Ellie Cannon

As a keen swimmer myself, I often recommend it as a form of exercise. But I have been shocked at the number of patients - typically younger adults - who say they never learned to swim.

Shiny shins, as patients often call them, are easy to dismiss. Millions of older Britons have them and assume it's simply what legs look like after 60. But I want you to take them seriously.

It's a growing trend that I and many of my GP friends have noticed in recent years. More and more women are complaining of hair loss.

Research shows that nearly half of all Britons actively avoid seeing a GP for back pain - with a third of sufferers citing difficulty getting a timely appointment as the main reason for delaying care.

Bladder infections are simultaneously one of the most common and excruciating issues I see in my clinic. Also known as UTIs, these bugs primarily affect women and often trigger an agonising pain.

Last week it was reported a 19-year-old American law student living in London had died after taking a weight-loss drug containing tirzepatide - the active ingredient in NHS-approved Mounjaro.

It's 'just the perimenopause'. It's a refrain I've increasingly heard from friends and patients - and it's left me worried.

Like millions of migraine sufferers, she has spent much of her life seeking specialist treatments. So when we caught up last month, what she told me was fairly astonishing.

It's one of the most common questions I get asked: 'Why am I always sick?' And it's always the same complaint.

A few years ago, a young patient of mine was diagnosed with PoTS after months of suffering dreadful dizzy spells that left her unable to stand up.