Alle afleveringen van Inside Health – pagina 3 van 8

Monkeypox, mind body connections, are children exercising less since Covid?

19 juli 2022 · 28 min

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What do you think bendy joints has to do with the way the brain works? Well you may be in for surprise. Scientists have found a connection with autism, attention deficit and Tourettes. So what does this tell us about how our brain and body work? We’re asking whether we’re stuck with monkeypox forever now or do we still have the chance to stop it spreading? And has the pandemic left a permanent scar on children’s activity levels. Lees meer

Medical language, chemo brain & heatwaves

12 juli 2022 · 28 min

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Does medicine have a language problem? We speak to Rachel who was made to feel like a 'naughty schoolgirl' by the terminology used around the birth of her child. We’ll find out how deep-seated blaming and belittling language in healthcare is, and why. We get sticky and sweaty discussing the dangers of heatwaves to the human body. And we take the confusion out of 'chemo brain' or cancer-related cognitive impairment, and explore why we rarely talk about it and how this is now changing. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Beth Eastwood

How's your hay fever?

5 juli 2022 · 27 min

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Aaaaaaaaa-choo! If you have hay fever then you know that it can be a right pain in the… nose. This week Inside Health presents a complete guide to hay fever. Are we enduring the worst hay fever season? When was the disgustingly-named “summer catarrh” first identified as a medical condition? And what can we safely plant in the garden without setting off our symptoms? GP Navjoyt Ladher and immunologist Danny Altmann join James Gallagher in the park to talk causes and treatments, and to find out how close we are to having a cure. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Anna Buckley

The Power of the Dog

22 maart 2022 · 30 min

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This week James Gallagher finds out if the Power of the Dog is true. No not the movie, but the claim that dogs can make us live longer. He’s also doing press ups in the studio to see if small amounts of muscle building exercise can help boost our health no matter how old we are. Then, inspired by the last episode on long Covid, James goes in search of the lost art of convalescence. Lees meer

Long Covid revisited

15 maart 2022 · 28 min

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It’s a long Covid reunion on Inside Health. We first met Jo, Neil and John in February 2021 when they were 12 months into the condition. Lees meer

Another year on, we catch up with them to see if they are any closer to making a full recovery. We explore how a virus can cause such prolonged symptoms, with Dr David Strain from the NHS Long Covid Taskforce, and see if we are any closer to treating long Covid.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Multiple sclerosis and the Epstein Barr virus

8 maart 2022 · 31 min

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We get to the bottom of a medical mystery – what causes multiple sclerosis? A series of studies have compellingly pointed the finger at the virus behind glandular fever. We see if they stack up and assess what it means for the future of preventing and treating MS. Then nearly two years since the World Health Organization described Covid as a pandemic, James chats to Dr Maria van Kerkhove, who is the WHO's technical lead for its response to Covid, about the successes and failures of the past two years and where we’re all heading next? Lees meer

Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Cervical screening, blood donation & measles

1 maart 2022 · 28 min

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How often do we need a smear test? It’s become controversial now as a new test means women and people with a cervix need checking less often. But in the future the answer might be only once a lifetime! Lees meer

We hunt for the special blood that's in high demand, yet in short supply, for people with sickle cell disease. And could the disruption from the Covid pandemic be setting the stage for a large outbreak of measles?

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Credit Image: NHS Blood & Transplant

Rapid genome sequencing in the clinic

22 februari 2022 · 35 min

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James meets a record breaking doctor who is analysing DNA so quickly it is transforming treatment in intensive care and from one of his patients, Matthew, who discovered he needed a new heart. Then James has a disgusting confession as we discuss losing weight by getting more sleep. And can we get better therapies for all of us by copying the revolutionary trial that transformed the pandemic.? Lees meer

Can I take HRT forever & hydration myths

15 februari 2022 · 28 min

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Can you take hormone replacement therapy - HRT - for forever? Three women talk about their different experiences of how they managed the menopause. We balance the risks and the benefits of HRT to see who might be able to take it for the long-term. Lees meer

