Lifestyle

An Amazonian shamanic psychedelic brew is a safe psychiatric medicine to treat depression and alcoholism, a British study suggested. Ayahuasca traditionally used by South American indigenous tribes was more effective in helping heavy drinkers tackle their addiction than LSD and magic mushrooms. The jungle tea made from a mixture of plants contains the hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine, an illegal Class A drug known as DMT or Dimitri. Researchers from the University of Exeter and University College London found alcoholics were better...

The world's first Christmas shop where you can buy real items for refugees is set to open in Soho, London. Choose Love is a pop-up shop that sells real products for refugees. The shop will be selling everything from baby grows to space blankets and children’s education materials, all aimed at improving the lives of these people who are truly in need. Each item you buy guarantee's that a refugee will receive an exact version to help them in their...

An advert for a glossy travel magazine featuring an "unhealthily thin" model posing on a beach has been banned. The ad in Glamour magazine for Condé Nast Traveller was branded "socially irresponsible" by watchdogs. An investigation was launched when the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a single complaint in June about the advert. The complainant said the model looked "unhealthily thin" and challenged whether the ad was socially irresponsible. Condé Nast Traveller bosses claimed the model was "naturally slim" and...

The average Brit will spend £686,000 on household bills over a lifetime, a study has found. The poll of 2,000 bill payers found the average household will fork out £11,379 a year on energy and water bills, mortgages or rent, insurance and loans. That amounts to £686,125 over the average adult lifetime, with £57,982 of this spent on energy bills alone. A spokesman for Compare the Market, which commissioned the study, said: “Bills account for a large amount of our...

As the season of sniffles approaches, GP Dr Roger Henderson has revealed the sticky ins-and-outs of sneezing, wheezing and other symptoms of the common cold. Sneezing is your body’s way of removing irritants from your nose or throat and is a powerful, involuntary expulsion of air, which typically leaves the body at speeds topping 100mph, and contains as many as 40,000 droplets. Bacterial and viral infections which cause a cold are commonly spread with sneezing – the force of a sneeze...

Millions of Brits admit they find tidying therapeutic rather than a chore, a study has found. Eight in ten adults reckon tidying and organising is a real stress buster - whether it be filing away important documents, having a pristine desk at work or labelling files. Four in five people even said they find mess stressful, while 63 per cent don't feel on top of things unless their items are in the "right place." As a result, the average adult...

Families up and down the country will be attending bonfire parties and fireworks events to celebrate Guy Fawkes night. Unfortunately the NHS annually reports increased incidences of children and adults suffering from serious burns. It's important to know what to do in the event of a burn, so please remind yourself and others of the NHS burns advice: Immediately get the person away from the heat source to stop the burning Cool the burn with cool or lukewarm running water for 20 minutes –...

It seems that while campaigners have been focused on stopping kids from smoking they’ve dropped the ball on drugs. New research out from NHS Digital’s Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England survey has made some alarming discoveries. The research found 19 per cent of youngsters aged 11-15 in England have smoked compared to 24 per cent who have taken drugs. This details a rise in juvenile drug use of nine percentage point since the last survey...

A little-known feature introduced with the launch of i0S 10 in mid-2016 has been allowing Apple to look at your boobs for a year. According to recent revelations iPhones are able to categorise pictures in "brassiere", as well as bra, bras and bandeaus. The function is supposed to help you rifle through your photo archive and has categories that include everything from various animals, food and fashion to inanimate objects like furniture and "sunsets". But many iPhone users were unaware it existed, or that...