International Health News

New research from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine has shown that teenagers are the group most affected by health warnings on sugary drinks. Teenagers aged 12-18 proved to be 8-16% less likely to choose drinks with health warnings on than drinks with no such labels.

The University of Manchester has found a link between the weather and pain – proving that Hippocrates’ 2000 year old theory may have been correct. The study monitored the pain levels of 9000 participants and found that pain was higher when the weather was rainy or otherwise bad.

Many once treatable diseases are now becoming immune to the drugs that fight them. The superbugs, named as such due to their ability to withstand treatment, includes viruses such as gonorrhea, E. coli, and tuberculosis.

Country Updates

Barbadians who wish to travel to the United Kingdom to receive medical care will be unable to do so after previous agreements between the two countries come to an end. From October 1st, Barbadians traveling to the UK will have to pay for the use of healthcare services – including the NHS.

The number of Americans without health insurance has nearly halved in the last six years – and is now at a record low. Since the introduction of Obamacare in 2010, the number of uninsured Americans has dropped from 16% of the population to 8.6%.

Health Advice

Taking vitamins and supplements should not be used to replace actual fruits and vegetables in your diet. If you must take supplements, you should take multivitamins as the doses in them are typically too low to do real harm.