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Tuesday, 21 July 2020 05:03

Flu or Covid-19: How to tell the difference

If all of the signs and symptoms of Covid-19 weren't enough to keep track of, once we head into the fall season, those symptoms could overlap with those of another contagious virus: Influenza. Unfortunately, many flu symptoms can look very similar to the coronavirus, which can be downright confusing if you start to get sick. Thankfully, there is already a vaccine for the flu. Scientists are working on a vaccine for Covid-19 but it's not likely going to be available until early 2021. As we head into the upcoming flu season in the midst of a pandemic, I consulted Mr…

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 05:00

Can you get Covid-19 twice? What the experts say

Covid-19 has now infected over 13 million people around the world. But can they contract the virus again? It seems that every day there is a new story about a person who is diagnosed with Covid-19 infection for a second time. Last week a physician from New Jersey claimed that two of his patients contracted the virus again, just two months after recovering from their initial infection. Similar stories have circulated around the country, prompting people to question whether they are truly safe from re-infection after an initial bout with the disease. So far, experts say these anecdotes don’t amount…

Sunday, 19 July 2020 05:27

How to trick your brain to remember almost anything

Four-time USA Memory Champion Nelson Dellis and psychological scientist Julia Shaw explain how to boost your memory skills. Many people complain about having a terrible memory. Shopping lists, friends’ birthdays, statistics for an exam—they just don’t seem to stick in the brain. But memory isn’t as set in stone as you might imagine. With the right technique, you may well be able to remember almost anything at all. Nelson Dellis is a four-time USA Memory Champion and Grandmaster of Memory. Some of his feats of recollection include memorizing 10,000 digits of pi, the order of more than nine shuffled decks…

Saturday, 18 July 2020 05:13

Coronavirus fans flames of love as Nigerians turn online for intimacy

Oreoluwa Akinnawo is in his element. Lagos’s bars and restaurants are shut and Nigerians are struggling to socialise. The pandemic is his perfect time to find a soul mate online. “The dating thing during this restriction works perfectly for me because I’m really an indoors person,” said Akinnawo, a 25-year-old digital marketer. Sparked by coronavirus, Akinnawo and others like him are part of a boom in internet dating tailored for Nigerian professionals. In Lagos, pre-outbreak courtship often revolved around social functions, as well as couples meeting through church or their mosque’s social networks. Vybe, an app which went live in…

Saturday, 18 July 2020 05:12

3 warning signs you're eating too much

Many of us are likely to admit that at the start of the pandemic we were letting ourselves indulge in our favorite comfort foods. However, now that working from home is becoming the new normal for many Americans—especially for those who live in large metropolitan areas and are non-essential workers—it may be time to reevaluate what normal snacking looks like for you. Our bodies all operate differently, however, there are few telltale signs that may indicate you are eating more than your body needs. First, it's important to understand the difference between calorie quality versus calorie quantity. "The myth of…

Friday, 17 July 2020 05:17

Why we self-sabotage (and 3 ways to stop doing it)

Evelyn Marinoff Self-sabotage can come from fear of failure, of rejection, of not meeting your own and others’ expectations, and becomes a way to preserve yourself from pain and disappointment. If you have low self-esteem, you probably have been down this rabbit hole way too many times—sabotaging your way to happiness, to good relationships, to promotions, recognition, or a well-deserved moment in the limelight. In retrospect, your behavior may often leave you to wrestle your own mind. It may seem illogical, bizarre, and counterintuitive to everything you stand for or are striving for—to buy comfort food when on a diet,…

Wednesday, 15 July 2020 05:28

The bank of mum and dad as young adults’ social insurance

Most young people these days need a boost to get on the property ladder. In Britain more than 60% of homebuyers under 35 get financial help from their parents, according to Legal & General, a British insurer. Such assistance averaged £24,100 ($30,000) last year, up from £17,500 in 2016. The so-called Bank of Mum and Dad is now, in effect, the 11th-largest mortgage lender in the country. The same applies elsewhere. In America, parents are the seventh-biggest lender, according to another study. But for many young adults, the financial support does not end there. In a new paper, researchers at…

