7 top health and wellness stories from 2025, from weight loss to fitness in old age

Health and wellness are areas of huge interest to people globally as they seek to live longer, healthier and happier lives. Understandably, these topics resonated strongly with Post readers in 2025. Most popular was a story in our “Decoding dementia” series about a neurologist who uses five simple tests of cognitive function – including drawing a clock – to help gauge the health of a patient’s brain. Stories about weight loss also struck a chord in 2025, including one on how resistance training helped 79-year-old influencer Joan MacDonald drop 30kg (66 pounds) and build stronger bones, and another on the weight-loss journey of a Singaporean chef who also dropped 30kg. Here we look back at seven of the most-read health and wellness stories of the year. 1. Test of time The clock drawing test is used to assess several mental processes. Over the past two decades, it has become a key tool in early screening for cognitive impairment – especially dementia. It can assess visuospatial abilities – understanding where objects are in space – and executive function, which covers one’s working memory, flexibility of thinking and self-control, and involves using the brain’s parietal and frontal lobes. US-based neurologist Dr Baibing Chen considers it one of his favourite tests because it provides information from different domains. Read the full story here 2. Golden age Joan MacDonald is an unlikely influencer. At nearly 80 years of age, she has garnered 2 million followers on Instagram since she began posting on the platform almost a decade ago. During that time, she has transformed her life and her health. Now she helps others embrace ageing with strength and grace. However, at 70, MacDonald, a Canadian living in Ontario, was experiencing several age-related health issues: high blood pressure, acid reflux, arthritis and obesity. Weighing 90kg, she often felt tired and uncomfortable and was finding it increasingly difficult to move about easily. Read how she transformed herself here 3. Happy returns Happiness can be elusive. When you obtain what you expect will bring happiness – a cool new job, a flashy car, the date you always wanted – for a time, you feel great. But that feeling subsides, and you start to feel that, really, you had it wrong and you need that other thing you wanted to be happy. That is the problem with thinking that happiness comes from changes in our environment, says Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale University in the US. Read the full story here 4. Sore point Have you ever had a cold sore? They are common, uncomfortable and can be hard to get rid of. But there is new hope on the horizon. Research has discovered that a protein in the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) – a virus that causes both cold sores and a small proportion of genital herpes, and which can lie dormant for extended periods – is required to activate the immune system and reawaken the virus when it is dormant. “This is an important finding because it gives us new ways to potentially prevent the virus from waking up and activating immune responses in the nervous system that could have negative consequences in the long term,” says Anna Cliffe, lead author of the study published by the University of Virginia School of Medicine, in the US. Read the full story here 5. Loss leader Weight-loss stories often begin with a moment of epiphany, which is then followed by an intense period of discipline and perseverance – sometimes measured in months, sometimes in years. For Singaporean chef Han Li-guang, who has lost more than 30kg since 2022, it has been a slow, steady race to the finish line. Even now, he continues to work out for two hours at a time, six days a week, to set himself up for the day. Read the full story here 6. Design for life In the Netflix documentary Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, tech multimillionaire Bryan Johnson gives viewers a glimpse of the regimen that he and his team have designed to try to defeat the ageing process. His Blueprint initiative involves waking up at 5am and going to bed by 8.30pm; eating a mostly vegan diet while taking 90 supplements a day; “bathing” in LED light; exercising for up to 60 minutes a day, six days a week; and undergoing routine MRI scans and tests. Read the full story here 7. Blood work When Terri Cheong failed the premedical check for a blood donation drive in January due to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the Singapore-based finance executive decided to take charge of her health – and her life. “I realised how unhealthy and unfit I had become. I had let my health slip. Something had to change,” she says. Read the full story here Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.

7 top health and wellness stories from 2025, from weight loss to fitness in old age

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Body transformations, scientific breakthroughs and weight-loss journeys are among your most-read health and wellness stories this year

1. Test of time

Body transformations, scientific breakthroughs and weight-loss journeys are among your most-read health and wellness stories this year