DEREK YACH: investing in employees’ health is major investment for corporates

South African public health specialist Dr Derek Yach heads the Vitality Institute, Discovery’s New York-based research think-tank dedicated to health promotion, the prevention of non-communicable diseases, and creation of a new culture of health.  He is in the country to support Discovery’s global drive to persuade listed companies to include employee health as a metric in corporate reporting, and a … Read more

Is Ebola in DRC? Fears as unidentified fever kills 13 in 10 days

Kinshasa – A fever of unidentified origin has killed 13 people in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since August 11, the health minister said. “All 13 people who have died suffered from a fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and, in a terminal stage, of vomiting a black matter,” Dr Felix Kabange Numbi said. So far, … Read more

Ebola – SA bans entry to travellers from hardest-hit countries

From Reuters – Due to fears over the spread of the Ebola virus, South Africa is banning travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from entering the country, apart from its own citizens, the government has announced. The deadly Ebola disease has killed more than 1,300 people this year in the three small west African states and also has a toehold in Nigeria,Africa’s biggest economy. … Read more

Ebola – has the virus arrived in South Africa?

It’s the stuff of nightmares – the not unreasonable fear that the deadly Ebola virus sweeping across West Africa could find its way down south, and South  Africa is not safe after all.  In what could be the first case, a 37-year-old South African man working as a health and safety officer in a mining operation in Liberia  has been admitted to the Charlotte … Read more

Ebola epidemic facts from Doctors Without Borders

As the Ebola epidemic escalates there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty about the disease. Confusion and uncertainty can often spread ill-informed information. To get all of the facts on the Ebola virus and the current situation on the ground, Alec Hogg spoke to Daniel Berman, General Director of Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) … Read more

WHO declares International emergency as Ebola reaches unprecedented levels

The World Health Organisation announced today that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been declared an international emergency. The words ‘outbreak’, ‘epidemic’ and ’emergency’ have been bandied about en-masse, which can often have a panicked knock-on effect. What exactly does the WHO mean by international emergency? Is the rest of the world at risk? … Read more

Arthritis: Swiss scientists see the cure in mice, human trials to start soon

From Agence France-Presse – Swiss researchers say they have taken an important step towards a cure for arthritis,  successfully testing a prototype treatment in mice that may soon be trialled on humans. The experimental drug “fully cured” arthritic mice who had hobbled on inflamed and swollen toes and paws, scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute … Read more

Best genetic friends – the DNA that draws you to those you love

There’s more than enough research around to show that people often resemble their pets. The phenomenon is well-documented, and could be a function of people being drawn to animals that look like them. Now new research presents even stronger evidence to show the DNA links between you and your closest friends. It’s an intriguing theory on human evolution – and what … Read more

Why extreme obesity is more of a risk to lifespan than smoking is

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK – That obesity can cut life short by causing strokes and other illnesses comes as no surprise, but a new study quantifies the toll: The most extreme cases cut a person’s lifespan more than cigarettes are able to do. The analysis, published in the journal PLOS (Public Library of Science) Medicine, … Read more

Technology ‘not to blame’ for teenage high-risk living online

Too often, technology is made out to be the devil incarnate, intent on destroying hearts and minds, and even bodies, of young people. Danah Boyd, principal researcher at Microsoft  and an assistant professor in media, culture and communication at New York University,  brings much needed sanity and balance back into the debate.  In her new book, It’s Complicated: … Read more