In the first community-based study of its kind, researchers from The Ohio State University and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network found that 81 per cent of women who have been abused at the hands of their partners have suffered a head injury and 83 per cent have been strangled. Trauma such as repeated blows to the head and strangulation have lasting effects and should be recognised by professionals, from advocates and health care providers, to law enforcement, authors of the study say.

Older women with more body fat around the middle (apple-shaped), are up to three times more likely to suffer from a stroke than those with fat around the thighs (pear-shaped), research finds. A study published in the European Heart Journal on 30 June 2019, has found that storing a greater proportion of body fat in the legs was linked to a significantly decreased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in postmenopausal women - even if they are of a normal weight. Research carried out by New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine studied 2,683 postmenopausal women, aged 59-70 years-old, all with a normal body mass index (18.5 to less than 25 kg/m2).