Air-fryers are without a doubt the must-have kitchen gadget at the moment, with  celebrities from Sir Mo Farah to Drew Barrymore confessing their love for them. 

The appliance uses hot air rather than hot oil to cook foods, offering a quick and healthy alternative to deep-fat fryers. 

While many of us use our devices to cook frozen treats such as chips or chicken nuggets, there are a range of surprising foods that work an absolute treat in the air fryer. 

‘Air fryers can be useful for quickly cooking and crisping up frozen foods,’ Which? said, but added that you can ‘get away with cooking almost anything’ in the device. 

From hard ‘boiled’ eggs to steak, here are seven foods you probably didn’t know you could cook in an air fryer.     

Hard-boiled eggs

Speaking to MailOnline, Liana Green, a blogger who has written countless air fryer guides, explained how to create the perfect hard ‘boiled’ eggs in the air fryer. 

‘Air frying boiled eggs might sound counterintuitive, but the air fryer offers a consistent temperature, making it easier to achieve perfectly cooked eggs every time,’ she said. 

‘Plus, you eliminate the need for boiling water.’

Ms Green recommends air frying at 150°C for eight minutes for a runny yolk, or for 12 minutes for a harder centre.

However, she added: ‘You might need to experiment with your air fryer a bit.’

Donuts

A food blogger has revealed how to make doughnuts in an air fryer with just two ingredients.

Known as The Suga Fix on social media, Emma, from London, posted a recipe on Instagram on how to make the delicious-looking sweet treats.

To make the stripped-back recipe you will need 200g of self raising flour and 250ml of Greek yoghurt – plus butter and caster sugar to finish them off, and Lotus Biscoff spread if you want a dip.

Emma said: ‘Mix together the yoghurt and flour until a shaggy dough forms. Knead on the counter for 3 mins, add flour if it’s sticky. Use a spoon to cut small pieces of dough, then roll into balls.

She added: ‘Spray your air fryer basket with vegetable oil, then put in 12 balls. Fry at 200c for 12-15 mins (if the inside is doughy they are not done yet).

‘Brush the dough holes with melted butter, roll in sugar & enjoy!’

Ravioli

Unsurprisingly, you can’t use an air fryer to cook dried pasta, since you need to put it in boiling water. 

However, fresh ravioli crisps up beautifully in the appliance, and can serve as a quick and easy starter for your next dinner party, or simply a delicious snack. 

Just coat your ravioli in beaten egg and breadcrumbs, before placing them in the air fryer at 175°C for 10 minutes, flipping half way through. 

Your ravioli should be crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside! 

Halloumi

While frozen cheese products such as breaded cheese bites or mozzarella sticks are fine to cook in the air fryer, it’s best to avoid using any fresh cheese.

Most fresh cheese has a low melting temperature, which means it can quickly burn. 

The only exception to this rule is halloumi, which is safe to cook in the air fryer thanks to its higher melting point. 

‘The air fryer’s high heat crisps the halloumi’s outside to perfection while keeping the inside deliciously soft,’ Ms Green said. 

‘Drizzle with a little honey to get that amazing Mediterranean taste. I air fry at 200°C for 8 to 10 minutes.’

Steak

Many food puritans will recoil in horror at the thought of cooking steak in the air fryer. 

And while Ms Green agrees that the applicance probably won’t replace your grill or pan, she says it ‘does an admirable job of cooking steak.’

‘The circulating hot air seals in the juices and flavours, giving you a steak that’s both tender and full of flavour,’ she told MailOnline. 

‘Just make sure to preheat the air fryer and don’t overcrowd it to get the best results.’

How long you air fry your steak for depends on both the cut and how well done you like it. 

For a sirloin steak, Ms Green recommends pre-heating your air fryer at 200°C. 

Three to four minutes on each side is perfect if you like your steak medium-rare, while she recommends four to five minutes on each side if you prefer it medium. 

And if the idea of any pink meat gives you the ick, a well-done steak can be achieved with five to six minutes of cooking on each side.  

Garlic

Whether it’s a pasta dish or a vegetable side, if you’re following a recipe that calls for roasted garlic, forget using the oven. 

