Positive Health Online

Botanica2026 – The Helichrysum Edition

Be part of the new and exciting chapter of the renowned Botanica conference series!

The biggest news of this year is the Botanica2026 conference of which I am founder and organiser. Excitement is building ahead of our first edition dedicated to Helichrysum!

https://botanica2026.com/

Taking place April 11th, our speaker line-up comprises international experts for a single day of live lectures plus a bumper bonus of on-demand lecture content – in total 16 presentations that are viewable for a 30 day replay period – all focused on research and diverse applications of Helichrysum species from around the world. Be sure to check out the program!

Botanica2026: One Plant-One Day-One Vision:

3 separate one-day online immersion conference events spread across the year. Each unique immersion day completely revolves around a single plant genus:

• April 11th: Helichrysum
• July 25th: Lavandula
• November 28th: Salvia

Sign up for just one day or all three conferences – the choice is yours! We also invite sponsors to join us in return for great visibility. Hosted on an award-winning professional online events platform with round-the-clock technical support, you are assured of a dynamic and immersive conference and trade show experience!

Some Upcoming Botanica2026 Highlights for the Helichrysum Edition:

• 16 expert speakers from 10 countries are gathering to share their research, knowledge and expertise in all things Helichrysum;
• A Live lecture program plus on-demand pre-recorded sessions; 
• Top notch networking using our live chat facility (text/ audio/ audio-visual);
• Transcription of all live lectures into the language of your choice;
• A busy virtual trade show with great offers on a range of products and services;
• 1 month of lecture replays built into your registration or choose to upgrade to unlimited replay access;
• Special privileges for members of the International Clinical Aromatherapy Network (ICAN) that include unlimited replay access plus a dedicated ICAN Lounge with more than 10 exclusive Member contributions;
• A certificate of attendance for your evidence of continuing professional development;
• Sponsorship and trade show opportunities to increase your visibility worldwide;
• A special discounted rate if you register for all 3 events before April 10th.

I am so excited to be bringing you yet another informative, inspiring and top-notch conference on April 11th – be sure to book your place today!
Support botanica2026 through sponsorship to benefit from year-round visibility and increased professional connections? You directly contribute to the excellent educational program and immersive Botanica experience of this renowned conference series.

• Let me start giving you increased visibility right away!
• There are three affordable partnership tiers for you to consider.
• All sponsorship details can be found on the botanica2026

I hope to welcome you to botanica2026.
Warm regards, Rhiannon 

GO TO BOTANICA2026

It IS All In Our Heads

My technique only requires the patient to sit for one minute, anywhere. No treatment table required. I describe my protocol as "reverse acupressure." The patient is active and the therapist is passive, contrary to almost all forms of physical manipulation. By relieving pressure ABOVE the top of your spinal column, your brain-body connection will readily de-stress and go to parasympathetic status via the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal [HPA] axis.

Walking 10-20 steps after treatment creates a neuromuscular re-education.

https://stressbreakercom.wordpress.com/

Caption: Mike Menkes performs Cranial treatment for neck and shoulder pain by holding the back of Martika's head at the convergence = origins of occipito-frontalis muscles, greater occipital nerves, Gall Bladder 19, while I resist her gentle neck extension [up to one pound for one minute, then she is told to get up and to walk to reinstate neuro-muscular re-education. – the patient controls the pressure so it can never be too much.

Safe and effective as a stand-alone therapy and as the first treatment prior to: chiropractic, massage, physical therapy, acupuncture, counselling, Reiki, reflexology, TENS, Guided Imagery, Ayurveda, Naturopathy, breathwork, herbs, emotional release, counselling, mental slumps, artist and sports enhancement, rapid post-op surgery recovery.

Alleviate computer eye strain, migraines, neck and shoulder tension, cortisol, fatigue, anxiety, ADD, bruxism, TMJ, ADHD, post-traumatic stress disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome, PTSD, diminished brain function, repetitive strain syndrome, caregiver stress in one minute.

