A trip to my mother’s native Sweden helped me recapture my childhood

It was a nostalgic journey to rediscover my family roots, but it was also great fun and reminded me how much I missed this beautiful land

What are the real signs of a healthy gut? A user’s guide

It’s a huge organ that gives us the energy to live, grow and repair. But how does it work – and how do you keep it healthy? Our science editor unravels its astonishing job

The battle to boost our deep sleep – and help stop dementia

The biological ‘brainwashing’ that happens while you are sleeping is crucial for filtering out toxins. Here’s how to optimise your overnight cycle

‘Don’t blame the young for being moody’ – and seven other ways to nurture healthy teenage minds

Adolescence is a time of great change, with everything from sleep to social media impacting on growth. Psychologist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore explains how to support positive habits

‘Exercise, avoid bangs and invent fairy stories’: Henry Marsh’s guide to keeping brains healthy

The neurosurgeon spent decades making people’s brains better, but a scan led him to focus on the factors that stave off cognitive decline and boost quality of life

Don’t forget to floss: the science behind dementia and the four things you should do to prevent it

A picture is emerging of a healthy lifestyle which is key to the condition’s prevention – exercise, being sociable, and looking after your ears

Pregnant women advised to dim lights before bed to reduce diabetes risk

Those exposed to more light in hours before sleep appear more likely to develop gestational diabetes, researchers suggest

My search for female gardeners’ life stories helped me combat loneliness – and make great friends

I was lonely after lockdown and wanted to know why women gardened so wrote to those I admired. Now I have a host of new friends from different generations and backgrounds

It takes all 53 of our senses to bring the drab external world to life

Sensory perception is a many-splendoured thing, and without it we’d have nothing, writes Ashley Ward

Wearable fitness trackers could interfere with cardiac devices, study finds

Bioimpedance sensing technologies as used in smartwatches could affect implanted devices like pacemakers