Roasting garlic in the air fryer takes half the time, and involves virtually no preparation. 

Simply slice the botom off the garlic bulb and place it on a piece of alumnium foil. 

Drizzle with olive oil before sealing the foil and placing it in your air fryer at 200°C. 

Check your garlic after 20 minutes – it should turn golden brown when it’s ready! 

Fried rice

Cooking rice from scratch requires water, so the air fryer just isn’t suitable.

‘An air fryer isn’t a go-to appliance for boiling and steaming – you’re better off sticking to a slow cooker or a pot on the hob,’ Which? said. 

However, if you have leftover cooked rice, you can make delicious fried rice with the appliance. 

For the best results, mix your leftover rice with cooked scrambled egg, frozen vegetables, soy sauce and oil before cooking it in your air fryer at 175°C for 10 to 15 minutes. 

The number of men seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction has soared in recent years amid what some have described as a ‘silent epidemic’.

Viagra – the ‘little blue pill’ – is normally associated with old people but the most recent figures suggest an estimated 30 million American men now live with erectile dysfunction – nearly twice as many in the early 2000s.

Around a quarter of under-40s are though to struggle to get it up in bed, which has been linked to a rise in obesity rates, poor mental health, and an overconsumption of pornography. 

Pill prescribing rates vary by state, but research shows the ones that lean left politically tend to have more little blue pills in circulation which, men’s health experts say, could translate to more open dialogue between patients and doctors about sexual health issues that are taboo in many conservative states.  

Dr Helen Bernie, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Medicine at Indiana University said: ‘What you see from that top 10 list, those are your more progressive states, right? New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Nevada. 

‘Those are typically more progressive states where they have better reproductive rights so you would assume that maybe people talk about sex a little bit more, maybe it’s a little bit more ok to prescribe these medicines.’

Overall, Southern states had far fewer pill bottles in circulation, with the exception of Florida, where ED prescriptions made up 0.25 percent of the total filled there. 

‘Then you look at the alternative. Down south, the strong Bible Belt, there’s a lot strong religious tie and, just in general, people don’t talk about sex, we can only talk about abstinence or pregnancy. 

‘And so perhaps doctors aren’t asking their patients about sexual activities so they’re not prescribing as much of the medication. It’s taboo.’

It is for this reason that Dr Bernie said that the true number of men with erectile dysfunction is likely much higher than the estimated 30 million. 

If a doctor living in a conservative-leaning area where sex is not freely discussed does not bring up a taboo subject in the safety of the exam room, the patient likely won’t either.

Erectile dysfunction is often a biomarker for a man’s overall health. An inability to get or maintain erection could be a result of undiagnosed high cholesterol or blood pressure or even a warning sign of cardiovascular disease.

Dr Bernie added: ‘I mean, that’s the most simple question you’re going to have to ask: Do you have any problems achieving or maintaining an erection? And by asking that simple question, you will get an answer and it will open up the dialogue between the patients to be able to actually ask questions and seek treatment options for preventative health.’

Erectile dysfunction is most often considered in older men because of the many age-related changes the body undergoes such as naturally declining testosterone levels, weakened pelvic muscles, and a loss of the necessary nerve function that helps the brain communicate with other systems in the body that leads to an erection. 

But in younger men, the source of the problem is often psychological. Performance anxiety and high levels of stress can affect the delicate balance of hormones in the body and functioning of the nervous system.

Testosterone levels typically peak at around the age of 20 followed by a slow descent throughout the rest of adulthood. At their highest, testosterone levels should be anywhere between 300 and 1,200 ng/dL. Once men hit their mid-thirties, testosterone levels begin declining by at least one percent per year.

Pornography use and overuse can also contribute to ED. Constant exposure to explicit images and videos desensitizes the viewer, making the brain less responsive to sexual stimuli such as your partner standing in front of you naked. 

And repeat exposure to porn can lead to the same disruptions in the brain as do hard drugs. 

The brain’s reward system releases dopamine when something that feels good happens, whether it’s finding food in the middle of a desert, snorting cocaine, or watching hardcore porn. 

Over time, the brain becomes used to the images and videos and does not get the same heavy hit of dopamine when the person presses play. This hinders the brain’s reward system and makes it more difficult for the brain to get excited for the real thing. 