Enhance cognitive function, vision, creativity, athletic performance, mood, posture, post-op recovery, hormone balance, and dissociation from the patient's misdiagnosis and symptoms mismanagement.

My technique may be used solo, as pre-treatment and in combination with other modalities to enhance treatment results.

Testimonials

"Having helped thousands of patients with stress and chronic pain problems since 1991, I’ve yet to experience such a simple, yet powerfully effective technique as the “stress relief in 1 minute” or the “stress breaker” as done by Mike Menkes. This is a game changer!" Dr Wade Baskin, PT, DPT, Dip. Osteopractic [a sub-specialty of physical therapy focusing on evidence-based, hands-on treatment for neuromusculoskeletal conditions], Cert. SMT, Cert. DN

“Mike just held the back of my head for 2 minutes while I was sitting in a chair and my back pain is gone.” Bank America officer 6 months pregnant.

“It works!” Clifton Thomas, MD – Nacogdoches Texas

“My headache is gone. I can see better.” B A Budd 75

One patient reported that he felt no change. The next day he called to tell me that he did not grind his teeth during sleep.

5 minute video on the origins of my protocol

Stress-Breaker - YouTube

When intracranial pressure is relieved and the patient attains parasympathetic status, secondary issues that were blocked by HPA axis dysfunction become apparent and will guide you to a treatment plan for the underlying conditions.

"Treat the origin 1st not the symptom."

Question: What actually is the reason for so many positive changes in one minute? My hypothesis = pineal gland function is enhanced via the lowering of intracranial pressure.

I am available to demonstrate and to teach professionals, caregivers, parents, military, corporate employees, first responders, couples, classes.

Remote teaching is available.

Further Information

Mike Menkes is available via PayPal Doctorenergyinc@yahoo.com – USD $99 per person.

Mike may be reached via Tel: +1 954 870 8720 / WhatsApp +1 954 870 8720; mikemenkes@yahoo.com    https://stressbreakercom.wordpress.com/

The Crucial Role of our Life Energy in our Health

This may well be our most important and insightful episode yet! After forty years of holistic medical practice Dr Rosy Daniel has come to understand the crucial role of our Life Energy in our health, wellbeing, motivation and consciousness. This is mapped and measured through  Rosy’s Picture of Health self-assessment tool which shows us our current ‘Life Energy Factor’ and where we are building and losing it.  In this episode, we explore deeply the role of vitality and life energy in health and crucially how our level of Life Energy dictates our mental state and motivation levels. We explain the phased approach to building our Life Energy, recognizing that when we are deplete that self-help can be impossible. At low energy levels we will need passive input of energy through healing, Reiki, energy therapies and support to lift us to the level where self-help becomes possible. Whereas at high levels, life comes towards us and becomes much easier. Listen along as we discover how understanding and enhancing your life energy can lead to greater vitality, emotional balance, and spiritual awakening.

https://www.aliveandlovingit.org/episodes

Together, we explore how:

• Small healthy changes summate to raise your life energy, mood and motivation;
• Low energy levels can arise because of junk food, lack of air and light, emotional repression and toxicity from alcohol and smoking;
• The Picture of Health tool can map and measure your energy across 12 principles;
• Practices like walking, meditation, singing, and nature restore energy levels;
• Fear drops our energy levels while living authentically and expressing emotions boosts vitality.

Although it can be tricky to think about, our own fear and inauthenticity can drain our life energy, impacting health, motivation, and happiness. We share our own experiences and stories to delve further into this deeply personal topic.

