Readers respond to an article on the urgent need for palliative care reform

Jane Turner is right that end-of‑life care needs fixing (MPs, you told us clearly that end-of-life care in the UK is broken. So now we need you to fix it, 28 September), and I argue that it needs fixing on two fronts at once. My husband, John, died in March aged 43 after nearly six years of bowel cancer treatment. He endured more than 70 rounds of chemotherapy, determined to watch our children grow up. He spent his last three months in a hospice, receiving the best palliative care on offer. Even so, he suffered terribly.

Some pain cannot be controlled quickly, and some suffering cannot be treated at all. One evening he screamed in agony while stranded in a bath, unable to move, for nearly an hour before relief took effect. As the cancer swelled his torso, he slowly suffocated – and no drug could prevent it. He was fully aware throughout, and told me repeatedly that he could not go on. In his last hours, I wore earplugs to bear the sound of his gasping.

The idea of universal health coverage in the US is embraced by party’s left but often considered a liability by centrists

Last week, 1,500 unionized nurses gathered in a large conference room at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco to cheer for a cause they’ve championed for years: Medicare for All.

Considered a radical and even fringe idea for decades, interest in sweeping healthcare reform has surged as progressive Democrats have won a series of primary victories before November’s crucial midterm elections. Most prominent among its advocates is Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic US Senate nominee from Michigan, who took the lectern before the nurses.

Maybe the key to life is being able to bench press 300lb at 75. But do we need more muscle-bound, angry guys around?

I loathe going to the doctor.

Not a controversial opinion, compared to some of the other ones in this section of the Guardian. I’m not exactly arguing for universal basic income or for Manchester City to be relegated to the Saudi Pro League here. No one looks forward to a doctor visit, with its recriminations for bad habits or various intrusive blood tests. People don’t have cocktail parties to celebrate their yearly check-up, and yet, it seems like every day, there’s a new reason to go get prodded by a stranger in a lab coat.

Did a Tory voter who opposes all censorship offend a leftwinger concerned about how people treat one another?

• Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how

Ted, 24, London

Occupation Works for a thinktank

Most counties don’t have their own health agencies, and some specific population groups have low vaccination rates

Pennsylvania is bracing for a wave of measles cases, with some public health officials concerned that it’s “only a matter of time” until the disease spreads beyond the outbreak’s epicenter.

Last week the state reported its fifth measles-associated death amid 943 confirmed cases across 39 counties. The outbreak comes amid concerns that public health in the US has been hit by increasing vaccine skepticism, especially due to the power and influence of controversial health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

‘AbortOmat’ in Warsaw offers novel way to challenge country’s restrictions and allow women swift, anonymous access

They call it the “world’s first parcel locker for abortion pills”. Polish campaigners have launched a new means of distribution as part of their ongoing effort to skirt the country’s near-total ban on abortion.

Painted pink and framed by zebra-striped curtains, the 22-compartment “AbortOmat” in Warsaw allows women to access the pills swiftly and anonymously using a six-digit code. The service was envisaged for those who cannot or do not want to wait days for mail delivery due to a missed miscarriage or health complications, or who worry about receiving the pills at home.

In the NHS as in the private sector, the measure of success should be customer satisfaction and not just box-ticking

Andy Burnham said he wanted to “rewire” the economy. Then he seemed to slam on the brakes, kicking most reforms into the 2030s.

Local government reorganisation is on hold, along with an overhaul of the much-maligned water industry. Social care and significant welfare reform are matters to be resolved by the next government.

For years, eating was something to control, fear or regret. After I hunted my first deer, I started to see fat, hunger and my own body in a different light

I muffled my sobs with a pillow so my family couldn’t hear me from the adjacent room. I was 19 years old and we were in Paris, staying on the top floor of an old six-story walkup where every step echoed through the thin walls. I was trying, and failing, to hide the emotional war I had decided to wage on my body. Who does that on a family vacation? In Europe, no less?

Pulling tear-soaked strands of hair off my cheeks, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and grabbed the fat of my thighs. If only I could just – I pictured ripping off fistfuls of my body and flinging them out the windows, where they would land on some unknowing French person six stories below. I had this vision often: pulling bits of myself off and casting them somewhere far away from me.

Shoppers are switching from traditional product despite little evidence alternative is safer

Bacon has long been a favourite of carnivores, but there is growing consumer concern about the health risks posed by nitrites, chemicals used to cure meats.

While many experts argue there is no evidence processed meat made without nitrites is safer, retailers have responded to consumer concerns by offering “nitrite-free” products to meet demand.

A great blender is a kitchen workhouse – I tested more than a dozen options including the Vitamix and Breville for budget, size, mulch factor, speed and whether they had plastic or glass jars

• In the UK? Check out Filter UK’s top-rated blenders here

There are few breakfasts that feel as healthy and refreshing as the ever-mutable smoothie. You can make them virtuous, with lots of greens and nut milk, or luscious, with full-fat dairy and cocoa powder – but in order to make a good one, you need a really good blender.

And while smoothies are the classic use for a blender, these appliances can do so much more; a truly great blender is a kitchen workhorse that can make your morning smoothie, your afternoon dip, your evening soup and even a frozen drink if you’re feeling frisky.

Best overall:
Breville Fresh & Furious

The very best blender (luxury):
Vitamix 5200

Experts say that if you’re eating any berry – strawberries, blackberries, currants, raspberries, blueberries – you are benefiting

Sprinkled on top of yoghurt, blended into smoothies or baked into crumbles, berries are among Americans’ favorite fruits.