But people’s penchant for porn likely won’t change any time soon. Internet viewing has ticked up consistently over the past two decades, suggesting that the pool of young men with ED will expand. 

And as the US population gets grayer by the year, the prevalence of erectile issues could potentially increase still further, translating to even bigger profit margins for the companies behind blockbuster drugs like Viagra and Cialis. 

Former President Donald Trump dumped on his former VP Mike Pence‘s political prospects in a new interview – where he said the conservative base ‘loves me’ and reiterated he was ‘disappointed’ in his former partner.   

‘Honestly, I haven’t spoken to Mike in a long time,’ Trump told the Christian Broadcasting Network.  

‘A long time is four or five months. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. And he’s a nice man. He disappointed me on one thing because I think he should have sent the votes back to the legislatures,’ Trump said. 

It was an obvious reference to Pence’s refusal to meet Trump’s demand that he refuse to count votes certified by states for Biden on January 6, 2020.

Trump tweeted that day that Pence lacked ‘courage,’ although the House Jan. 6 committee is investigating Trump’s election overturn effort.

Trump, who holds high approval ratings within the Republican Party and who scored a victory when his favorite candidate J.D. Vance prevailed in the Ohio Senate primary, handicapped Pence poorly in a contested presidential primary.

‘So if Mike Pence gets into the 2024 presidential race, does the former president think his former VP has a shot?,’ CBN interviewer David Brody asked.

‘I don’t want to say,’ Trump responded. 

‘If Mike got in, I think it’d be a hard one for him. I think it would be a hard one.’

Then Trump immediately turned to his own political attributes. ‘I understand where the base is. I love the base. The base loves me. I think it’d be hard, but Mike was a good guy. I thought he was a very good vice president. He was my friend,’ he said.

Pence has spent years cultivating Christian conservative support. The former talk radio broadcaster carved out a voting record on conservative social issues as a House leader and member of the House GOP Caucus for a dozen years.

He frequently calls himself ‘a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.’

Pence got a standing ovation at the Faith & Freedom Coalition meeting in Orlando last year, but a small group jeered at him, calling him a ‘traitor.’ 

Trump’s analysis appeared to presume a theoretical race that included both himself and Pence. But he also said he’ll decide whether to make another run for the White House after the midterms.

Many Republicans will likely wait until then to make their own decisions. Trump’s camp has also been eyeing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a potential rival. It went public early this year when Trump took a swing at DeSantis for failing to state publicly whether he had gotten a booster shot. 

Sen. Mitt Romney is predicting Trump will be the GOP‘s nominee in 2024 if he runs. 

‘I don’t delude myself into thinking I have a big swath of the Republican Party,’ said Romney, who was the party’s presidential nominee in 2012 and was defeated by President Barack Obama. 

‘It’s hard to imagine anything that would derail his support,’ he said, in comments reported by Axios. ‘So if he wants to become the nominee in ’24, I think he’s very likely to achieve that,’ Romney said.

‘He’s the leader of the party, that’s clear … If he decides to run, he will be the nominee,’ Romney said. 

Millions of Americans are at risk of a stroke if they exercise too hard, a study suggests.

Researchers found people with carotid artery stenosis, estimated to affect five percent of the country, are at risk of suffering sudden clots in the brain from simple activities like a brisk walk, swimming or even Zumba.

During strenuous exercise, plaque in major arteries can become dislodged and travel to the brain where it blocks a blood vessel — causing a stroke.

It suggests that as many as 16.5million Americans may want to refrain from going all-out while they work out.

Carotid artery stenosis is a condition where plaques build up in the carotid arteries, narrowing the space that blood travels through.

These arteries run through the neck and are responsible for getting blood, containing vital nutrients and oxygen, to the brain and parts of the face.

Sudden rises in blood pressure, such as those during exercises, can cause plaques to be dislodged – which could trigger a stroke.

The number of Americans with carotid artery stenosis has surged over the last two decades, figures suggest.

In the early 2000s, it was estimated that about two million Americans had the condition. But now the Cleveland Clinic says about five percent of all adults have the condition — or 16.5million people.

