Mosaic

A mysterious kidney disease is striking down labourers across the world and climate change is making it worse. Jane Palmer meets the doctors who are trying to understand it and stop it.

We know that our diet has a huge influence on our health, but is it possible to use food as medicine for a specific disease? Emma Young, who has type 2 diabetes, is sceptical but intrigued.

Slipping in the shower, tripping down the stairs, taking a tumble in the supermarket – falls kill over 420,000 people per year and hospitalise millions more. We can’t eliminate all falls, says Neil Steinberg. So we must to learn to fall better.

For the first 20 years of his life, Henry Nicholls had a healthy relationship with sleep. Shortly after his 21st birthday, he began to experience symptoms of narcolepsy, a debilitating disorder that’s plagued him ever since. Sleep research is progressing, so why are he and others like him still waiting for a cure?

How do Scandinavians deal with long, dark winters? And what might this teach us about the relationship between our moods and sunlight? By Linda Geddes.

Could understanding canine compulsions help find new treatments for people with obsessive–compulsive disorders too? Shayla Love investigates.

Traditional flush toilets aren’t an option in many parts of the world, but neither is leaving people with unsafe and unhygenic choices. Lina Zeldovich travels to Madagascar to witness the start of a lavatorial revolution.

When a brain tumour left Pat Long with persistent déjà vu, he began to question the very nature of reality. Here, he tells his story for the first time.

For every ten people hit by lightning, nine will survive. But what are the lasting effects of being exposed to hundreds of millions of volts? Charlotte Huff investigates.

Can virtual reality really soothe pain? Jo Marchant meets the doctors who say yes, and who hope this is a solution to the country consuming 80 per cent of the world’s opioid supply: the United States of America.

To fight malaria, researchers are reviving a field of study grounded in both music and biology: wingbeat frequency. Daniel A Gross traces the story from Finland to Tanzania, and looks at where this collision of disciplines could lead.

A campaigning doctor has helped make Mongolia a better place to die than many much wealthier nations. Andrew North met her to find out how.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in his early 40s, Chris Lihosit was saved by umbilical cord blood from three babies. But why is cord blood banking still the exception rather than the norm? Bryn Nelson finds out.

Gaia Vince discovers that analysing the genetics of ancient humans means changing ideas about our evolution.

For people who are missing limbs, 3D printing can make new prosthetics – faster, cheaper and better. It could transform mobility for millions around the world, reports Ian Birrell.

A shortage of incubators and a hunch about marsupials inspired a Colombian doctor to try something radical to save premature babies’ lives: constant skin-to-skin contact with parents. It’s cheaper than high-tech neonatal care – and it may be better, too. Lena Corner reports.

Premature babies are at high risk of brain damage – but many are too fragile to make the journey to an MRI machine for a clearer diagnosis. Soon, thanks to the world’s first mini scanner, they may not need to. Michael Regnier went to watch it at work.

Aching, throbbing, searing, excruciating – pain is difficult to describe and impossible to see. So how can doctors measure it? John Walsh finds out about new ways of assessing the agony.

Shayla Love’s mother and grandparents lived through China’s Cultural Revolution – now she wants to know what biological traces of their trauma she carries within her today.

The pain and sorrow of bereavement is supposed to get easier to bear as time passes. But what if it doesn’t? Psychiatrists call it ‘complicated grief’ – and it can be treated. Andrea Volpe reports.

When Tal Golesworthy was told he was at risk of his aorta bursting, he wasn’t impressed with the surgery on offer – so he came up with his own idea. Geoff Watts investigates...

Nearly one-third of women in the US are affected by an embarrassing condition at one stage of their lives, but researchers are discovering unknown benefits that could help in the battle against disease.

After the recent epidemic, Ebola disappeared. But this relief is only temporary: the virus is hiding somewhere – maybe in forest animals, maybe closer to home. Leigh Cowart joins the hunt.

When Judy Refuerzo heard the word ‘carcinoma’, she began considering her treatment options. But two years on, she’s chosen surveillance over surgery. Was she right to? Charlotte Huff meets her and other so-called watchful waiters.