Our latest news and views

The more we talk about menopause as a society, the more we can aim to support women through this major milestone. Knowing the facts is useful, but with so many conflicting stories in the news around treatments and lifestyle choices, it can be hard to know what to believe.

Menopause can trigger all sorts of emotional changes, from anxiety to low mood to depression. If you’ve noticed a difference in your mood, it is more than likely to do with a number of factors, including a change in hormones, and the effect of common menopausal symptoms on your lifestyle.

Perimenopause loosely translates as ‘around menopause’, which is a vague yet apt description for this undefined period of time that marks the transition to menopause.

With so much information available around improving your diet with the ‘right’ foods during menopause, it can be hard to make choices that best suit you.

Women of all ages and life stages can feel dry down there, it’s a very common symptom during menopause – but it needn’t be something you simply have to put up with. Do you feel a sandpapery-sensation during sex, or discomfort when sitting down for too long?

We talk with Ms Romana Kuchai, consultant ear, nose and throat specialist at our clinic, about allergic rhinitis in children, the effects of pollution on allergic rhinitis, and how she treats the condition. 

Most of us tend to feel energetic and cheerful in the summer and overall more tired in the winter, when we eat and sleep more. These changes are usually mild and generally acceptable.

The month of October has been declared the "quit smoking month" in a drive to encourage as many smokers to give up the habit collectively. This might indeed be another good opportunity for smokers to think about giving up for good.

During labour, as many as one in seven women have an episiotomy (a surgical cut in the muscle between the perineum and the vagina to allow the baby to exit more easily). Any incisions or spontaneous tears are usually repaired shortly after labour, and then a period of healing takes place.

This week, it was announced that the UK has lost its measles-free status.