Sephora workers on the rise of chaotic child shoppers: ‘She looked 10 years old and her skin was burning’

Preteens are parroting influencer speak and demanding anti-ageing products as the pressure to fit in intensifiesJessica, 25, was working a shift at Sephora when a little girl who looked about 10 ran up to one of her colleagues, crying. “Her skin was burning,” Jessica said, “it was tomato red. She had been running around, putting every acid you can think of on the palm of her hand, then all over her face. One of our estheticians had to tend to her skin. Her parents were nowhere to be seen

Systemic racism affects maternity care for black women in England, say MPs

Black women in England are still facing poorer outcomes in their maternity care due to systemic racism, alongside failures in leadership and data collection, according to a group of MPs.Across the UK, black women are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth compared with their white counterparts, while babies born to black mothers are at an increased risk of stillbirth.A report by the health and social care committee found that these disproportionately poor outcomes in maternity care for black women were due to a combination of factors including systemic failures in accountability and leadership, with black women’s concerns “not taken seriously” due to bias, stereotyping and racist assumptions.“Safe maternal care for Black women depends on a workforce that listens to, understands and respects their needs,” according to Paulette Hamilton, Labour’s MP for Birmingham Erdington and acting chair of the committee. “Leadership must be effective but it must also be accountable

Daily weight loss pill can help cut body weight by a fifth, trial shows

A daily pill for weight loss can help people reduce their body weight by as much as a fifth, according to a trial that could pave the way for millions more people to shed pounds.The drug, called orforglipron, is manufactured by Eli Lilly and targets the same GLP-1 receptors as weight loss injections such as Mounjaro and Wegovy. In a trial of 3,127 adults, one in five people who took the once-a-day tablet for 72 weeks lost 20% or more of their body weight.Weight loss jabs have been transformative but pill versions are seen as a holy grail because they are easier to store, distribute and administer and are also expected to be cheaper, offering fresh hope for the millions of people trying to lose weight.Orforglipron is a GLP-1 agonist, a type of medication that helps lower blood sugar levels, slows the digestion of food and can reduce appetite

US health officials to revisit vaccine policies using anti-vax tactics, experts warn

US health officials are reportedly planning to release data on child deaths and serious side effects they would attribute to Covid-19 vaccines, raising alarm among public health experts who say the publicly available data does not support these claims and the report may lead to increased anti-vaccine sentiment.Independent advisers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later this week plan to revisit recommendations for Covid shots as well as vaccines for measles and hepatitis B.The move is part of a larger effort to cast doubt on vaccines and reduce access to them, said David Gorski, a professor of surgery and oncology at Wayne State University who has tracked anti-vaccine activism for decades.Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a longtime anti-vaxxer who continues to make sweeping, controversial changes to the US vaccine program, Gorski said.“RFK Jr wants to take away your vaccines,” he said

Long Covid linked to heavier periods and risk of iron deficiency

Women with long Covid are prone to longer, heavier periods, which could put them at greater risk of iron deficiency that exacerbates common symptoms of the condition, doctors say.The findings emerged from a UK survey of more than 12,000 women, which also found that the severity of long Covid symptoms rose and fell across the menstrual cycle and became worse when women had their periods.Preliminary tests revealed hormonal changes and excessive inflammation of the womb lining in women with long Covid, but more work is needed to establish the knock-on effects. There was no evidence that long Covid harmed ovary function.The work points to a two-way effect, with long Covid affecting women’s periods and hormonal changes over the menstrual cycle affecting the severity of long Covid symptoms

Hospital league tables will harm, not heal, the NHS | Letters

Wes Streeting does not seem to understand the complexity of healthcare funding. League tables will exacerbate regional differences rather than abolish them (Norfolk hospital worst in country as NHS league tables reintroduced, 9 September). The problems are not unknown but, sadly for this government, will not be solved in the next four years. It should not be a surprise, especially for Mr Streeting, that the NHS cannot function efficiently until social care is fixed.There is a massive shortage of staff in all specialities, which take 10 to 15 years to get from university to skilled professional