• To do your own Picture of Health, go to healthcreation.co.uk/shop ;
• To explore the Health Creation Programme go to healthcreation.online;
• To train as a Health Creation Coach and Mentor write to Rosy support@healthcreation.co.uk,

Listen to Season 3 Episode 34 ‘Vitality and the Life Energy Factor ’ here

Episode 35 - Tuesday March 31st

Next week, UK Health Leader Marcus Fernandez shares his personal journey into homeopathy, from cynicism to becoming a leading author, trainer, practitioner and philanthropist through his College for Homeopathic Education. Marcus does not just believe Homeopathy works – he knows it! He has led the profession boldly through the attacks of sceptics to keep Homeopathy alive and well for those who value this sensitive energy medicine. Marcus explains the fundamental principles of how Homeopathy works to unlock our vital force. We talk about how:

• The vital force or life energy  is an essential concept in homeopathy
• Scepticism usually occurs in people who haven’t actually tried homeopathy
• Education and awareness are key to understanding homeopathy
• Homeopathic remedies stimulate the body's healing process
• Homeopathy has a rich history of success in epidemics.

Episode 35 drops Tuesday March 31st!

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Thank you to everyone who has left such kind feedback on our podcast! We love hearing from our Alive and Loving It community, so if you’d love to share, please contact us via our website. Follow us on Instagram @aliveandlovingitcommunity for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, inspirational updates and invitations to our community events coming soon, 

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Further Information

Rosy Daniel may be reached via Rosy Daniel rosy.daniel@healthcreation.co.uk  www.healthcreation.online. Sponsored by Cytoplan. We’re proud to be supported  by Cytoplan, a trusted leader in food-based supplements. As part of our Alive and Loving It community, you can enjoy 15% off at www.cytoplan.co.uk with code ALIVEPOD-15

Neurodiversity Nutrition Practice Expands Fivefold 

A top nutrition clinic that offers specialist support to people with ADHD and autism has quintupled its team of expert practitioners, to cope with surging demand. So Nutrition, founded by BANT-registered nutritionist and ADHD coach Sarah Osborne in 2022, has seen an eighteen-fold increase in interest over the past 12 months, for services which range from coaching for emotional eating, to food sensitivity testing and gut health support. 

As a result, So Nutrition has taken on four new practitioners to respond to the urgent need from across the UK.

Founder of So Nutrition, Sarah Osborne says: “Greater understanding of neurodiversity in recent years has helped address previous misconceptions, with an accompanying increase in both adults and children being diagnosed. However, one area just beginning to get due attention is the connection between neurodivergent traits and eating behaviours.  

“Food struggles for people with ADHD and autism are likely to be shaped by differences in sensory processing, emotional regulation and executive function. Understanding this and putting the right nutritional support in place can have a major impact on wellbeing, from improving gut health to regulating mood and boosting energy. Our expansion at So Nutrition is testament to soaring demand and the need for an informed and compassionate approach.” 

https://sonutritionacademy.com/

So Nutrition Team

The expert practitioners joining the So Nutrition team include:

• Natasha Rosenberg: a nutritional therapist specialising in family nutrition, with a focus on ADHD, autism and children’s eating behaviours; 
• Becca Tym: an ADHD nutrition coach specialising in the impact of ADHD on emotional eating behaviours and wellbeing; 
• Fatima Riaz: a nutritional therapist working with complex health issues, with specialisms including weight loss, genetics and cancer nutrition therapy; 
• Nicola Newton: a specialist in gut health, irritable bowel syndrome and food reactions, which are common in those with ADHD and autism.  

Public Demand 

The clinic’s rapid growth comes at a time when NHS waiting lists for ADHD and autism assessments are at an all-time high and have been paused in some regions to address the backlog. Figures released in December 2025 pointed to 700,123 people in the UK awaiting referrals for an ADHD assessment. 

Supporting Healthcare Professionals 

So Nutrition also advises medical professionals through its training academy. Founder Sarah Osborne recently spoke at the Royal Society of Medicine on the links between neurodiversity and nutrition, sharing So Nutrition’s own research and providing practical information to GPs.  

Key findings of the research showed:

• The majority of those with ADHD miss meals regularly and this happens daily for almost a quarter (23%); 
• Nine in 10 struggle with impulsive eating; 
• Food sensitivities are extremely common, with 78% highly sensitive to certain textures, tastes and smells.

