Ho ho hold back … why you should go easy on the festive booze this year

Christmas without a drink is more or less unthinkable, but excess is a real danger. So how much alcohol is safe? And can it ever be good for you?

Hearts and minds: Giles Fraser on life after his quadruple bypass

Since my heart attack and operation in June, I have become acutely aware of all things heart-shaped – both the one on Valentine’s cards and the one in our chests

Fit in my 40s: ‘Can a sober companion help me give up drink?’

I am considering another run at sobriety this month – but what about all the social events where it’s not humanly possible to avoid drinking?

Until hospitals learn from their mistakes, babies like my son will continue to die

Jeremy Hunt’s new reforms are the best hope yet of ensuring health professionals are open and honest when things go wrong, writes campaigner James Titcombe

Guardian Public Service Awards 2017 health and wellbeing winner: Highgate primary school

A new 12-strong team at Highgate primary has reduced exclusions and referrals to mental health services to zero, for just £8,500 a year

The fear factor: how should we deal with alarmist health reporting?

We are fed a constant diet of medical scare stories that often seem to contradict each other. Which ones should we believe?

Have I got adult-onset acne – and do I need treatment?

It’s often not taken particularly seriously, but acne affects 20% of women and can cause scarring in a fifth of those. But there are effective ways of treating it

Prescribed reading: Five of the best books by doctors

As Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt wins a readers’ choice award, we recommend five other author physicians. Please add to our notes

Comedy in a care home: the standups taking slapstick into new territory

The residents were expecting bingo. Instead they got lessons in strawberry spitting, a Railway Children spoof – and a stuntman stripping to his underpants

Sexual harassment: It’s not only rife in showbiz and Westminster – it’s in UK schools

As a trainee teacher I found the word ‘whore’ on my classroom door more than once. But does a Scottish scheme hold a solution for both teachers and pupils?