‘I was sick with pain – but doctors thought I was a hypochondriac’: the spreading agony of kidney stones

Up to one in 10 of us will get kidney stones, according to the NHS. Even teenagers are at risk from what was long seen as an older man’s affliction. Why – and what can we do to prevent them?

‘I miss the sex’: Why are the sexual needs of the bereaved still a taboo?

A woman mourning the loss of her husband was advised to take up gardening, another was told to get a dog… But intimacy and desire among grieving people is something we all need to know about, writes Kat Lister

Babies are dying because of NHS failings, poverty and inequality, charities warn

Maternity services need urgent improvement and investment to meet government target of halving stillbirths and neonatal deaths

Simple measures could save 1 million babies a year, doctors plead

‘Silent health disaster’ across developing world could be checked by spending less than £1bn on making ordinary antenatal procedures available to all, says new analysis

The secret to why exercise is so good for mental health? ‘Hope molecules’

What we long suspected is now scientific fact: there’s a magic chemical connection between mood, strength and longevity, says scientist and writer Devi Sridhar

Failure to recognise ectopic pregnancy causing women’s deaths, says expert

Prof Marian Knight says action needed to improve diagnosis of condition in which fertilised egg implants itself outside womb

Pollen bomb! Six ways to fight hay fever this spring, from vitamin D to making new friends

Air pollution and the climate crisis are making pollen even more of a menace. Here’s how to stop your eyes itching and nose streaming

I thought therapy would bring me happiness – why does it feel more elusive than ever?

In the past few years I’ve been forced to confront my competing desires: the thrill of chaos or the comfort of security, says Megan Nolan

From scheduling sex to being selfish: 10 ways to improve intimacy

What should you do if things have cooled in the bedroom? Relationship therapist Peter Saddington reveals how to regain intimacy with your partner

What’s the secret to giving good advice? Wait until you are asked for it

The internet is groaning with tips, hacks and cures but not everyone with a problem actually wants you to solve it