Being overweight or obese is a major risk factor for the condition, scientists say. A sedentary lifestyle, diabetes or smoking also raises someone’s risk.

In the study, published this week in the journal Physics of Fluids, scientists built a computer simulation of one of the carotid arteries.

They simulated three carotid arteries: A healthy one, one with a ‘mild’ 30 percent blockage and one with a ‘severe’ 50 percent blockage.

Each was then put through an exercise-induced heart rate of 140 beats per minute (bpm), which can be achieved with brisk walking, cycling and Zumba among other activities for obese people.

They were also simulated under conditions of a resting heart rate of 67 and a moderate exercise rate of 100bpm.

Scientists found that the healthy and mildly blocked carotid arteries had their health boosted by exercise.

But for those with a severe blockage, the results were described as ‘concerning’.

The model showed stress on the area which raised the risk of the stenosis rupturing and part of the plaque being released into the bloodstream.

This could then travel into the brain and become lodged in a blood vessel inside the organ, blocking the oxygen supply and causing a stroke. 

Dr Somnath Roy, a mechanical engineer at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur outside Kolkata and lead author in the study, said: ‘Intense exercise shows adverse effects on patients with moderate or higher stenosis levels.

‘It substantially increases the shear stress at the stenosis zone, which may cause the stenosis to rupture.

‘This ruptured plaque may then flow to the brain and its blood supply, causing ischemic stroke.’

The scientists added in the paper: ‘While stressful exercises may be beneficial for improving the cardiac performance of healthy individuals, the same may bring in extremely adverse consequences at elevated heart rates on account of extensive physical activities for patients having extensive arterial blockages.’

Previous studies, including an analysis of stroke patients from 2010, have found that the risk of a stroke rises by at least two-fold following exercise. 

A meta-analysis of 13,000 strokes in 2021 in Europe also showed that acute anger, emotional upset and heavy physical exertion was associated with a higher risk of stroke.

The authors noted that all of these boosted heart rate, raising the risk of a plaque becoming dislodged and causing a stroke. 

Dr Andrew Smyth, an epidemiologist at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and leader of this study, told TODAY: ‘We believe that these trigger events may increase the heart rate increase blood pressure and lead to hormonal changes that alter blood flows in vascular beds such as the brain, which may increase the risk of stroke.

‘That being said, not every episode of anger or emotional upset or heavy physical exertion leads to a stroke. 

‘Similarly, not every individual who has a high burden of cardiovascular risk factors will have a stroke.’ 

Limitations of the latest study included that it was a model and may not accurately reflect how events would unfold in real life.

The experts warned that the model may also have overpredicted the speed the blood moved at elevated heart rates, affecting the results.

London’s Leicester Square was given a touch of A-list glamour on Monday evening as Jennifer Lawrence attended the UK premiere of new film No Hard Feelings. 

With heavy rainstorms drawing a line under England’s recent heatwave the Oscar-winning actress could be forgiven for treading lightly after a series of high-profile red carpet stumbles. 

Indeed, Jennifer, 32, erred on the side of caution by ditching the heels in favour of flip-flops during a recent public appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in May. 

But the heels were back on as she greeted fans outside Odeon Luxe, where she led the glamour on a night dedicated to her latest box-office offering – a coming-of-age comedy co-starring Matthew Broderick. 

Posing for waiting photographers, Jennifer looked stunning in a semi-sheer black evening gown with a cinched waist and distinctive patterned embellishments.  

She added to the look with a pair of elbow length evening gloves, while a black bra was visible beneath the sleeveless gown as she made her way into the central London venue. 

Jennifer also sported with a glamorous make-up palette, complete with smokey eye and slicked back her long blonde locks into a ponytail. 

She was joined at the star-studded event by co-star Andrew Barth Feldman and the film’s director Gene Stupnitsky.

Both men flanked the stunner in smart suits as they beamed for the cameras and shared a joke. 

Joining the American stars were a whole host of famous British faces including a string of reality stars.

Former Love Island contestant Chyna Mills, 24, showcased her growing baby bump on the red carpet alongside fiancé Neil Jones 40.

She looked gorgeous in a figure-hugging green frock as she loving cradled her belly and beamed alongside her Strictly Come Dancing beau. 

