Maths and Our Health

Does eating bacon sandwiches increase your risk of getting cancer?
Why are some medical treatments not available on the NHS?
How do epidemics spread, and can we stop them?


Biomedicine provides rich contexts for studying maths. These resources explore various topics related to healthcare and the biomedical sciences, and are aimed at secondary students.
Age 14 to 16

Disease Dynamics - understanding the spread of diseases

A chance to explore the mathematics of networks as applied to epidemics and the spread of disease.

Probability and Evidence

A collection of problems exploring how understanding probability is vital in medicine and law.

Age 11 to 16
Challenge Level

How Risky is My Diet?

Newspapers said that eating a bacon sandwich every day raises the risk of bowel cancer by 20%. Should you be concerned?

Age 14 to 16
Challenge Level

Statins and Risk

"Statins cut the risks of heart attacks and strokes by 40%"
Should the Professor take statins? Can you help him decide?

Age 11 to 16

Maths and Our Health - Motivate Resource Packs

These five resource packs, originally produced for the MMP's Motivate project, explore how maths underpins biomedical science.

You can also read more about the role of maths and statistics in the biomedical sciences in these articles on Plus, the free online mathematics magazine.

The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.
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NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.