Health News

James Norton (left and inset in McMafia and right in Grantchester) 33, who plays Sidney Chambers in Grantchester, has to have a glucose monitor stuck out of sight on his bottom if he is filming a topless scene. He has type 1 diabetes and has complications when performing on stage, with hidden pockets sometimes created in his costumes to stash sugar tablets.

Fungal skin infections are usually mild — and, from athlete’s foot to ringworm, most of us will be infected at least once in our lifetime. Here, Dr Justine Hextall, a consultant dermatologist at Tarrant Street Clinic in Arundel, West Sussex, looks at the best over-the-counter options for these everyday infections: athlete's foot, ringworm, fungal nail (pictured) and thrush.

Jane Beattie (centre), of Hildenborough, Kent, was not overly concerned when she spotted telltale chickenpox blisters developing on her daughter Susannah's (right) back. Yet, whereas Abigail (left) had had at most 20 spots, Susannah was quickly covered in swathes of angry blisters.

By the time Tim and Primrose Isterling (left and bottom-right), from Nottinghamshire, posed for this picture at their wedding (top-right) in May 2017, they already knew their dreams of having children together would never come true. Just three months after they met in 2016, Primrose, then 24, began to suffer excruciating abdominal pains which doctors diagnosed as a grumbling appendix. Prim, as she was known to family and friends, needed an operation. But she was expected to make a full recovery. To their horror, surgeons discovered the real cause of her pain was advanced bowel cancer which had already spread to her other major organs. At best, they reckoned, she had two years to live.

Haylie Middleton, (left with her baby) a first-time mum from Queenscliff, New South Wales, has revealed how using hypnobirthing techniques allowed her to have an easier time in labour and an entirely drug-free birth (right, Ms Middleton's son, Austin). Ms Middleton said hypnobirthing - a practice rumoured to be one being considered by the Duchess of Sussex as she prepares for the birth of her first child - allowed her to view the pain as 'useful' and to remain calm and focused throughout the entire experience.

Jenesis 'Jenny' Shaw, eight (left and right), from Rochester, New York, was diagnosed with stage IV Wilms tumor in August 2017. Wilms tumors are the most common type of kidney cancer in children, but often become quite large before they are detected. Jenny underwent surgery to remove her left kidney, chemotherapy and radiation, and was declared cancer-free in April 2018. During her time at the hospital, she saw kids who were there without their parents and decided to assemble care packages for them (inset). She has distributed at least 200 packages, which contain soap, warm socks, coloring books, crayons, toothpaste, toothbrushes and handmade knit beans.

Harry Morris, now six months old (pictured in hospital as a newborn), from Wigan, was diagnosed with a non-cancerous teratoma tumour while he was in the womb (inset, an ultrasound scan showing the tumour beneath his bottom) and had to have a nine-hour operation after he was born. His parents Jack and Maria (pictured right, with their now healthy son) refused to go through with an abortion when it was suggested by a doctor and now say they are 'over the moon' their son has recovered.

It's the eve of her 109th birthday, and Annie Wilson is treating herself to a glass of wine - as she does every Friday, and has done for years. That one small, weekly glass has been something of a ritual for Annie, who scoffs at the suggestion that she might follow a strict health routine to stay well. Annie, who has spent her whole life in North Carolina, insists there is no secret formula to living this long. In fact, the one thing she seems set on is taking everything in her stride.

Alva and Alberta Pilliod testified this week that they used Monsanto's Roundup for 30 years before - almost as long as the California couple has been married. Alva developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the early 2010s, but has since been in remission. Alberta had compared the weedkiller to 'sugar water,' she testified. But in 2015, she developed the same cancer her husband had had, and it nearly killed her. Now, the two believe Roundup was responsible, and testified this week in an ongoing lawsuit against Monsanto.

Chris Arpino (pictured right), from Cornwall, broke his back in 2009 and now says he gets up at 3.30am three times a week to work out (left, Mr Arpino's hard work has paid off and, inset, before his transformation), after fearing he would be left in a wheelchair for the rest of life when he had the accident. He had to be rushed to hospital in an ambulance when 17 eight-feet-long sheets of wood fell on him at work and destroyed one of his kidneys. It took him two years to relearn how to walk because of the devastating ordeal which he says could have 'sliced him in half'.

Molly White (pictured left, recently), from Paignton in Devon, discovered she had astrocytoma brain cancer after riding on the Colossus roller coaster at Thorpe Park (pictured inset) in 2016. Miss White (pictured right, before her illness) had never had symptoms of the growing tumour in her skull before but, after the visit to the theme park she started to suffer from vision problems and pain in her head. A visit to a doctor confirmed she had cancer which had been growing undetected for years. She has since had two major operations to remove most of the cancer, which is now the 'smallest it has ever been'.

Josephine Bridges (pictured left, in hospital after her amputation), from Birmingham, had cancerous bones in her leg removed and replaced with metal implants but they became infected and regularly moved out of place, causing pain. Her family were told to 'say their goodbyes' when she was diagnosed with advanced osteosarcoma at the age of 17 in 2007 (pictured inset, Mrs Bridges as a teenager going through chemotherapy). After years of suffering with a metal shin and knee, Mrs Bridges made the decision to have her left leg cut off above the knee (pictured right) and now hopes she can become a paracanoe competitor.

Natasha and Hermione Sutcliffe (pictured right and inset), from Dundee, weighed just five pounds each when they were born and were found to have ventricular septal defects – holes in their hearts – which need repairing. Their father, Matthew, 30 (pictured left), said he and his wife, Gemma, 32, are finding it difficult to cope because the twins are being kept in a hospital 80 miles from home where they need specialist care. They both have ventricular septal defects which, if left untreated, can lead to heart failure or stroke.