Chyna’s dress featured a one-shoulder detail and she slipped her feet into strappy black heels, before accessorising with dainty gold jewellery.   

MIC’s Kimberley Garner put on a very leggy display in a black skater dress as she arrived at premiere.

The swimwear designer, 32, dressed to impress for the evening as she went braless in a backless halter neck number. 

She turned up the heat by adding inches to her frame in a pair of towering matching pointed toe heels. 

The beauty styled her long blonde tresses in a neat updo leaving two strands to frame her face. 

She flashed her gorgeous smile as she posed on the red carpet with her hands in the pockets of her dress. 

Meanwhile former islander Ellie Spence, 25, sent pulses racing in a plunging sheer black gown with very racy thigh-high split.

The outfit hugged every inch of her jaw-dropping figure with a sheer boned corset leaving very little to the imagination.

Sweeping her blonde hair high into a stylish up do and added height to her frame with a pair of towering heels. 

Elsewhere on the red carpet Dancing On Ice’s Vanessa Bauer, 26, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped into a plunging red gown for the screening.

Vanessa opted to go braless for the evening, and looked breathtaking as she posed for photographs in the floor-length frock.

As she worked her best angles, the skating pro’s footwear could not be seen, due to the extreme length of her silky dress.

Keeping things simple, Vanessa styled her raven tresses into a sleek low ponytail and went without jewellery save a pair of understated earrings. 

Sophie Hermann, 36, cut an elegant figure in a blue silk mini dress and looked incredible in the stunning number which boasted a dazzling bow on the front.

The Made In Chelsea star toted her belongings around in a miniature which bag which had a matching silver glittering boy on the front. 

Sophie turned up the heat by adding a pair of dazzling eye catching chandelier earrings and applied a flawless palette of makeup. 

The raunchy new comedy, sees Oscar winner Jennifer play a cash-strapped woman trying to seduce a 19-year-old boy for pay.

Her character Maddie finds herself in such dire financial straits that she is on the brink of losing her late mother’s house.

She throws herself on the mercy of a rich pair of New Age ‘helicopter parents’ played by Broadway stars Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick.

Percy (Andrew Feldman), their geeky teenage son, is about to go to college and has been cosseted his whole life, never breaking the rules.

The couple offers Maddie a car in exchange for a heavyweight favor – she must seduce Percy before he leaves for Princeton.

No Hard Feelings then launches into her increasingly desperate attempts to get Percy into bed, including a nighttime skinny dipping excursion, taking him out to drink underage and even playfully trying to kidnap him.

It comes after Jennifer  opened up about the ways becoming a mother has shifted her plans for the future as the star admitted she didn’t expect to pursue a career in directing any time soon.

The actress welcomed one-year-old son Cy in 2022 with husband Cooke Maroney, 38, and she made it clear that focusing on her family was her top priority in a new interview.

Speaking during an interview on Good Morning America on Monday, the Hunger Games actress explained how her hopes to direct a feature film had changed in recent years.

‘I used to think that [I would direct]. Now I’m just so tired and it just looks so hard,’ she stated.

However, the actress is still working hard in front of the camera and behind the scenes after starring and producing her upcoming comedy.

Reflecting on her experience as a producer, she told GMA host George Stephanopoulos: ‘It’s good. It’s busy but focused and streamlined. I don’t take on anything that I can’t personally read every draft of and give notes on.’

The actress admitted she hadn’t even been planning to get back into acting as soon as she did after giving birth, but the quality of the comedy’s script pushed her to make her Hollywood comeback.

‘I just had a baby and I wasn’t planning on working for a long time,’ she began. ‘But I read the script. It was the funniest thing I had ever read.’

Donald Trump gave one of his latest signal about running for president again in 2024, saying it would be ‘very hard’ for him not to run again.

The former president spoke with podcast hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Friday, telling them he had already made a decision, but would not say when he would announce it, Mediate reported. 

‘Knowing what you know and seeing what you see of Joe Biden, how do you not run in 2024?’ Travis asked Trump.  

‘Very hard for me not to run, to be honest,’ Trump replied. ‘And also, the polls indicate that, from the Republican standpoint, it would be easy.’ 

