Life Style

    If you don't currently own a fan in the midst of this heatwave, here's a word of advice: don't bother trying to by one. We say this for two reasons. One: we can almost guarantee you'll struggle to find one in stock anywhere, because everyone has had the exact same idea as you (just sooner). The second reason there's no point getting a fan is that health-wise sleeping with a fan on isn't ideal. According to The Sleep Advisor, while having a fan does circulate air to make your room cooler and fresher, it can also circulate pollen and dust. Not great if you suffer from allergies, asthma or hay fever. Take a close look at your fan, The Sleep Advisor suggests. If it’s been collecting dust on the blades, those particles are flying through the air every time you turn it ...

    Certain commonly-prescribed medications have been linked with an increased risk of dementia among older adults, new research has found. A study, published on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, discovered a strong association between a high risk of dementia and a type of medication known as "anticholinergic" drugs, CNN reported. This describes any drug that blocks the chemical acetylcholine from its function in the nervous system  and anticholinergic drugs can be used to treat a variety of conditions, from dizziness and insomnia to epilepsy and mental disorders. In particular, the study found that certain types of anticholinergics including antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antiepileptics were associated with a particularly high risk of de...

    Losing weight requires a consistent commitment to several lifestyle choices: Eat healthier, exercise more, get 6-8 hours of sleep a night, and drink lots of water. Not only will choosing water over caloric and sugary beverages save you calories, but water is also essential for sharp brain function, keeping your organs working properly, and exercise recovery to name a few important reasons. But just hearing that you need to drink “lots” of water can be confusing. For some people, that could be the standard eight 8-ounce glasses, but others could need a lot more (or perhaps less). We tapped dietitian Jim White, RD, ACSM, and owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios, to find out just exactly how much water you should be drinking. And for more, be sure to check...

    Pensions Minister Guy Opperman has been forced to admit there are significant problems as hundreds of thousands of people have received incorrect state pension forecasts. People are encouraged to go online and get a state pension forecast to find out how much we will receive and when. Changes to the state pension age and a complex system means not everyone gets the same amount at the same age. More than 360,000 people have been issued with online forecasts saying they will be getting a higher amount than they are actually entitled to. This is due to problems with HM Revenue & Customs data on National Insurance records, which are used to calculate how much state pension we each get. You need 35 full qualifying years to receive the full state pension of £168.60 p...

    According to the Kinsey Scale, sexuality is a spectrum. The way that you identify is not limited to "gay" or "straight," and sometimes, it's not limited to an identity at all. There's a societal pressure to choose a label to make your identity more simple or convenient for other people, and in doing so, it can be difficult to experience your journey on your own terms. It took me many years to understand and accept that I am bisexual. Even as I say that, the identifier doesn't quite sum it all up, because there's more to my sexuality than the perception attached it's label. There are a lot of misconceptions about what bisexuality means and looks like, and sometimes the stigma makes me want to scream. Let me clear some things up. I'm notonlyattracted to people who i...

    While periods aren't known for being the most popular time of the month, there are numerous health benefits to menstruating. Your monthly cycle can be a useful indicator that your body is functioning normally, and can highlight any changes in your health. So what does it mean if your periods don't arrive like clockwork? Dr Helen Webberley, the GP for Oxford Online Pharmacy working with teen site betty, gives us the lowdown on the important health changes that an irregular period can highlight: 1.Hormonal imbalance Women tend to menstruate every 21-35 days. If you do not have regular periods it could be a sign that your hormones are out of balance, which can lead to the symptoms commonly associated with PMT, including headaches, mood swings, night sweats, fatigue...

    A few months after my ex-husband and I decided to separate, I heard a lot of things from people who had been through a divorce: You have a tough road ahead. Once your turn a corner, it is amazing. Dropping off your kids is the worst. Having sex with other people is so much fun. Fast forward a few years later, and I've discovered there are a lot of things people don't actually tell you. Perhaps it's because divorce lingers like a bad aftertaste they can't shake, and they go through so many stages and feelings that it would be impossible to express that to another person. Or maybe the people I was talking to were so far removed from their divorce that they'd already forgotten that while sex with another person can be new and exhilarating, you aren't really able to...

    It can be really hard for first-time buyers to pull together the deposit they need to purchase a home. Low incomes, expensive rents, and high property prices make it tough to set aside enough cash. Typically, first-time buyers will need a deposit of somewhere between 5% and 20% of a property’s value. That means you’ll need thousands of pounds possibly even tens of thousands of pounds just to step onto the first rung of the property ladder. But plenty of people do manage it. And not everyone relies on inheritance or the Bank of Mum and Dad, either. It’s hard, and perhaps unfairly so compared to past generations, but it can be done through saving alone. Here are some tips to help you reach your savings goal. Set a clear target and a deadline Know exactly what am...

    I’m an egg addict. Despite the fact that “become a stellar cook” makes it onto my list of New Year’s resolutions year after year, life (and a dinky New York City kitchen) has a way of trumping my best intentions. Enter the egg. Whether in an omelette, on avocado toast, or by itself, eggs feel like a healthy step up from having a bowl of cereal for dinner on a busy day. But with eggs making their way into multiple meals a week, I have to wonder how healthy it really is to load up on all those yolks. How many eggs per week can you eat? Luckily, it appears that going through a carton of eggs each week is perfectly normal. “For the average person, two eggs a day is totally fine,” says Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet. Phew. Here's how to tell if the...

    If you’re trying to feel calmer and more zen, turning to meditation might seem like an obvious choice. But new research has found that not everyone has an enjoyable time while mediating in fact in a new study, it was found 25 per cent of people have 'particularly unpleasant' experiences, like feelings of fear and anxiety, while meditating. For the research, a team from University College London focused on 1,232 participants, and asked them if they’d ever had any particularly unpleasant experiences which they thought may have been caused by meditation. Anxiety, fear, distorted emotions or thoughts and altered sense of self or the world were all given as examples of unpleasant experiences. They were also asked to share how long they’d been meditating for, how often t...