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Graphic: John McCann/M&G

That cough syrup may get you fired

Taking medication for flu could breach companies’ no-alcohol in the workplace policies

A woman carrying a baby walks past a soldier stationed in Alexandra near a mall that was looted. (Ihsaan Haffejee)

Long arm of the riots still affecting health sector

The tumult in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng has forced people to go without chronic medication and check-ups, caused shortages at the blood bank and disruptions in the vaccine roll out

A scene showing the rich life on the reef below the kelp canopy in False Bay

Voltaren found in False Bay wastewater treatment water

Study reveals how high concentrations of pharmaceutical products are ending up in False Bay’s marine environment

For well over a generation the management of diabetes focused primarily on bringing blood sugar levels within the normal range to prevent a huge list of complications such as blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes and amputations.

Diabetes is not just about the sugar

Newer drugs, which prevent costly complications, should be made much more affordable

NAPLES, CAMPANIA, ITALY – 2020/10/20: Schoolchildren with cognitive disabilities are helped by their teachers in a classroom with social distancing during the closure of schools imposed by the COVID19 emergency. The Vanvitelli elementary school in Naples is one of the few schools that has not closed its gates so as to assist their most fragile pupils. (Photo by Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images)

How to recognise mental illness in children and adolescents

Children are often unable to verbalise their feelings of anxiety or depression, instead presenting with physical symptoms or odd behaviour. Diagnosis and treatment is crucial to…

A polar bear at the Arctic Ocean

A family’s unspoken curse

The inherited shame of schizophrenia leaves the writer wondering whether he will be next

Unregulated: Bianca Minnaar tried self-medicating with a herbal remedy but now discourages trans women from using it.

Trans women risk their lives to be their ‘true, authentic selves’

Internationally recognised and applied standards of care can be adapted for South Africa’s transgender people, say experts.

Overdose: The common practice of doping sufferers of chronic pain of unclear physical cause with powerful ­narcotics and sedative anticonvulsants is not a satisfactory medical solution.

Me and my meds: It’s a fraught friendship

Society has a skewed view that healthy people don’t take medicine but rising rates of chronic illness may call for a re-think of that perception

Mass production: Farmer Craig Watts in a chicken house at C&A Farms in Fairmont

Reckless farm meds feed superbugs

The overuse and abuse of antibiotics strengthens lethal, drug-resistant bacteria.

Overdose: The common practice of doping sufferers of chronic pain of unclear physical cause with powerful ­narcotics and sedative anticonvulsants is not a satisfactory medical solution.

Can illness be ‘all in your head’?

From placebos and ‘kissing it better’ to hypnosis – a level-headed look at alternatives to prescription drugs