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  What causes smelly feet (and what to do about them) If you’ve ever noticed a bit of a ‘whiff’ when you slip off your shoes, you’re not the only one. Smelly feet – aka ‘foot odour’ or ‘bromhidrosis’ if you want to get technical – isn’t something most of us enjoy talking about, but it’s a fairly common problem. So we asked dermatologist Dr Liz Dawes-Higgs to help us understand the causes of smelly feet, and share her top tips to reduce any odour. What makes feet smell? While foot odour can have different causes, the leading issue is sweat. Did you know that each of your feet has around 250,000 sweat glands, and may produce up to a cup of sweat each day? That’s not necessarily a problem if you ‘air out your toes’ to allow the sweat to dry off. But Dr Liz says that in the wrong conditions, “this sweat can make your feet a breeding ground for certain kinds of odour-causing bacteria.”  She explains that, “regularly wearing closed-in shoes or boots, especially in hot, humid conditi...

  What women need to know about their hearts If I asked you to think about women’s health, what might you think of? Chances are, you might think of the ‘bikini areas’ - breast checks, pregnancy, cervical screening.  This is what we see in the media or even what we see our doctors for. However, women’s health is so much more than this even though it forms a big part of our lives.  Women’s health encompasses mental health, bone health and importantly heart health. I say importantly because heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. In fact, we’re three times as likely to die of heart disease than breast cancer. Knowledge about women’s hearts isn’t just something that women themselves don’t know.  Until recently, even doctors and nurses didn’t have a good handle on how important women’s hearts are. Research specifically looking into women’s heart disease - how it happens, why we’re different and how to best care for us - has only been something that has been ...

  Keeping holiday stress at bay I love the holidays. I love seeing family and friends, I love the food and of course, being here in Australia, I love the weather. For me, these are things that make me and a lot of other people very happy. However, this time of year can bring a lot of stress whether it be from racing around to dozens of social engagements, managing any little conflicts that crop up or any number of things that can make the next few weeks more of a challenge than a time to enjoy. If you’re thinking it’s just you, you can rest assured that you’re not alone. While the holidays can bring enormous amounts of joy, it’s been well established through research that stress is just a part of the holiday season as joy and celebration.  Some studies have reported that when asked about stress over the holidays, as many as 61% of people report stress with many others saying they feel fatigued, angry or even lonely. What causes holiday stress? The most commonly reported source...