Dr David Cox

As a consultant haematologist, I spend my working life treating patients with blood cancers at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, but like many, I also have my own personal history with cancer.
My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in his 60s, and while he went through a number of lines of treatments over more than a decade, he eventually died from the disease in his late 70s.
Now at the age of 54, which is very close to when my dad was diagnosed, I have had a PSA test done,...

For years, Philip Goulder has been obsessed with a particularly captivating idea: In the hunt for an HIV cure, could children hold the answers?

The moment Merry Fitzpatrick realized that Gaza’s malnutrition crisis had progressed to a newer and deadlier phase was when surgeons at the few hospitals still operational on the Strip reported that wounds were no longer closing.

A CPAP machine with a clear mask ready for sleep therapy.Photograph: Getty Images

In 2023, Mitchell Miller, a sleep medicine doctor based in Clearwater, Florida, received a visit from an unusual patient.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among men in England, with cases surging among both men and women by 25 per cent between 2019 and 2023 according to NHS data. It’s also the second deadliest form of the disease for men after lung cancer, killing one man every 45 minutes despite being highly curable if caught in time.
Yet there is still no formal screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK. In the US, Czech Republic and Lithuania by contrast, screening is offered to men w...

Microplastics have even been found inside our bones – but what impact are they having on our health? Here's everything we know about what they're doing to our bodies.
Initiated by Victorian aristocrat and landowner John Bennett Lawes, who later became a successful pioneer of modern fertilisers, the aim was to test out various ideas for boosting wheat production. But without the help of modern technology, the only means of storing data was to meticulously collect samples of dried wheat grain, ...

For the past four decades, my family has grappled with a mystery – can midlife mental health problems actually precipitate the onset of dementia?
Back in the early 1960s, my grandfather suffered the sudden, unexpected loss of his twin brother, a deeply traumatic event from which he never fully recovered. Of course, at that time bereavement counselling or therapy did not really exist, and by all accounts, it left a marked change on his personality.
He began suffering from mood swings, unable t...

Growing evidence suggests that regular exposure to our pets’ microbes, particularly in early life, can help build a stronger immune system
Fergus Shanahan, founder of the APC Microbiome Ireland research centre in Cork, was intrigued when he came across a series of photographs of Irish Travellers in a 2016 National Geographic magazine.
Looking at the striking portraits, he was struck by the number of animals living amidst the Traveller families. It gave him an idea for a new study.
“There were...

A new clinical trial suggests there are still ongoing questions about the safety of even low doses of cannabidiol, even as CBD capsules, gummies, edibles, oils and lotions have become increasingly omnipresent in the United States in recent years.
Scientists from the Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Applied Regulatory Science carried out a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial last year to assess how low-dose CBD affects liver function in a group of healthy middle-aged men...

You might be frustrated by your recent run-in with a customer service bot but when it comes to healthcare, there’s good reason to suggest that a wave of new AI tools could represent hope for our creaking health service, slashing backlogs and catching diseases years or even decades earlier, lengthening lives in the process.
This doesn’t mean that your GP or consultant will soon be replaced by a silicon droid; the human element of healthcare will still be ver...

Assessing your body for lumps, unusual moles or unexplained bruising every three weeks might seem a little over zealous, but that’s what we should all be doing to spot cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage – and, crucially, to save lives.
According to a new NHS survey of 2,000 people, only 39 per cent of Brits examine our bodies regularly, with many of us far more likely to check our bank balance, the weather forecast and what’s coming up on TV during the same timeframe.
But complac...

Peak summer holiday season is just around the corner.
And while many of us are counting down the days until we can jump on a plane and jet off somewhere warm, let’s pause to consider the unique psychological and physiological adaptations that the body undergoes while spending time in the air.
We know the human body is not designed to be at 35,000ft, the typical cruising altitude of a commercial plane.
The changing air pressure and altered humidity levels can affect the ability to think clearl...

When I began my career as a junior doctor 40 years ago, the situation surrounding heart disease was terrible. People would come into hospital with a heart attack, and it was quite often a pre-terminal event. Not everyone expected to go home.
But in the subsequent decades, the landscape improved dramatically. Smoking rates started to come down, and we developed better treatments for blood pressure control, and statins for lowering cholesterol. New surgical procedures were developed for people ...

Living with animals is thought to have profound effects on our immunity – potentially reducing the risk of allergies, eczema and even autoimmune conditions.
Since they first emigrated from Central Europe to North America in the 18th Century, the Amish have become known for their unique lifestyle. Today they are reliant on the same practices of dairy cattle farming and horse-borne transportation that were followed by their ancestors for centuries.
The Amish have gripped the imaginations of Hol...