Wednesday, 15 July 2020 05:23

Nigerian virus hunters run hard race against Covid-19’s spread

Early one evening, Folasade Fadare and her team of four disease hunters piled into a van and headed for Okegun, a rural community down a narrow potholed road in eastern Lagos state. A coronavirus patient had visited the area, and it was their task to find anyone exposed, isolate them and trace their contacts. The team quickly realised the job was too big: more than 100 people needed to be interviewed and tested. Ultimately, only the two sickest people, feverish and gasping for air, were sent to hospital to be isolated and tested. The rest were told what symptoms to…

Tuesday, 14 July 2020 05:36

We'll be living with masks for years, pandemics expert predicts

Eric Toner has been planning for a pandemic for years. He's briefed world leaders on outbreaks and how to best prepare entire nations for mass casualties. He's simulated epidemics in real time and studied the world's response to major global health emergencieslike SARS and the 1918 influenza pandemic. But nothing could've prepared him for how the COVID-19 pandemic would play out. Toner is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a world leader in pandemic preparedness. The threat of a novel coronavirus is not new to him. In fact, in October 2019, Toner and the…

Sunday, 12 July 2020 04:09

10 toxic behaviors from parents that make children unhealthy adults

Amy Morin Most people clearly recognize that serious maltreatment, like abuse or neglect, can have a lasting impact on children. But what about toxic parenting strategies that don't rise to an extreme level of abuse? Or what about destructive parenting behaviors that might be less obvious? As a therapist, I see some families who appear to function okay to the outside world yet are riddled with dysfunctional family dynamics behind closed doors. And just because these don't constitute abuse, or because they aren't visible to anyone outside the family, doesn't mean they won't prevent kids from becoming healthy adults. Here…

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Saturday, 11 July 2020 04:26

Cosmetic surgeons see rise in patients amid pandemic

A number of cosmetic surgery clinics around the world are reporting a rise in people getting treatment during the coronavirus outbreak as they can hide their treatment behind a mask or work from home. Despite the virus shutting businesses across the globe, a number of plastic surgery clinics have remained open, adopting stricter measures such as Covid-19 tests and more frequent cleaning. Clinics in US, Japan, South Korea and Australia have all seen a rise in patients coming in for treatment including lip fillers, botox, face lifts and nose jobs. "I decided to get procedures done during quarantine because it…

Saturday, 11 July 2020 04:23

How Black Lives Matter went from social media post to global movement

A slogan chanted by tens of thousands around the world, Black Lives Matter has sparked a hashtag, a network of grass-roots organisations, and a moral collective of activists. But how did it go from a social media post to a global phenomenon, and where does it go now? The names most associated with Black Lives Matter are not its leaders but the victims who have drawn attention to the massive issues of racism this country grapples with: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, to name a few. The movement can be traced back to 2013, after the acquittal…

Saturday, 11 July 2020 04:22

Regardless of what you think, 'irregardless' is a word

Merriam-Webster raised the hackles of stodgy grammarians last week when it affirmed the lexical veracity of "irregardless." The word's definition, when reading it, would seem to be: without without regard. "Irregardless is included in our dictionary because it has been in widespread and near-constant use since 1795," the dictionary's staff wrote in a "Words of the Week" roundup on Friday. "We do not make the English language, we merely record it." Merriam-Webster defines irregardless as "nonstandard" but meaning the same as "regardless." "Many people find irregardless to be a nonsensical word, as the ir- prefix usually functions to indicates negation;…

Thursday, 09 July 2020 04:59

Do you always feel hungry? Health experts explain why

Your appetite may be sneakily influenced by things happening before and after mealtime. Ah, there it is again — hunger, causing your tummy to grumble and your mind to drift away from the task in front of you. "Didn't I just have lunch an hour ago?" you might ask yourself as you make your fifth trip to peer into the fridge again. Hunger is natural and is supposed to be self-regulated; these days, everyone on talk shows and on Instagram seem to be talking about "intuitive" eating — or listening to your body's needs, especially when you feel hungry. We…

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