Almost 80,000 patients diagnosed with cancer each year could have avoided the disease by adopting a healthier lifestyle, figures show.

They reveal that 39 per cent of cases of the 12 major cancers are preventable through better diet, drinking and exercise habits.

Record levels of drinking – which have risen more sharply in the UK than in any other developed country – and obesity mean the UK has one of the highest levels of preventable cancers.

But less than half of people realise that a lack of exercise can cause the disease, and a third are unaware of the dangers of diet or body fat.

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A grandmother has just given birth to a ‘miracle’ baby boy 13 years after being sterilised twice.

Debbie Amos, 43, had the operation to stop her falling pregnant again after having her first three children.

But three months ago she felt strange movements in her stomach and a test revealed she was six months pregnant.

Now she is mother to health baby boy Connor, born last week and weighing in at 8lbs 8oz, who is younger than her grandchildren.

Mrs Amos, of Colchester, Essex, said: ‘At the end of July, I started feeling tired and then felt movements in my stomach.

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Award-winning actress Dame Eileen Atkins and Barbara Hershey will star in a new TV adaption of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express.

David Suchet, who has played Hercule Poirot for 21 years, will return as the moustachioed Belgian detective.

Producer Karen Thrussell said the story is the “most ingenious and best loved Agatha Christie title of all time”.

The adaption will be filmed on location in London and Malta. ITV has not yet announced when it will be broadcast.

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An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown.

The chemical – curcumin – has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.

Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy gullet cancer cells in the lab.

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The latest diet craze is nothing like the usual offerings. You don’t have to count calories or even cut your food intake drastically. There’s also no promise of instant weight loss, though you probably will become more trim.

What this diet will do is help prevent illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s and possibly cancer, and significantly ease the pain of chronic conditions such as arthritis.

The ‘anti-inflammatory’ diet is based on the principle that many health problems are linked to chronic inflammation caused by an over-active immune system.

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The simple act of doing some exercise convinces people they look better – even if it has actually made no difference.

Researchers discovered we believe we look healthier after working out despite the fact it may not have been enough to make us any fitter.

And we don’t necessarily feel any better about ourselves when we do more exercise and do look fitter, say psychologists.

Professor Heather Hausenblas, who carried out the research, reveals that ‘the simple act of exercise and not fitness itself can convince you that you look better’.

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Rubbing sugar into wounds could cure painful infections including bedsores, research shows.

The traditional African remedy is being trialled in British hospitals after a study led by a senior nurse raised in Zimbabwe.

As a child, Moses Murandu watched his father put crushed sugar cane on villagers’ wounds and grew up thinking it was a widely used treatment.

When he moved to England he was surprised to find doctors did not use it.

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Stevia has a no-calorie zip that’s popping up in natural health products, but the risks have left a bitter taste.

Forget sugar. And aspartame. And sucralose. Although it’s not yet authorized for use as an additive in food, a low-calorie, all-natural sweetener is making its way into Canadian products, with environmentally-themed marketing strategies that could change the way consumers view alternatives to sugar.

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