Medication, ADHD and Nutrition

Medication for ADHD has become prevalent but the stimulant nature tends to affect appetite, which can also compound nutritional issues. So Nutrition’s Sarah Osborne explains: “Medication for ADHD can be a very effective, sometimes life-changing, treatment for many people but one of the common side effects is its impact on appetite and eating behaviour. Some of the recognised patterns are reduced appetite, delayed meals and shifts in food preferences. Plus, medication can interact with certain supplements, so it’s important to get proper guidance. Equally for those who choose not to take medication or don’t have access to it, nutrition can play a key role in supporting regulation of the nervous system to improve balance and wellbeing.” 

Industry-Backed Inclusive Support

So Nutrition also works with leading industry bodies and charities and throughout 2026 will be providing free webinars with leading specialist clinic ADHD360, where Sarah Osborne will offer practical support, dispelling some of the myths around ADHD and eating behaviours. To find out more about So Nutrition visit https://adhdandnutrition.co.uk/

Notes

Research was conducted with 500 adults in the UK with ADHD to assess their views on diet and eating behaviours. The survey was carried out in 2025 by an independent ESOMAR gold standard provider. The findings are shared in a report, ADHD and Nutrition: serving up the plain truths, which is available to download free here.

ADHD affects over 3.5% of the population, with recent estimates suggesting 2,506,000 people in England have ADHD, including those without a diagnosis.

*NHS data, December 2025 on ADHD and waitlists:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mi-adhd/november-2025 

About So Nutrition and Sarah Osborne

With specialisms in nutrigenomics, ADHD and impulsive eating, So Nutrition has worked with hundreds of neurodivergent people dealing with a wide range of dietary challenges. Led by award-winning nutritionist Sarah Osborne, the practice fosters kindness and self-compassion to enhance nutritional goals.  Sarah Osborne, BA (Hons), is a BANT-registered nutritionist, advanced ADHD coach and emotional eating specialist. Combining neuroscience, nutrigenomics and clinical nutrition, Sarah’s work focuses on supporting neurodivergent adults and children through practical, evidence-based and neuroaffirmative approaches. Sarah has spoken at national events including TEDx, Seed Talks and The Royal Society of Medicine, and her research-based work on ADHD and nutrition has reached audiences across the UK and beyond.   

About So Nutrition Academy 

The So Nutrition Academy aims to fulfil the need for training and support for professionals working at the intersection of food, mood and neurodivergent traits. Through in-depth mentoring, live calls, practitioner resources and tailored CPD, the academy helps health professionals to translate theory into practice and adapt their work for sensory needs, executive function challenges, emotional eating, medication-related appetite issues and more. 

Media Contact and Further Information

Please contact So Nutrition ADHD Clinic via Spice PR Press Team Leila on Tel: 07825 335 285;  Leila@spicepr.co.uk;  Dee on Tel: 7866 895 041;  Dee@spicepr.co.uk;    pressteam@spicepr.co.uk   https://adhdandnutrition.co.uk    

AI Increases Cancer Detection by More than 10 Percent

Pioneering study finds AI increases cancer detection by more than 10 percent

“The bottom line here is –without AI, doctors could not have caught these cancers as early”, Professor Gerald Lip

• Study evaluated how AI could improve breast cancer detection;
• AI Increased breast cancer detection by more than 10%;
• Women could be notified in 3 days as opposed to 14 – a reduction in waiting time by more than 78%;
• AI reduced staff workload by more than 30% ;
• Identified ‘optimum’ way to use AI technology in the UK breast screening programme .

Case study and interviews available

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/25244/

The UK's first comprehensive evaluation of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in breast cancer screening found that it can increase breast cancer detection by 10.4%

Published in Nature Cancer, the evaluation was carried out by a team of scientists, clinicians and software developers from the University of Aberdeen, NHS Grampian, and Kheiron Medical Technologies, now part of DeepHealth Inc., and was funded through the NHS AI in Health and Care Award in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The study found that not only did AI help detect more cancers, most of which were invasive and high grade, it could also reduce the time to notify affected women from 14 days to just 3 days. This, the authors say, is ‘hugely significant given that the earlier detection of primarily high-grade cancers enables earlier treatment, which has a greater likelihood of treatment success.’ The researchers also found that using AI as part of the large-scale screening programme could reduce the number of women recalled unnecessarily for further assessment including unnecessary biopsies. This, the team say will significantly reduce patient stress and worry while also saving healthcare resources and costs.

