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For millions across the world, the Paralympics is a spectacle of human endurance and physical achievement. But the Paralympian movement started life as a hospital rehabilitation programme, developed by neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttmann.

Needle, a small London-based group, led the early fight for patient rights. Leona Letts reveals how they championed giving patients a louder voice in their own care.

Mental health and emotional symptoms are common during menopause, but a long history of dismissing sufferers as 'hysterical women', at the mercy of their emotions has made it much harder to discuss these issues and to get support.

By continuing to represent disability as the feared outcome of disease, public health campaigns help to perpetuate prejudice against disabled people.

How accurately can we imagine the future? These past prognostications suggest that we cannot escape the pull of our own time and its biases.

Not in the mood? Come and visit our traditional drug store for natural tonics rumoured to increase sexual desire.

Mystery and controversy surround the dark-skinned religious icon who represents the Virgin Mary throughout the Catholic world.

Scientists, artists, and philosophers have long studied our anatomy to try to discover what it means to be human.

From hairpins that ward off evil to anklets that alter the way you walk, there’s a lot more to wearing jewellery than simply showing off.

This display features a rare medieval birth scroll and explores protective practices and beliefs around pregnancy, childbirth and infertility past and present.

Some people will use a dose of ginger to help with hangovers – but it hasn’t always been a friend to the thirsty.

We might try to deny our animal instincts, but this series of extraordinary 17th-century drawings suggests they are only too apparent.

A new emphasis on the link between exercise and health, in the early 20th century, inspired a culture of physical self-improvement. Lalita Kaplish explores how yoga influenced and was inspired by this global phenomenon.

Fitzrovia, 1875. A woman recorded only as A.G. enters hospital and is diagnosed with syphilis.

The story behind why somebody tried to sell Henry Wellcome a unicorn head in 1928.

We are able to provide immunity from seizure for cultural objects which are on loan from overseas under Part 6 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. This page outlines immunity from seizure information for objects in our exhibitions.

Surrounded by saltwater but starved of the fresh kind, Aegina’s residents rely on tankers and plastic bottles to get by. Mirela Dialeti explores how life on this Greek island balances on a hope that a new underwater pipeline will finally bring change.

Our current strategic plans and policies, documents relating to our collections and other agreements are listed here.

From the depths of a vanished well rises the story of Black Mary – a 17th-century Black healer. In this extract from the anthology 'Thirst', Gaylene Gould pieces together the fragments of Mary’s life in search of her long-lost well.

Information to help you plan and prepare for your visit to 'Thirst: In Search of Freshwater'.