crude compared with what humans are capable of, but this study is still very detailed and is starting to drill down into how different types of connection are important,” Foster said to the outlet. He added that the study cannot prove that less socialisation causes death, but it does prove that loneliness and isolation can lead to not only poorer mental health but also poorer physical health. “We need to see more society-level interventions and support that make social connections easier, more likely, and of higher quality,” Foster added. “For example, community centers, parks, places, and activities that make it easy for people to meet and connect for high-quality relationships.” Dr Foster and his team of researchers aren’t the first to connect the dots between longer life spans and active social lives, with Netflix recently shining the spotlight on the famed blue zones - places with notably high populations of centenarians - in the docuseries, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue. Within blue zones like Ikaria, Greece, or Okinawa, Japan, social interaction is prioritised within the community rather than being left on the backburner in favour of economic or individualistic pursuits. As the digital age and the pandemic have brought on an increase in social isolation, Dr Foster stressed that it’s important for young people to nurture their social lives and participate in their communities. Read More Blake Shelton opens up about parenting style with Gwen Stefani To shave or not to shave: How women can participate in No-Shave November Game of Thrones actor announces ‘unbearable loss’ of baby after stillbirth