The evaluation, led by the University of Aberdeen, followed NHS Grampian's GEMINI (Grampian’s Evaluation of Mia in an Innovative National breast screening Initiative) project which was facilitated by the North of Scotland NHS Innovation Hub. The team assessed how an AI software tool, Mia, developed by Kheiron, could be used to support healthcare workers in the routine breast screening of 10,889 women in NHS Grampian. Dr Clarisse de Vries, Lecturer in Data Science at the University of Glasgow, lead author and former Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, explains why this GEMINI evaluation is so impactful for thousands of women:

“As part of the UK breast screening programme all women aged between 50 and 70 years old in the UK are invited for mammograms every three years. This results in over 2 million mammogram examinations being performed annually.

“Currently, in the UK, to reduce the number of cancers missed, two radiologists read every mammogram. However, some breast cancers are extremely hard to detect, and it is not always clear from mammograms whether breast cancer is present. So, when there is the suspicion of cancer on a mammogram the woman is recalled for additional investigations.

“Despite this, approximately 20% of cancers are missed using this process.

“Furthermore, many more women are recalled for further assessments than are diagnosed with cancer. For each five women recalled, approximately one will be diagnosed with breast cancer. So, they have had unnecessary, often invasive tests – not to mention the additional worry for the patient.

Niccolo Stefani, MD, Business and Product Leader Population Health & Clinical AI, DeepHealth added: “This study demonstrates how AI can do more than enhance clinical accuracy, it can reimagine how we deliver care.

“By detecting more cancers at an earlier stage, and reducing unnecessary interventions, we’re not only helping to improve outcomes for women today but also setting a new standard for scalable, proactive care. It’s a real-world example of how AI-powered solutions can potentially stage shift disease.”

Dr Clarisse de Vries said: “Healthcare and radiology are facing substantial challenges due to high workload, a shortfall of clinical radiologists, and an ageing population.

“However, despite the promise of AI, the UK National Screening Committee does not recommend the use of AI in the NHS breast screening programme. They previously highlighted that both the quality and quantity of the evidence base were insufficient. Our work adds high-quality evidence to the scientific literature in support of AI. It also demonstrates that AI use can be tailored to local healthcare needs to enhance service delivery.”

Dr Annie Ng, Science Lead at DeepHealth explains, “We are incredibly proud to show the real-world impact of clinical AI solutions for large scale screening to improve patient experience and outcomes. Programs like GEMINI are meaningful to build trust and accelerate AI adoption.”

The study’s findings help address several of the evidence gaps identified by the UK National Screening Committee. While further research is needed to fully quantify the benefits and any potential harms, this work provides an important foundation for next steps in the field. It directly supports the upcoming EDITH trial, which will expand this work to evaluate the use of AI in breast screening across sites throughout the UK. The Scottish element of the trial will be led jointly by the University of Aberdeen, NHS Grampian and University of Glasgow.

Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR Scientific Director for Innovation, said: “By generating high-quality evidence on the safe and effective use of AI in breast cancer screening, the team has shown its potential to improve detection, reduce unnecessary stress for patients, and ease pressure on the NHS workforce. The NIHR is proud to have funded this work, helping to ensure that cutting-edge technologies are tested rigorously and can be translated into real-world benefits for patients. This is exactly the kind of innovation we want to see delivering tangible improvements across the health system.” 

Professor Gerald Lip received funding support through the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office Innovation Fellowship Programme.

Media Contact and Further Information

The full paper is available here from 10am on Tuesday, 10 March

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-026-01126-1

University of Aberdeen Tel: 01224 272014  communications@abdn.ac.uk