Earlier this month, Trump told New York Magazine that he had already made up his mind about a run, and that the question he was now mulling was whether he’d pull the trigger before or after the November midterm elections. 

The podcast episode on Friday covered many topics, but kept circling back to Trump’s decision about 2024. 

‘There are some things we just have to ask you, Mr. President, ‘ Sexton asked. ‘If you’re gonna announce, when are you gonna announce? Can you tell us that?’ 

Trump said it all comes down to: ‘Is it before or after?’

‘Well, if I’m gonna announce, I’ll have to make a decision, is it going to be…? You know, two words: Is it before or after? And there are reasons for both. Some very good things about earlier. There’s some very good things about later. 

The way I look at it is if I announce early and we do well, I’ll get credit for having done well — as much as you’ll get ’cause the press won’t give you credit anyway. If I do poorly, I’ll get absolutely… It’ll be horrible. But if I announce later and we do well, I won’t get any criticized.’

‘In fact, if I announce later and we don’t do well, whether it’s before or after, they’ll blame me. In other words, if we do badly, they’ll blame me no matter what even if I had nothing to do with it. So I don’t know. I will make a decision.’

Some Republican strategists fear that if Trump throws his hat in the ring before the midterms, it could upset the GOP’s chances of winning back majorities in the House and the Senate. 

‘I’ll make a decision fairly soon,’ Trump said. ‘And my… I must tell you — and I think I can say this — in my mind, I’ve already made the decision.’ 

The former president spoke on the podcast Friday from  his Bedminster golf club, where he is controversially hosting a Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament.

Some athletes refuse to take part in protest against Saudi Arabia‘s track record of human rights abuses, and the event has been eviscerated by the families of 9/11 victims, in light of a recently declassified government report which suggests there were links between the terrorists involved in the attack and the Saudi Arabian government.  

On Saturday, many of those families gathered at the local library near Trump’s club in order to protest. 

They couldn’t get near the actual event – which was swarming with Secret Service. 

Despite their tears, the atmosphere at Bedminster was jovial. Trump was spotted driving around on a golf buggy, waving to his fans and cracking jokes with the pros taking part. 

Yesterday, Trump defended hosting the series, telling reporters at the course: ‘I’ve known these people for a long time in Saudi Arabia and they have been friends of mine.

As for 9/11, he said: ‘Nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately. And they should have. As to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world, so nobody’s really been there.’

Later, as he headed off the first tee, Trump even hinted that he would run for the White House once more.

‘You’re going to be so happy. We’ll let you know pretty soon,’ he said before asking where the reporter was from. ‘They just did a story on me, beautiful,’ he said. ‘The first one in five years. Front page, tell them I appreciate it.’

Adnams chair says last year was ‘at least’ as hard as Covid-19 for the brewer after Ukraine war, strikes and soaring inflation slowed recovery

• Southwold-based brewer Adnams celebrated its 150th anniversary last year
• Jonathan Adnams said the firm’s trading was strong in the early part of 2022
• From Autumn, demand was affected by the mini-budget and railway strikes 

By Harry Wise For This Is Money

Updated: 11:37 EDT, 7 June 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

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Last month I experienced a dreadful pain on one side of my face – like an electric shock going from my upper lip to my hairline. It lasted a few seconds but stopped me in my tracks. I saw my GP who suggested it was trigeminal neuralgia, prescribed pregabalin and arranged an appointment with a neurologist. I’m frightened of the pain returning. Will it?

Trigeminal neuralgia is a sudden and severe facial pain. Attacks can last anywhere from seconds to a few minutes and can occur hundreds of times a day.

It’s related to problems with one of the trigeminal nerves, which run across either side of the face, branching from just in front of the ear, around the eyes and across the forehead and also the jaw. Usually just one is affected, so pain is felt on only one side of the face.

Trigeminal nerves transmit sensations of touch and pain, but they can become compressed – often by nearby blood vessels, for reasons that are not always clear – resulting in episodic pain.

The attacks can be triggered by activities that involve touching the face, eating and brushing teeth. But a slight breeze or air conditioning, or movement of the face or head, can also bring it on.

