A 20-year study of 66,892 postmenopausal women linked the Planetary Health Diet to lower cardiovascular disease risk.

Women whose eating habits most closely followed the diet had around a 28 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those in the lowest-adherence group.

Even moderate adherence to the diet was linked with a lower risk.

Donya Shahamati is a doctoral student in public health at the University of California, Irvine.

The researcher said: “Our results suggest that people may not need to follow a perfect or very restrictive diet to see potential heart-health benefits.

“This is especially important for postmenopausal women, because cardiovascular risk increases with age and tends to rise after menopause.”

The diet emphasises fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and unsaturated fats, while limiting red and processed meats, added sugars, refined grains and saturated fats.

Postmenopausal women are those who have gone through menopause, when periods stop and hormone levels change.

Cardiovascular risk tends to increase with age and rise after menopause.

“Moving towards a more plant-forward, higher-quality diet can be accomplished through small, realistic changes,” said Shahamati.

“These changes might include filling half the plate with vegetables more often; using avocado or olive oil in place of butter; choosing oatmeal or whole-grain cereal for breakfast; or trying a meatless meal once per week.”

For the research, investigators followed 66,892 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

All the women included in the analysis were free from cardiovascular disease at the start of the study, between 1994 and 1998, and had complete information about their diet and other important health and lifestyle factors.

Researchers used information collected through a food frequency questionnaire at the start of the study to calculate a Planetary Health Diet Index score for each participant. Higher scores indicated that a participant’s diet was more closely aligned with the Planetary Health Diet.

They then divided the women into five groups according to how closely their diets followed it.

The women were around 63 years old at the start of the study and were followed for about 20 years to see who developed cardiovascular disease.

When analysing the data, researchers adjusted for factors that could affect cardiovascular risk, including age, race and ethnicity, education, income, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, body mass index and total calorie intake.

“We did not only look at overall cardiovascular disease,” said Shahamati.

“We also looked separately at coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. This helped us see whether the pattern was similar across different types of cardiovascular outcomes.”

Overall, women whose diets were most closely aligned with the Planetary Health Diet had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease.

They also had a lower risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke than women in the lowest-adherence group.

Moderate adherence was also associated with a lower risk, with each 10-point increase in the Planetary Health Diet Index score linked to a further reduction.

The researchers cautioned that, because the study was observational, it could not show that the diet directly caused the lower risk among women.

Observational studies identify links between factors such as diet and disease risk, but cannot prove that one caused the other.

The research team is now exploring other aspects of diet and health among older adults, including how diet quality changes over time.

The researchers said this information could help support healthy ageing and prevent chronic diseases.

Yoga and omega-3 supplements may be as effective as talking therapies for pregnancy depression, a major review suggests.

Globally, nearly one in three pregnant women experience depression, but most receive no treatment.

When support is available, women are often directed towards talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, and mindfulness.

CBT is a structured talking therapy that helps people identify and change patterns of thought and behaviour affecting their mental health.

The review examined 115 clinical trials involving more than 12,000 participants across 30 countries.

It found that yoga, massage, omega-3 supplements and bright light therapy were broadly as effective as talking therapies at reducing depression symptoms during pregnancy.

Bright light therapy involves controlled exposure to bright light and is sometimes used to treat mood conditions.

The findings point to the importance of social support and increased connection, as all these approaches offer some element of contact or guided support.

Led by King’s College London, the research brought together trial evidence across every type and format of treatment for antenatal depression under a common framework.

Antenatal depression is depression that occurs during pregnancy.

The study was conducted as part of HappyMums, a European consortium led by the University of Milan that aims to improve mental health support during pregnancy and after birth.

Carmine Pariante, professor of biological psychiatry, said: “This is the most comprehensive analysis of treatments for depression in pregnancy ever conducted, and the findings should prompt a rethink of how we support women during this critical period.

“The evidence is clear that there is no single best approach. What matters is that women have access to a range of options, and that clinicians feel equipped to offer them.”

The researchers said yoga and omega-3 supplements could be legitimate treatment options, rather than stopgaps, for women on waiting lists or those who struggle to access mental health support.

However, the studies differed considerably in design, sample size and how results were measured, so the findings should be interpreted with care.