And do you know how much water should you drink? If you said 2 litres or six-to-eight glasses a day then you may be in for a surprise.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Pig organs for transplant patients

8 februari 2022 · 29 min

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Can “one helluva pig” be the solution to a worldwide shortage of organ donors. People die waiting for replacement hearts, lungs and kidneys. So I meet the teams that have started transplanting pig organs into people. We’ll explore the huge leaps of genetic engineering that are making "xenotransplantation” possible and ask if it’s even ethical to try. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Covid boosters, Vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy, Group B strep

1 februari 2022 · 28 min

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Will we need boosters forever? It’s the question you wanted us to tackle so we’re joined by Prof Beate Kampmann, the Director of The Vaccine Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in the search for answers. Lees meer

Then we explore why so few pregnant women are taking up the Covid vaccine even though it is the best option for mother and baby.

And can we stop another infection in babies - Group B Strep - which can have devastating consequences.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

New therapies for sickle cell disease

25 januari 2022 · 27 min

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Jimi Olaghere feels like he’s been reborn after a pioneering new treatment for sickle cell disease. Scientists have engineered his blood to overcome the disease that left him in constant pain. I speak to Jimi about his experience and to his doctors about what this could mean for people with sickle cell around the world. Then we explore the headlines around women being worse off with male surgeons and get quite excited about a study suggesting a bedtime read helps sleep. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Image Credit: Getty Images

Asthma inhalers and Covid antivirals

18 januari 2022 · 28 min

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Are you one of the five million people with asthma in the UK? If so, could you be on a different inhaler - one that could control your asthma better while also being kinder to the planet? “Puffers” - or aerosol spray inhalers - contain potent greenhouse gases and can be tricky to use correctly, so not everyone can control their asthma. We speak to Caroline from Cornwall, who has switched inhalers and it’s transformed her life. James talks to the doctors who think far more people could benefit from making the change. Lees meer

We also speak to Nerys from North Wales who has started antiviral treatment for her Covid infection. We explore the new drugs with virologist Dr Elisabetta Groppelli and Prof Chris Butler who is running the clinical trial designed to pinpoint who is likely to benefit from antivirals the most.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Omicron

11 januari 2022 · 28 min

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Is an Omicron infection inevitable? Which drugs still work? Is this the last hurrah of the pandemic? This week we have three of the country’s greatest scientific minds teasing apart what Omicron means for our lives now and in the future. Prof Eleanor Riley, Prof Azra Ghani and Prof Sir Martin Landray also tackle your, at times controversial questions! And our regular Dr Rohin Francis gives us a first-hand account of the pressures on NHS staff? Lees meer

New Year's Resolutions

4 januari 2022 · 28 min

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Happy New Year. I hope you’re sticking to your New Year’s resolutions! Lees meer

Our resident GP Margaret McCartney has dragged me out for a wintery run to discuss how to stick to a healthier lifestyle. And we’re joined by Dr Giles Yeo, Dr Ian Hamiliton and Prof Russel Foster as we tackle the best diets, giving up booze for Dry January and getting a better night’s sleep.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood & Geraldine Fitzgerald

Prediabetes, Experiments in zero gravity

2 november 2021 · 28 min

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Beat pre-diabetes and get your love life back? We hear from two people who are trying to avoid getting type 2 diabetes. But not everyone thinks the term is helpful so our resident GP Margaret McCartney and Dr Samuel Seidu, from the Leicester Diabetes Centre, join us to discuss. And our cardiologist Rohin Francis gets one step closer to his dream of being an astronaut. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Geraldine Fitzgerald

PPE waste and blood test tube shortage

26 oktober 2021 · 28 min

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Flying London to New York and back. 244 times every day. For half a year. That’s the size of the carbon footprint of all the personal protective equipment used in health and social care in England during the first six months of the pandemic. So I take a look at how the NHS is going green including efforts to make a reusable facemask. Lees meer

