Drinking more than three cups of tea a day cuts the risk of diabetes, say researchers.

Studies show that regular tea drinkers have a 25 per cent lower chance of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to those drinking tea occasionally or not at all.

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Smokers experience one mutation to their DNA for every 15 cigarettes they smoker, according to a study that mapped out the genetic blueprint of a lung cancer patient.

British researchers led the massive international project, which identified 23,000 mutations that bore the expected signs of damage caused by chemicals in tobacco smoke.

All cancers are caused by mistakes in the genetic code – mutations in DNA that can be triggered by environmental agents.

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Despite worries about the damaging effects of the digital age on brain development, surfing the internet can, in fact, increase IQ and boost memory in adults, scientists have found.

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles compared the brains of middle-aged participants who rarely used the internet to experienced internet users, as they conducted web searches for an hour each day.

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Old age is a time most of us associate with increasing decrepitude and immobility. So when we challenged Stephanie Clarkson, 38, to compete against a septuagenarian in a workout, the results should have been a foregone conclusion…

As I arrive at a smart house in Hampstead, I’m feeling more curious than nervous. I’m here to work-out with Lee Janogly, a 70-year-old fitness and diet expert to see who is the fitter.

I’m overweight, but I ran the London Marathon six years ago, still run twice a week and, at 38, am 32 years her junior. I’m feeling pretty confident…

The door opens to reveal a woman with a body to rival Kylie Minogue. Were she several decades younger, one might describe her as ‘a pocket rocket’, but such a moniker seems inappropriate for a woman who’s just welcomed her seventh grandchild into the world.

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Forget the all-or-nothing diet New Year’s resolutions: Research suggests that gradual changes are the ones that stick.

It’s resolution time again and for many of us losing weight, eating better and exercising more top the list. Now comes the hard part – keeping those promises throughout the year.

While it’s not hard to stick to your resolutions for the first month, research shows that many people lose steam by February and half break their commitment by June.

The problem: unrealistic expectations. Too often people commit to making too many changes at once, something that’s incredibly hard to do considering habits seem to be hardwired in our brain.

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Broadcaster and writer Stephen Fry has said he is “switching off his connections with the outside world” to concentrate on his autobiography.

The QI host, who is one of the most popular celebrities on Twitter, said he had to deliver the second volume of his life story to publishers by April.

“Some people can write with ease in whatever circumstances they find themselves,” he wrote on his website.

“I need peace, absolute peace, an empty diary and zero distraction.”

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A father is claiming a Christmas miracle after his wife and newborn baby apparently came back from the dead.

Mike Hermanstorfer told how his wife Tracy went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing just after being wheeled into a hospital delivery room on Christmas Eve.

Doctors performed an emergency caesarean section to try to save the baby’s life but then had to give Mr Hermanstorfer the heartbreaking news that his son had not survived either.

But as the sobbing father held his tiny son in his hands, he felt the boy slowly begin to move.

And at the same time Mrs Hermanstorfer, 33, began to breathe again.

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David Tennant’s final outing as Doctor Who was watched by 10.4m viewers on New Year’s Day, according to early overnight figures.

At the climax of the episode, a total of 10.8m tuned in to see the Time Lord regenerate into his 11th incarnation, 27-year-old actor Matt Smith.

Tennant’s final words on the show were, “I don’t want to go”.

Smith, meanwhile, uttered the immortal line, “legs! I’ve got legs!” as he made his screen debut as The Doctor.

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Avatar has become the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£625.6m) in ticket sales around the world.

Distributors 20th Century Fox say it has earned more than $350m (£217m) in the US and more than $670m (415m) in the rest of the world in only 17 days.

The 3D science fiction blockbuster was directed by James Cameron, who also made Titanic, the best selling movie of all time.

The latest figures make Avatar already the fourth-biggest film ever made.

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