By Helen Briggs Health reporter, BBC News Drinkers who are overweight face a “double whammy” impact on their liver, research suggests. Two studies of over a million UK men and women suggest excess weight and alcohol act together to raise the risk of cirrhosis and other liver diseases.

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Around 250 people who may have been exposed to tuberculosis (TB) are being screened in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

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Three diets – Mediterranean, low-fat and low-carbohydrate – are equally effective in helping reverse blocked arteries, say Israeli researchers. The study of 140 people, reported in the journal Circulation, found diet could reduce the fatty build up in arteries. The Ben-Gurion University team found by the end of the two-year study the arterial wall was cut by 5%.

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Despite fewer visits to gyms and a love of high-fat foods, people in the 1960s were slimmer simply because they were more active, the government says.

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By Emma Wilkinson Health reporter, BBC News There has been a “dramatic rise” in deaths in England in which obesity was a contributory factor, researchers say.

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You cannot alter your age or the genes you are born with, but there are lifestyle changes you can adopt which may reduce your chance of developing dementia by as much as 20%. The BBC convened a panel of independent experts, chaired by the Alzheimer’s Society, which evaluated more than 70 research papers and articles to come up with a series of tips for reducing your risk. It may sound young, but the age of 35, they suggest, is high time to start thinking about these recommendations.

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Children who self-harm have been admitted to hospital more than 7,000 times in the past decade, Scottish government figures have revealed. They also showed admissions among the over 16s had topped 160,000 since 1999

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Ordinary face masks and hand hygiene can cut down the transmission of infections during flu season, a new study shows. Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, (UMSPH) led by Allison E.

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Vitamin D should be added to milk and other food products to halt a rise in cases of rickets in children, say experts at Newcastle University. The vitamin, produced when skin is exposed to sunlight, is also found in a small number of foods, and deficiency can cause bone deformation. One reason for an increase in cases is thought to be the popularity of indoor activities, such as computer gaming.

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WHO, WHAT, WHY The Magazine answers… In earthquake-hit Haiti, the dead are being hastily buried in mass graves, amid fears their bodies spread disease. But is that true On the streets of Haiti, the living face a desperate struggle, for food, water, medicine and shelter

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