We’d usually only diagnose it once there has been consistent or recurrent pain, but a GP might choose to prescribe something as a pre-emptive measure.

The most commonly given drug for trigeminal neuralgia is carbamazepine, which works to dull nerve pain. Pregabalin is also a nerve-pain drug, but isn’t usually given in these cases.

Looking for causes is an important next step – dental problems, for instance, can be linked. Patients should expect a referral to a specialist pain clinic – with waiting lists as they are at the moment, making sure the appointment is made might involve being persistent with the GP. In some severe cases, surgery is required.

A few years ago I was started on statins as my cholesterol was very high – 7.7. My levels didn’t come down enough, so I was switched on to another statin but this seemed to trigger intense anxiety. A third type caused the same problem. I’m only able to tolerate a low dose of the original statin, but this isn’t controlling my cholesterol. I have a family history of heart attacks, so I’m wondering if I have other options?

Very high cholesterol combined with a family history of heart attacks is a risky situation to be in.

Bringing down the cholesterol level would reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke. But other things will also be important, including treating diabetes or raised blood sugar and high blood pressure. Regular exercise and making sure you are a healthy weight – with a waist measurement of less than 37in for men and 31in for women – are key to this.

Statins are very common drugs but there are side effects for some people. Anxiety isn’t a typical one we hear, but if it is something you are suffering then doctors should offer alternatives. If only a lower dose of statins is tolerable, there is the option of adding another type of a cholesterol-lowering drug called ezetimibe. Together they may help control cholesterol without the side effects.

In many hospitals there are specialist lipid clinics that focus on people who have very high cholesterol that is difficult to treat, and it may be worth asking for a referral to one as they can offer a range of other drug treatments that can’t be initiated by a GP.

The charity Heart UK can offer advice (heartuk.org.uk).

My six-month-old grandson has an inflamed rash all over his body. Our doctor has prescribed an antihistamine, which only reduced the redness. He is unable to sleep, which means neither can Mum and Dad. Can you offer any advice?

The first thing I’d consider is eczema. This causes inflamed, dry and red skin with episodes flaring up and then subsiding.

It’s common in babies, and we have fairly standard treatment regimes that we would offer parents. A warning – sticking to these can be tiresome and boring. It certainly can help a great deal, but only if it is consistent.

The first step is avoiding all irritants, such as bath products and shampoos and things that may affect the skin, including fabric conditioner. Speak to pharmacists about a suitable soap substitute – usually a cream or an oil rubbed on the skin.

At least three or four times every day (often when changing a nappy) an emollient cream should be used – these are medically formulated moisturisers which hydrate and soften the skin. 

There are a number of options on chemists’ shelves and it may take some trial and error to find one that suits.

As well as this, when eczema is particularly flared-up, a few days of a mild steroid cream could be used in the worst areas. 

This worries some patients, but these are extremely safe and definitely a better option than leaving a baby in pain from the rash.

Antihistamines generally don’t help eczema.

It’s worth considering a cow’s milk protein allergy. This can cause a severe eczema-type issue on the skin as well as digestive issues, and often babies with very inflamed skin actually have this, not eczema.

Weather warnings aren’t so daft

I rolled my eyes when I read about the Government’s plan to introduce a new system of colour-coded warnings to tell us when the weather gets really hot or really cold.

I’m sure, like me, you thought: ‘Well, I can work that out for myself, thank you very much.’ But us Brits are not so good in the heat. I know this because every summer I see sunburnt kids and elderly people with heatstroke in my clinic. And every year thousands of people die from the heat in the UK. It’s a serious problem, particularly in over-65s. Health concerns are an issue in winter, too, when temperatures drop.

So I’ll be signing up to the emails. You can register via the Government’s website (gov.uk). The easiest thing to do is to Google ‘Weather-Health Alerting System’ and it should come up as the top hit.

What women’s health issues do YOU want tackled now? 

In August last year the Government launched its Women’s Health Strategy for England after spending a year gathering reports from women about their medical experiences.

There was a vast number of responses, with many telling stories of being ignored, dismissed and poorly treated. The Mail on Sunday is passionate about changing this – so we are assembling a Women’s Health Panel to tackle the biggest health problems facing 51 per cent of the population.

