Dr David Cox

Before Long Covid there was post-viral fatigue – a mysterious set of illnesses caused by other infections. Now scientists are starting to unravel their secrets.
Since an acute infection with Covid-19 in the summer of 2023, Rachael Edwards has been battling a fatigue so crippling that it has left her bedridden for weeks at a time. A previously healthy 31-year-old marketing manager living in Amsterdam, she describes feeling like she is "weighted down by an anchor".
"Long Covid fatigue differs f...

Questions raised about potential for undue influence after appointment of Ruth Dempsey, formerly of Philip Morris
A former director at the tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) was handed a role on an influential expert committee advising the UK government on cancer risks, the Observer can reveal.
Ruth Dempsey, the ex-director of scientific and regulatory affairs, spent 28 years at PMI before being appointed to the UK Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Produ...

Disease-causing microorganisms churn in the floodwaters after a hurricane and grow in people's homes long after the first danger has passed. But knowing when to seek medical attention can help limit the spread of disease after a storm.
Over the last seven years, Naresh Kumar and colleagues at the University of Miami have been steadily collecting data on hurricanes, from Maria in 2017 to Irma, Ian, Michael, Dorian and now the recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton, deadly storms which have all in...

Smartwatches gather vast amounts of data about our physiology. Now their technology is being harnessed like never before.
As the chief anaesthesiologist at CHUV University Hospital, Patrick Schoettker is all too aware of the complications which can follow a lengthy operation under general anaesthetic.
Rapid blood loss from the surgical site can send the patient into shock, triggering sudden and dangerous dips in blood flow through the body. But patients can also develop severe lung problems a...

In late 2022, the results of a groundbreaking stage three trial for a ‘miracle’ new Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab were hailed as momentous. Finally, for the first time, a drug had slowed the progression of the deadly disease.
Hundreds of patients had received it over the course of many years as part of the testing process, with participants going on to speak openly about how much it had improved their lives.
Yet now, two years on, if you or a loved one discovers they have Alzheimer’s, it is high...

The condition causes more than 70,000 maternal deaths every year – but its causes continue to elude scientists.

After a glittering track and field career which saw her rack up seven Olympic gold medals and 14 world championship golds, Allyson Felix assumed that pregnancy would be as smooth as her trademark running style.
"All my life, I've taken care of my body, my body has been my tool, and it has never really failed me," says Felix. "I've trained and I've put demands on my body, and it's ...

There are rising cases of breast, colorectal and other cancers in people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. What is going on?
Over the past 10 years, rates of colorectal cancer among 25 to 49 year olds have increased in 24 different countries, including the UK, US, France, Australia, Canada, Norway and Argentina.
The investigation's early findings, presented by an international team at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) congress in Geneva in September 2024, were eye-catching as they ar...

Four years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, doctors and researchers are still seeking ways to help patients with long Covid, the persistent and often debilitating symptoms that can continue long after a Covid-19 infection.
In adults, the most common long Covid symptoms include fatigue and brain fog, but for children the condition can look different. A study published last month suggests preteens are more likely to experience symptoms ...

West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), malaria and dengue are gaining new ground in the US. The mosquitoes that carry these diseases are thriving in a warming world.
Since the turn of the century, New York City has experienced 490 cases of West Nile viral fever according to the city's health department, a disease spread by infected mosquitoes. One of the most high-profile recent cases was Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the US president from 2021-22.
Once rarely seen outs...

West Nile virus is spreading across the US and Europe. This deadly disease been around for decades, but there is still no vaccine and no cure in humans.

After a distinguished career as one of the world's leading HIV researchers, and then a role as the face of the US government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was a very different virus which recently hospitalised Anthony Fauci.

Last month, the 83-year-old began showing symptoms of fever, chills and fatigue after contracting West Nile v...

Butter or margarine is a debate which has been raging for more than a century, ever since the first butter alternatives emerged in the late 1800s.
Butter, while delicious, is high in saturated fat according to its detractors, a substance which can pump up LDL cholesterol levels, eventually furring up our arteries and placing us at greater risk of heart disease.
In countries such as Finland, a 75 per cent drop in butter consumption over the last 40 years has...

Blasting brain tumours with particles developed by nuclear physicists could prove a new cure for cancer, research suggests.
An experimental treatment that delivers ultra-high doses of radiation, which is being developed in partnership with CERN, best known for developing the Large Hadron Collider, could be used in future to cure brain cancer.
Researchers at Geneva University Hospitals have used beams of charged particles called electrons to destroy tumours ...

After 25 years as a pediatric infectious diseases specialist, Asunción Mejías is too familiar with the deadly unpredictability of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), an infection that hospitalizes up to 80,000 children under the age of 5 every year in the US.
“It’s a disease which can change very quickly,” says Mejías, who works at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. “I’ve always told my colleagues that for every two children that ar...