List

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.
Probability and Evidence
list

Probability and Evidence

A collection of problems exploring how understanding probability is vital in medicine and law.
How Risky \is my diet?
problem

How Risky is my diet?

Age
11 to 16
Challenge level
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Newspapers said that eating a bacon sandwich every day raises the risk of bowel cancer by 20%. Should you be concerned?
Statins and Risk
problem

Statins and Risk

Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
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"Statins cut the risks of heart attacks and strokes by 40%"
Should the Professor take statins? Can you help him decide?
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.