Also, a shortage of vials for blood tests has GP Navjoyt Ladher asking whether we were testing too much anyway.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Gene Silencing Treatments

19 oktober 2021 · 28 min

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The future is here. Gene silencing medicines - which can fine tune how our DNA works - have held promise for decades. Now hundreds of thousands of people will get them in the UK. James speaks to a surgeon whose life and career have been saved by gene-silencing drugs and to researchers who think the field could lead to drugs for diseases we think of as untreatable. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Geraldine Fitzgerald

Covid vaccines: their legacy & vaccinating teens

12 oktober 2021 · 28 min

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The pandemic has strapped rocket boosters onto vaccine science. So where is it taking us next? What other diseases are we about to take on? Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert, architect of the Oxford vaccine, gives me her view. Lees meer

Also, given teenagers and parents agree about everything and never have any arguments.... we should be able to rapidly resolve any questions about whose decision it is when it comes to the Covid jab in teens. Dr Navjoyt Ladher and Dr Vanessa Apea join some very honest teenagers to help find the answer.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

The Nobel Prize for Medicine, new plans to add nutrients to foods

5 oktober 2021 · 28 min

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Anyone need a hug? I’m taking a look at this year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine. It helps explain how we experience the physical sensations of touch, heat and cold. Yes it’s the hugs, tea and ice cream Nobel! But it could also have implications for treating pain, so Prof Irene Tracey is here to discuss. And you wait decades for fortification and two come along at once. I explore why the government wants to tweak our flour and water. Lees meer

Ultra-processed vegetarian & vegan foods

28 september 2021 · 28 min

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We’re going meat-free for this podcast! Lees meer

The supermarket shelves are heaving with faux meats and vegan ultra-processed foods. And if you don’t want to put milk in your coffee or on your cereals there’s a load of plant-based alternatives.

So we take a look at how healthy these foods are and what you need to know when you’re doing the weekly shop. Sorry you will have to listen to me eating a sausage roll.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCERS: Beth Eastwood & Lorna Stewart

The vulva & your GP medical records

10 augustus 2021 · 28 min

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Do you know your mons pubis from your labia majora? Few of us can identify the parts of the vulva - that’s the external female genitals. So I go exploring with Dr Fiona Reid from St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester and find out why we all need to be better informed. Lees meer

Also, who should be able to look at your medical records? There are grand plans afoot to collect the data your GP holds on you and make it available to researchers. We discuss the pros and the cons with Prof Martin Landray from Oxford University and GP Dr Margaret McCartney.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Long covid in children & treating normal blood pressure

3 augustus 2021 · 28 min

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My blood pressure is perfectly normal, but could I benefit from medication to lower it even further? We discuss with Oxford University’s Prof Kazem Rahimi and our resident GP Margaret McCartney. Lees meer

How do you diagnose a new disease that could have 200 symptoms? We explore long Covid in children with our reporter Carolyn Atkinson and Professor Sir Terence Stephenson from the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Fewer periods, The link between erectile dysfunction and the heart

27 juli 2021 · 28 min

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It’s time to talk about periods and contraception. Different birth control options alter the menstrual cycle. Journalist Nicola Davis tells me about her decade without periods and our resident GP Margaret McCartney and sexual health doctor Julia Bailey discuss the evidence and what you need to know. Lees meer

We’ve also got vaccination expert Adam Finn to discuss the slowdown in young people getting the Covid-19 jab and cardiologist Rohin Francis explores the link between erectile dysfunction and the heart.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Geraldine Fitzgerald & Beth Eastwood

When to take your child to A&E, ear wax and happiness

20 juli 2021 · 28 min

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Time for a sprinkling of happiness with a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection. Lees meer

Last time we heard how children's A&E is under huge pressure as infections, that disappeared during Covid, make a comeback. But doctors also warn that many of those children shouldn’t actually be there. Damian Roland a paediatrician in emergency medicine at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust busts the myths about fever and gives tips on when to take your child to A&E.