Luckily, berries are as healthy as they are delicious and versatile: low in calories, full of vitamins and antioxidants, and a good source of fiber. Research shows that, depending on the type, berries support cardiovascular health, may boost gut health and fight inflammation and show promise as part of a “healthy dietary strategy for diabetes prevention and management”, to quote researchers. Meta-analyses also link compounds in berries with improved cognitive health.

Barbara O’Neill has previously claimed that cancer is a fungus that can be treated with bicarbonate soda

A controversial proponent of natural remedies who has been banned from providing any health services in Australia is due to embark on a series of events in the UK and Ireland despite criticism from scientists, health charities and academic bodies.

Barbara O’Neill, who describes herself as a naturopath and nutritionist, lectures internationally on “natural self-healing”.

Britain’s nursing union axes Teva UK as commercial partner over links to Israel’s military and corporate track record

Britain’s nursing union has cut its ties with an Israeli drug company over the firm’s links to the country’s military and track record of corporate misconduct.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has axed Teva UK as a commercial partner and as sponsor of a forthcoming event on migraine and headaches at the union’s London headquarters.

‘Day-to-day’ symptom of harmful emissions, which in turn can disrupt sleep, can be overlooked, say researchers

New research has found that increased air pollution is associated with more night-time coughing, leading to disturbed sleep.

Most air pollution research looks at symptoms that are severe enough for people to seek medical help, but day-to-day symptoms can be overlooked. Prof Cecilia Mascolo, who led the study from the University of Cambridge, said: “I come from an area in Italy with very high pollution and I am very aware of its not-talked-about effects.”

Rebuilding a complex and broken system into one that’s fair for all, and in the face of steely opposition: that will be the PM’s real challenge

Here is rare clearcut proof of the power of political persuasion. Party conference speeches, the lifeblood of political obsessives, rarely reach the public beyond a brief news clip. But this time was different. Andy Burnham’s speech spun the dial on public opinion on several political hot potatoes, defining who he is.

The pensions triple lock, which guarantees that pensions rise faster than average incomes, has been a no-go electoral minefield despite a groundswell of economists (and even a Times leader) calling for reform to prevent pensions skyrocketing. Touching this live rail was an act of bravery – or recklessness.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Readers respond to George Monbiot’s article about how those with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, have been failed by the health system

George Monbiot (Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed, 24 September) is right about one important thing: people with severe ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome) deserve much better care than many have received. But two different questions are being conflated: how patients have been treated, and what the evidence tells us about the causes and treatment of ME/CFS.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence no longer recommends the old form of graded exercise therapy, in which activity was increased according to a predetermined schedule regardless of symptoms.

Anna Bird says the decision by some NHS integrated care boards to impose a two-year minimum wait is harmful to young people and their families

Blocking assessments of children with neurodivergent conditions for over two years is cruel to children, deeply damaging to families and ultimately more costly to taxpayers (NHS bodies in England impose two-year minimum wait for ADHD and autism assessments, 25 September).

Imagine the long-term harm inflicted on a six-year-old child forced to wait two years for an assessment of a physical condition. Waiting for a diagnosis of autism or ADHD is no different. That’s a quarter of a child’s life, and ultimately their potential, put on hold by state bodies that should be supporting all children. It prevents young people receiving the medical and practical assistance they need to learn, make friends and achieve the ordinary things that other children can every day.

A side-of-the-bus calculation | GPs, nurses and preventive healthcare | House guests | Treasured kitchen tools | Hedgehog-flavoured crisps | Advance booking

A quick side-of-the-bus calculation reveals that the £18bn annual cost of a national care service (How will Burnham’s national care service work – and how will it be funded?, 29 September) equates to about £350m per week. How fortunate it is that an option declared by Andy Burnham of rejoining the EU would result in increased trade and hence greater public taxation revenues of £770m per week. A chance for some joined-up thinking, perhaps?
Mike Cashman
Milton Keynes

• Since the early 1980s, GPs have recruited the teamwork of practice nurses to manage preventive healthcare (Three in four UK GPs ‘too busy to talk to their patients in depth’, 27 September). There are now 23,000 providing excellent care.
Elaine Fullard
Oxford

Much is made of the decision to try to preserve fertility but less explored are the choices that come afterwards. We want to hear from people about what happened next

Oocyte cryopreservation, more commonly known as egg freezing, has been around for decades but the procedure stopped being considered experimental in 2012. Since then, elective egg freezing has boomed. Often represented as an insurance policy against age- or illness-related fertility decline, the process can be costly and complex.

While figures vary, research suggests most people who undergo egg freezing never access their eggs and results are mixed for those who do. Long-term storage poses its own costs and questions.

Judy Wearing has spent much of her life studying our follicles. She explains how our armpits betray our emotions, why some gentlemen really do prefer blondes and the reason we evolved to have eyebrows

As a PhD student at Oxford studying mating behaviour, Judy Wearing was suddenly struck by a thought: what was the purpose of pubic hair? The point of armpit hair? The function of each of our body’s furry patches? When the published literature failed to produce satisfying answers, Wearing began her own investigation. Her aim was to shed light on why exactly we evolved these particular patches, with pubic hair the most puzzling of all: was it for warmth, protection … or something else?

Wearing is still tangling with those questions, some 30 years after her student days. Now an author and editor (largely in the education sector), she has revisited her fascination with hair in Anxious and Hairy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair, exploring its unexpectedly dense and layered place in our history and psyche. Even Wearing was surprised by the places her research on hair took her, and the mysteries that still remain to be solved. “A lot of these questions, no one’s actually looked at,” she says over Zoom. Here is a mere snip of the fascinating facts she’s uncovered about hair.