‘This won’t hurt a bit…’

Or will it? Does the medical profession really know how treatment is going to affect you? Luisa Dillner found a big difference between what her doctor told her to expect - and what she actually experienced. But now there' s a way to find out what you are really up against.

Staring into the abyss

Relatives of people with Alzheimer's may have a much higher risk of developing it themselves, new research suggests. Sarah Ebner on what it is like to care for a sufferer - while wondering if you are next

Is anybody out there?

More and more of our children are being diagnosed as autistic, though experts cannot agree on why it is happening. Are we getting better at spotting the signs earlier - or on the brink of an epidemic?

Doctors’ disorders

Tim Radford revisits a dark age of quacks and quips in Bodies Politic: Disease, Death and Doctors in Britain 1650-1900 by Roy Porter

How to make a genius

The Medical Research Council's lab is a world leader. So what's its secret? By Lee Elliot Major