And the wonders of ear wax, until it builds up, that is, as it does for me. But it's not just ear wax that nurse Andrew Hill has found in people's ears - cocaine and spiders too. You get it all here on Inside Health.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCERS: Beth Eastwood & Geraldine Fitzgerald

Increase in childhood viruses and can you be too fit?

13 juli 2021 · 28 min

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Here at Team Inside Health we’ve noticed our children are constantly ill. So we find out why. Are all those bugs that were dormant for the pandemic suddenly having a resurgence? Or has a year and a half of being squeaky clean left a lingering impact on our immune system? Plus Medlife Crisis - Rohin Frances asks can you be too fit? Lees meer

How to defeat needle phobia and football and lateral flow tests.

6 juli 2021 · 28 min

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The Inside Health podcast is back with a bang! Lees meer

Find out how having a couple of mates round for the football trapped scientist Alex Crozier inside a Covid experiment.

Laura talks us through her remarkable journey, from a fear of needles to having her Covid jab, and Oxford University’s Daniel Freeman has some tips for you too.

We’ve unleashed our cardiologist, Rohin Francis, for the first of his “Roving Rohin” (trademark pending) reports on hospital staff who don’t get the vaccine. And GP Navjoyt Ladher shares her insight on where we’re at with the pandemic. Happy listening.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCERS: Beth Eastwood & Geraldine Fitzgerald

Recovery Trial

23 maart 2021 · 28 min

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This is the remarkable story of how the UK’s Recovery Trial saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Covid patients. Lees meer

It was set up in nine days, after a conversation on the number 18 bus. Within 100 days it had found the first life-saving drug. This trial has united thousands of doctors, the NHS and 40,000 patients, at the scariest moments of their lives, changing the pandemic, and possibly medicine, forever.

We speak to Oxford professors Martin Landray and Peter Horby who devised the Recovery Trial, and to some of the doctors and patients who helped make it happen.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCERS: Geraldine Fitzgerald & Beth Eastwood

Covid vaccine side-effects

16 maart 2021 · 28 min

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I was floored for three days with side-effects after having my first Covid jab and many of you have been in touch about your side-effects too. Why do some of us feel awful after the vaccine, while others barely notice anything? What does this say about our immune systems and how protected we will be against covid? We put your questions to Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease at Edinburgh University. Lees meer

Our resident GP Margaret McCartney has been taking a look at the reports of blood clots after vaccination, and we speak to Victoria Male, a lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London, about the rules for vaccination in pregnant women.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCERS: Beth Eastwood & Geraldine Fitzgerald

Human challenge trials, Chess & memory, Dementia misdiagnosed

2 maart 2021 · 28 min

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I have become hooked on playing online chess during this lockdown and after watching the Queen’s Gambit. So we’ll find out if it is actually doing my brain any good and whether it and similar games can ward off dementia. Lees meer

Margaret McCartney takes us on a fascinating tour through the history of deliberately infecting people with diseases, as the first “challenge trials” with coronavirus are about to start.

Listeners David and Barbara tell us about a treatable condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus that is often mistaken for dementia.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Clip from the Netflix series 'The Queen's Gambit', directed by Scott Frank.
Music copyright: ‘Training with Mr Schaibel’ by Carolos Rafael Rivera from the official soundtrack of The Queens Gambit

Sexual health, contraception and tackling waiting lists

23 februari 2021 · 28 min

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What has the pandemic done to our sex lives? We’ll hear if there’s been a baby boom with Dr Margaret McCartney and Dr Rebecca Thomson-Glover has the lowdown on sexually transmitted infections. We’ll also explore changes to contraception and sexual health services. Meanwhile it feels like we’re on the march to normality, but what about the backlog of patients whose treatment has been cancelled. We speak to Charmayne whose surgery has been held up by the pandemic and Nick Arresti from the British Orthopaedic Association to see how such waiting lists can be tackled. Lees meer

Long Covid, Vaccine queries

16 februari 2021 · 28 min

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Most people recover rapidly after catching coronavirus. But I chat to three people who were infected almost a year ago and are still feeling the impact, both on their bodies and their minds. Lees meer

Doctors are having to rapidly grapple with how to treat patients with long Covid. We speak to one of them, Dr Manoj Sivan, the Research Lead for the Long Covid Service in Leeds, who warns that long Covid could be a “second pandemic”.

