The landlords’ view of the rental market | Letters

Your article on landlords (I thought landlords were unchallengeable – until I met one of mine at a party, 22 April) paints them as shadowy figures wielding quiet power, but the reality is often more ordinary – and more complicated. I’m an “accidental landlord”. In my 40s, after working long hours to buy a modest home, I became seriously ill with chronic fatigue and had to move back in with my parents. Letting my house wasn’t about exploitation; it was about survival – covering a mortgage I could no longer sustain through work.Over time, I reinvested carefully, and I now own a small number of properties

Visible sign of MPs’ boozing is comical | Brief letters

The Labour MP Alex Sobel says he has never “actually seen anyone smell of booze” (Hannah Spencer riles fellow MPs with attack on parliament’s drinking culture, 27 April). That’s a relief, otherwise I would have wondered whether we were all living in a strip cartoon in The Dandy or Beano.Pete LavenderWoodthorpe, Nottinghamshire Now we know why they make such a cock-up of everything.Michael FullerAmpthill, Bedfordshire In an otherwise sensible article, Nick Bender tells us “Falling is a huge concern for anyone over 60” (All the right moves! 17 personal trainers on the exercise they always recommend – from planks to face pulls, 29 April). My bootcamp, and most of my 60-something friends, would disagree

Swearing banned by one in five councils in England and Wales, report on ‘busybody’ fines shows

One in five local councils have banned swearing under new “busybody” orders, up from one in 20 councils in 2022.A new report by the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life has found that public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) – originally intended to tackle serious antisocial behaviour – are being used by councils in England and Wales to criminalise a wide range of everyday activities, including standing in groups, shouting and picking up stones.“Councils have introduced a swathe of bizarre bans that will turn ordinary people into unwitting criminals,” said Josie Appleton, the director of the group. “Councils have used PSPOs – which allow them to ban any activity they judge to have a ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life’ – to introduce over 1,000 new laws, each of which can contain dozens of separate restrictions.“These orders are not subject to democratic or legal scrutiny: they can be brought through by a single unelected council officer, and do not require public consultation or full council assent

Obesity a key factor for rising cancer rates in young people in England, study finds

Obesity is a key factor for the rising rates of cancer among younger people in England, according to a study.There are 11 types of cancer, including bowel and ovarian cancer, that are increasing among people aged 20 to 49 between 2001 and 2019, according to analysis by researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London.Obesity is the only known behavioural risk factor that has been increasing in younger adults over this period, while more established risks such as smoking, alcohol, red meat and physical inactivity have all remained stable or in decline in England.This led researchers to conclude that the increase in obesity was a key factor behind the rising rate of cancer cases. Excess weight was associated with 10 of the cancers identified, including thyroid, kidney and pancreatic cancer, with oral cancer being the only exception

Stress from racism may help explain why black women more likely to die in childbirth, study finds

Stress from racism and deprivation could explain why black women are more likely to die during childbirth, a study has found.Researchers reviewed 44 existing studies that examined three physiological pathways associated with worse pregnancy outcomes: oxidative stress, inflammation, and uteroplacental vascular resistance, and found black women had higher levels of the three metrics.Such physiological differences are not the result of genetic differences, according to the researchers, but rather suggest that socioenvironmental stressors such as systemic racism and deprivation, which are known to have a measurable biological effect, may influence the body’s ability to function healthily during pregnancy.Grace Amedor, of the University of Cambridge, the first author of the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, said: “Pregnancy and childbirth put great stress on a woman’s body. Black women may experience additional strain due to factors including systemic racism, socioeconomic disadvantage and environmental stressors

Earlier specialised care could prevent 10,000 miscarriages a year, UK study finds

Giving women access to specialised care after their first miscarriage could prevent about 10,000 pregnancy losses a year across the UK, according to a study.Currently, women in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are eligible for specialist care on the NHS for early baby losses after they have had a minimum of three miscarriages.The charity Tommy’s has called for women to be eligible after one miscarriage, stating this could reduce the risk of future miscarriages and improve health outcomes for mothers.The graded model of miscarriage care proposed by Tommy’s is already available in Scotland and the charity is calling for its implementation across the whole of the UK.A study by Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research and Birmingham women’s hospital involving 406 women found a 4% reduction in the risk of future miscarriage for women on the graded model of care compared with the usual care, which would translate to a reduction of 10,075 miscarriages a year across the UK