The team said non-psychological approaches could help women cope with long waits for care without ruling out other treatments alongside them.

Digital and online interventions, including apps and telephone-based support, were also found to be as effective as face-to-face treatment.

Researchers said this could affect how antenatal depression is managed, particularly for women who cannot travel or face long waits for in-person care.

The team found no randomised controlled trials of pharmaceutical treatments for antenatal depression, despite antidepressants being widely prescribed for depression outside pregnancy.

A randomised controlled trial is a study in which participants are randomly assigned to different treatment groups, allowing researchers to compare outcomes more fairly.

Evidence for drug treatment during pregnancy therefore relies on indirect research rather than trials carried out during pregnancy, reflecting long-standing caution around testing medicines in pregnant populations.

NICE guidelines recommend antidepressants for moderate to severe depression in pregnancy, while evidence from outside formal pregnancy trials suggests they can be safe and effective.

However, the researchers said trials are still needed, particularly for women who cannot access or engage with other forms of support.

Riddhi Laijawala, trial manager and PhD student, said: “Depression in pregnancy is common, but it is not inevitable, and it is treatable. What this review shows is that the options available to women are broader than many people realise.

“A yoga class, music therapy, or an online programme may not sound like clinical treatment, but the evidence suggests they can make a real difference, and for many women they may be easier (and quicker) to access than a course of therapy.”

Depression during pregnancy affects an estimated 28.5 per cent of pregnant people worldwide, but only around one in five receives appropriate and timely treatment.

The team said closing this treatment gap should be a priority for health systems because the condition can affect both parent and child.

The HappyMums project is supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

Type 2 diabetes is rising among women in their 20s in England, with experts warning of a worrying increase since the Covid pandemic.

The rise has largely occurred since the pandemic and is closely linked to increasing obesity levels, according to an analysis of NHS data from 2011 to 2024.

The condition is serious and can lead to severe complications, including heart attacks and strokes.

Diabetes UK said it tends to be more aggressive when it develops at a younger age, raising the risk of serious complications and shorter lives.

The charity said early diagnosis is vital for people at risk to help prevent long-term organ damage.

The condition can sometimes be put into remission through healthy eating and maintaining a healthy weight, without relying on glucose-lowering medicines.

Researchers said newer obesity treatments, including GLP-1 injections and pills, may also help alongside healthy eating advice.

About 90 per cent of the six million people living with diabetes in the UK have type 2 rather than type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes.

The risk increases with age, and older adults still account for the largest proportion of new diagnoses.

However, NHS England estimates suggest that 12,000 people under 30 are now living with the condition, with women making up more of the younger cases.

Common symptoms include feeling very tired, urinating more often than usual and feeling thirsty all the time.

Researchers at Imperial College London analysed NHS data from the English National Diabetes Audit to examine trends over time.

The figures showed that cases are falling slightly among older adults, who still account for the largest share of new diagnoses.

However, diagnoses are increasing rapidly among people under 40, with some of the sharpest rises among women aged 20 to 29.

Body mass index at diagnosis has also been rising more quickly among younger adults than in older age groups, pointing to obesity as a likely factor.

Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of obesity based on a person’s height and weight.

Separate NHS data for England shows obesity rates have worsened since the pandemic, with nearly one in three people now affected.

The largest increases over time have been among younger adults.

Between 2019 and 2025, new obesity cases rose by 16 per cent among people aged 20 to 29 and by almost 20 per cent among those aged 30 to 39.

Rates fell among adults aged 60 to 79 over the same period.

Lead researcher Dr Shivani Misra said: “We think that the earlier onset of severe obesity in young people is increasing their type 2 diabetes risk in early life and pulling down their age at diagnosis.

“This is really worrying given the poor health outcomes from early-onset type 2 diabetes.”

Misra said much of the discussion about rising rates among younger people had focused on ethnic minority groups, which have traditionally been considered at higher risk.

However, the new data suggests the trend extends well beyond those communities.

She added: “We now see that incidence is also increasing in white populations too, showing that this public health challenge is broadening across the generations.”

Diabetes UK said better follow-up care is also needed for mums-to-be diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy because it raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes after childbirth.

Some studies have suggested that the risk of developing the condition may also increase after being ill with Covid, although the evidence remains inconclusive.