We also have GP Dr Navjoyt Ladher answering your questions on the Covid vaccines.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Covid Symptoms

9 februari 2021 · 28 min

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A fever, cough or loss of smell and taste are criteria for a Covid-19 test, but what if you have different symptoms? James Gallagher discusses whether more symptoms should be added to the UK government's list with resident GP, Margaret McCartney and Dr Thomas Struyf of KU Leuven. Lees meer

Cardiologist Dr Rohin Francis explains what symptoms he sees when patients with coronavirus arrive in hospital.

One of the most common symptoms of Covid-19 is the loss of the sense of smell. It returns after a few weeks in most people but a significant minority still can’t smell anything many months later. James Gallagher talks to Prof Carl Philpott of Norwich Medical School who has led an international panel of nose doctors, assessing the evidence for the best therapies to restore the olfactory sense to people who have lost it following respiratory infections. So-called smell training comes out top as the most evidence-based approach. Carl explains how it works and we hear from two people who are trying to regain their sense of smell.

And Dr Carly Welch from the British Geriatric Society says that delirium has emerged as another symptom of Covid-19, particularly in the elderly.

Mouthwash & dentistry during the pandemic

2 februari 2021 · 28 min

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One or our listeners, Katharine, asks whether mouthwash can help stop the spread of coronavirus. We hunt down the answer with the help of biochemist Valerie O’Donnell, from the University of Cardiff, and our own Dr Margaret McCartney. Lees meer

Then it’s our turn in the dentist’s chair. Dentistry is up close and personal with a fair amount of splatter, the perfect place for coronavirus to spread. So dentist Paul Woodhouse and University of Newcastle dentist and researcher, Richard Holliday, are on to explain how to make it safe.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Exercise in the time of Covid

26 januari 2021 · 27 min

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It’s an exercise special on Inside Health. This week Amanda wants to know how quickly she can get back to exercising after Covid. Dr David Salman has drawn up some advice and Dr Navjoyt Ladher explains why this virus means we should be taking it easy, as well as having a shocking confession of her own. We check in on George, Jen and Dr Helen Hawley-Hague to see how they are getting on with their physiotherapy in the height of lockdown. And we explore with Sport England’s Tim Hollingsworth what the pandemic can teach us about improving exercise levels. Oh and I think I nearly broke our resident GP Margaret McCartney talking about 'adaptogens'. Lees meer

Oximetry at home, Rapid lateral flow tests for Covid

19 januari 2021 · 28 min

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In Covid, oxygen levels in the body can crash without noticeable symptoms - it’s known as “silent hypoxia”. This week we’ll be discussing whether letting people monitor their oxygen levels at home with a pulse oximeter could save lives. James talks to Chris Harris, who’s been using one, and two pioneers of the project - Dr Matt Inada-Kim, Consultant in Acute Medicine at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust, and Dr Caroline O'Keeffe who runs oximetry@home in North Hampshire. Lees meer

And the hotly debated topic of rapid, or lateral flow, testing. Local councils are rolling them out for people who can't work from home, and the hope is that they could help us keep on top of the virus by picking out people with Covid. Could it be a way out of the pandemic or could it cause more harm than good? Prof Irene Petersen and our own Dr Margaret McCartney are on the case.

