Women's health

Living with lactose intolerance There’s nothing worse than being crippled with cramps every time you drink dairy. Here’s how to replace milk without sacrificing your health. Pain explained Milk contains a sugar called lactose, which our gut breaks down using the lactase enzyme. If you don’t have enough lactase, you can suffer diarrhoea, abdominal pain […]

Chrissie Swan has opened her own can of worms after admitting to smoking while seven months’ pregnant. The radio host and mother-of-two said she tried to quit the habit when she found out she was pregnant with her third child but found it too hard to go “cold turkey”. The 39-year-old said the stress of […]

Joanna Lumley has sparked widespread outrage by suggesting that women who wear short skirts and get drunk put themselves at risk of being raped. The Absolutely Fabulous actress — who played the constantly drunk Patsy Stone in the TV sitcom — lashed out at “trashy” girls, reigniting the old “uncovered meat” debate about whether women […]

Can’t butt out? Here’s how the stars gave up smoking. “In Asian studies, the quit rates are as high as 40 per cent for serious first-time quitters who go cold turkey,” says Professor Matthew Peters from the Australian Lung Foundation. “However, if you continue to keep smoking after that, you need to try other strategies […]

Aesha Mohammadzai was just a teenager when her Taliban husband sliced off her nose and ears after she tried to escape their abusive marriage. Now, three years later, she is half-way through a life-changing procedure to rebuild her face. Aesha, now 22, is living in the US and is six months into facial reconstruction surgery. […]

Studies show that eating dark chocolate has numerous health benefits, from boosting your mood to helping keep your heart healthy. And now there could be another one to add to the list. Health researchers from the University of L’Aquila in Italy say dark chocolate can help tackle dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in older people. They […]

Want to kick the habit, but don’t know where to start? We get you off on the right track. Be patient and persevere. Recent research has found it takes, on average, 66 days to form a habit without thinking. Wear a loose elastic band aroundyour wrist. Whether it’s a yearning for junk food or the […]

If you have lost a loved one and felt like your heart was breaking, you have been right. A new study conducted by cardiac researchers at Sydney University and the Royal North Shore hospital, have found that the loss of a loved one, like a parent or a partner, can really break your heart. The […]

Catherine Zeta-Jones has one of the most enviable figures in Hollywood but unlike many other stars, she doesn’t have a personal trainer or weight-loss coach. Revealing her slimming secrets in the December issue of InStyle magazine, the 43-year-old says she has enough determination within herself. “I don’t have a trainer. Crazy, right?” she tells the […]

At 23 years of age, the last thing Chelsea Farry expected was to be diagnosed with cervical cancer. One year on, she considers herself very lucky and hopes her story will help educate other Australian women. At the time Chelsea was diagnosed she was about to complete her law degree and was looking forward to […]