Denise Saldate, 11 (left and right), from West Covina, California, was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at age one. She was prescribed toothpaste on April 4 to help strengthen her tooth enamel. That evening, she went into anaphylactic shock, which is when the immune system overreacts to an allergen. Her parents discovered the toothpaste (jnset) had Recaldent, a milk-derived protein. Denise was in the hospital for two days before she passed away on April 6.

Shira Goldschmidt, eight months (left and right), from Israel, became infected with measles in December 2018. She was too young to be vaccinated because doctors don't administer the shot until patients are at least one year old. Her parents rushed her to the ER after she couldn't eat or drink and she had to be hospitalized and given IV fluids. Shira's mother, Fainy Sukenik, slammed anti-vaxxers in a Facebook post and suggested they stay in isolation or carry signs saying they're anti-vaxxers. In the US, there have been 555 confirmed cases of measles in 20 states, the second highest since it was considered 'eradicated' in 2000.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Traci Lawson, 50 (left), from Lansing, Michigan, was diagnosed with pink eye in September 2017. But her left eye (top right and bottom right) became more swollen, painful and sensitive to light. She was finally referred to an ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with acanthamoeba keratitis, a parasitic eye infection that attacks the cornea. Doctors believe Lawson contracted it by washing her contacts in tap water or swimming in a lake with the lenses in. Lawson was given eye drops that cleared the parasite, but needed two cornea transplants in her left eye to clear the scar tissue and restore her vision.

Lily Wetherall was diagnosed with hydranencephaly, a condition where large parts of the brain are absent, shortly after birth. Parents Sienna King, 37, and Anthony Wetherall, 31, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, were told their daughter was blind and deaf and would soon become 'incompatible with life'. They were told to enjoy the little time they had with her as people with the condition don't normally live past a year. But remarkably, Lily has beaten the odds to celebrate her sixth birthday at home with her family.

Garcia told GMA she felt compelled to share her story, particularly as a woman in the preened fashion world, because it's 'very important to stand up and be like, "You know what? We are not perfect."'

Researchers at St Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, have cured children, including two-year-old Gael Alva (pictured left with his mother, Giannina Alva) of severe combined immunodeficiency. The condition is also known as 'bubble boy disease', which was made famous by David Vetter (pictured right), who was born with the illness in Texas in 1971 and had to spend his 12 years of life inside tanks or bubbles to protect him from germs. Altered genes used to fix the children's defective DNA were delivered into the body using damaged HIV viruses.

Shannon Hutchinson, 30, of Telford, Shropshire, claims she kept being 'fobbed off' by her GP for two years. The mother-of-two gained weight because walking was so uncomfortable and she became anxious that people thought she was exaggerating her pain. It comes at a time that the NHS is cutting the number of varicose vein patients referred for surgery. In the end Mrs Hutchinson had 'life changing' private treatment at the Veincentre's London clinic, which cost nearly £2,600, and has since lost two stone (see left, Mrs Hutchinson, and right before, during and after treatment).

Stephanie Spoor, who first fell ill in November, died on February 11 in Chicago, days after one of her sons Zack married his fiancee Carley at her bedside in hospital gowns (pictured). She had contracted Candida auris, a harmful form of yeast that is resistant to most drugs, with a 60 percent mortality rate.

David Rivera, 30 (right, with his fiancée and son), of San Diego, California, died in October 2017 of a brain bleed due to a rare blood clotting disorder. Because he was a registered organ donor, his lung, liver, kidneys, tissue and heart went to recipients on transplant lists, saving five people's lives. His heart went to Sandra, a mother from Chula Vista, who had been suffering from heart disease for years. On Monday, his mother Susan Amador (top left) listened to Rivera's heart beat in David followed by Rivera's fiancée Kimmy Hoang and their son Josiah, now four (bottom left).

Deborah Norville revealed earlier this month that an Inside Edition viewer noticed a lump on her neck years ago. It was determined to be benign at the time, but recent scans showed it had turned cancerous. Norville, 60, had surgery to removed the nodule (right) and recovered at home. She returned on Monday to Inside Edition, which she has anchored since 1995. In an interview on CBS This Morning (left), she encouraged viewers to 'be proactive about your health'.

Rima Manomaitis, 29 (left and right), from Pepperell, Massachusetts, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at four months old. In 2015, her lung function declined to the point where she needed an oxygen machine at all times but doctors said she was 'too well' for a transplant. Manomaitis's sister contacted the University of Minnesota Health in Minneapolis, where staff agreed to perform the procedure. In May 2017, after eight months on the list, Manomaitis finally received a double lung transplant. What doctors didn't know is that her donor had CMV, a virus which can remain dormant and causes health problems in immunocompromised people. Manomaitis ended up in the hospital for a week in spring 2018 in need of a blood transfusion because of the virus, but is now recovering.

Jilly Moss (left) claims her daughter Alba (pictured right in hospital) spent more than a week fighting for her life at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London earlier this month. The youngster - who turned one on April 1 - was rushed to A&E; after she became floppy, failed to respond to her parents and developed a sky-high fever of more than 40°C (104°F). After more than a week in hospital on oxygen and antibiotics, Alba is home but still suffers with a bad cough. In a Facebook post (inset) that has been shared 27,000 times, Ms Moss slams anti-vaxxers who inadvertently spread infections by refusing to let their children be vaccinated.