It will feature the UK’s foremost experts in a wide variety of medical specialities, from gynaecology and mental health to fitness and dermatology. Today, we have one question: What do YOU want us to talk about?

In the coming weeks, we’ll devote a whole edition of Health to answering in depth the most pressing issues you’re facing.

You can email me on DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk or write to me at: The Mail on Sunday, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY.

History

Medieval horizons: Why the middle ages matter

By Ian Mortimer (Bodley Head £22, 256pp)

The popular historian Ian Mortimer is a wonderfully readable writer, who has formerly given us a series of his Time Traveller’s Guides, in which he vividly evokes the daily lives of our forebears: what they wore, what they ate, how often they washed, and so on.

His latest book, Medieval Horizons, is a more speculative study, aiming to defend the Middle Ages against glib dismissals of mere ‘backwardness’. He describes the feeling he had when in Le Mans Cathedral in France, gazing up at the arches and vaults above him, reaching up as if to Heaven itself . . . ‘How can anyone today associate “medieval” with “backward” or “ignorant?”,’ he asks.

It makes no sense – even though, yes, this was still an era when suspected heretics were burned at the stake, and slavery was rife. He gives the staggering statistic that in the England of 1086 some 10 per cent of the population were slaves, rising to 20 per cent in the South West. Many English slaves were sold to the Irish.

Mortimer also points out the broadness of the medieval era, covering 500 years or so, with great progress made during this time.

The world of an Anglo-Saxon peasant around 1,000 AD was vastly different from that of even a moderately wealthy town merchant in 1450. The latter had a bed to sleep in, a fireplace with a chimney rather than a smoky hearth in the middle of the room, glass in his windows, and maybe even a latrine.

However, the peasant slept pretty rough, on the floor by the fire, with nothing but a log for a pillow. I was a bit doubtful of this – why not a sheepskin, at least, or one’s own jacket?

But we have the writings of a clergyman from 1577, noting that ‘our fathers . . . have lain full oft upon straw pallets, with a good round log under their heads instead of a bolster or pillow . . . Pillows were meet only for women in childbed.’ What softies they would have thought us!

Mortimer observes that life for the Anglo-Saxon peasant was far more communal and less private than 500 years later, and also suggests that sexual misdemeanours in a typical village wouldn’t have been nearly so shameful as idleness and negligence.

When food was grown collectively, skiving off your work might mean your neighbours would go hungry, whereas a little sexual incontinence here and there would only produce more babies: a good thing when the population is so low.

And we know quite a lot about the range of sexual shenanigans, from the records of the church courts who prosecuted such things: a frightful parade of ‘prostitution, bastardy, incest’, says Mortimer. During the reign of Elizabeth I alone, Essex recorded an impressive 27,000 sexual offences, from a total adult population of only 35,000.

It was pretty much obligatory to marry and produce children though, ‘the next generation of the workforce’, and a man who neglected to take a wife would be firmly allocated one by the reeve, the Lord of the Manor’s enforcer.

Thieves were also collectively punished by the village, by a unit called a tithing, meaning ten households, who were jointly responsible for their own good behaviour, and would band together to punish any wrongdoers in their midst.

Although it feels as though the author never quite gets a grip on his material, and the result is a somewhat unsatisfactory mix of informative moments mixed up with a lot of his own digressions and thoughts, there is still much to enjoy here.

I loved his list of various medieval ales, sounding uncannily like those now pinned on trendy craft beers: Mad Dog, Angel’s Food, and Dragon’s Milk — though I’m not quite so sure today’s trendsetters are ready for Whoreson or Lift-leg.

And there are those precious moments when a voice from the past suddenly breaks through, sounding not like a distant, faint ‘medieval voice’, but someone of real flesh and blood. The highlight for me is the anonymous poet from around 1160 AD called the Archpoet, a scandalous figure who wrote any number of riotous drinking songs.

Here’s an excerpt from the Archpoet’s unrepentantly boozy poem, Confession . . .

‘For on this my heart is set:

When the hour is nigh me,

Let me in the tavern die,

With a tankard by me,

While the angels looking down

Joyously start singing:

God, may you show mercy to

One who loves his drinking.’