Dr Navjoyt Ladher answers some of the most common questions about vaccines.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Statins and Nocebo, Vit D & Covid, new therapies for Covid

12 januari 2021 · 28 min

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Should you take vitamin D pills to ward off coronavirus? Our own Dr Margaret McCartney has been sifting through the evidence in search of answers.
Also clinical trials expert Dr David Collier of Queen Mary University London tells us about new treatments for Covid-19 that are in the pipeline. And is the mysterious “nocebo effect” causing most of the side-effects from statins? Janice Richardson from Hebden Bridge shares her experience on the pills and we chat to researcher and Dr James Howard of Imperial College and cardiologist Dr Rohin Francis. Lees meer

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Geraldine Fitzgerald

Covid in 2021 & a blood test that claims to detect cancer early

5 januari 2021 · 28 min

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2020 was awful. So what about 2021? Lees meer

I chat with Prof Neil Ferguson to see how this year could play out and when life might return to normal. Cardiologist Dr Rohin Francis and cancer nurse Aly Foyle are both back to share their experiences of coping during Covid.

I promise you, it’s not all bad news.

And our own Dr Margaret McCartney, alongside Cancer Research UK’s Jodie Moffat, scrutinises a new blood test that promises to find cancer early.

It's a good programme, James.

PRESENTER: James Gallagher
PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

How Bangor Hospital's Intensive Care Unit is Preparing for Winter

28 oktober 2020 · 28 min

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Saleyha Ahsan reports from Ysbyty Gwynedd, her own hospital in Bangor, North Wales about how the Intensive Care Unit is preparing for winter. Saleyha meets Val and the Critical Care team who have looked after her since the pandemic began. Val was admitted to the unit in March and has become part of the intensive care family. Lees meer

Producer, Erika Wright

20/10/2020

20 oktober 2020 · 28 min

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Covid-19 damages the lungs, leaving people struggling to get enough oxygen into their body. In the early stages of the pandemic many patients needed a lot of support in intensive care - including artificial ventilation. But there are other ways of boosting oxygen levels in the body - which are being studied in the Recovery-RS trial. Professor Gavin Perkins from the University of Warwick is comparing oxygen delivered by a mask called CPAP with both regular and high-flow oxygen to see which works best. Lees meer

Physiotherapy is one of the hands-on therapies which has been disrupted by the lockdown. Patients who need to do bespoke exercises following a fall or a heart attack might have been offered online sessions instead. But Manchester University researcher Dr Helen Hawley-Hague says these don't suit everyone - including people who don't have access to the internet or a smartphone. We hear from Jennifer and George - both of them have taken part in Helen's studies and have accessed physiotherapy either face-to-face or via a phone app.

An Inside Health listener wanted to know if live vaccines like the polio vaccine could protect us against Covid. Oxford University's Andy Pollard explains about the theory behind this idea and how it might help.

Dr Margaret McCartney looks at whether it makes a difference if you do a Covid throat and nose yourself - or if it's carried out by a healthcare professional.

Covid-19 Test and Trace; Non-drug trials in a pandemic

13 oktober 2020 · 28 min

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Margaret McCartney on National Test and Trace and why households are receiving multiple calls. Beth tells of being contacted many times when her child tested positive and began to think all the family had been separately in contact with different cases, until the penny dropped that the calls were all about the same contact - her daughter. Professor Kate Ardern, director of Public Health in Wigan explains why these calls from the national system aren't joined up. And is there time in a pandemic to do trials for non-drug interventions like pub curfews or social distancing? Professor Paul Glaziou explains that there are currently just 8 such trials globally, while Professor Martin McKee highlights the problems involved. And Margaret hears from Professor Atle Fretheim who is trying to set up a trial in Norway into the impact of school closures on infection control. Lees meer

Touch in Health Care

6 oktober 2020 · 28 min

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The Radio 4 Touch Test included questions about touch in health care. Dr Natalie Bowling who's a psychologist from the University of Greenwich helped to create the test with colleagues at Goldsmith's University. Analysing the data revealed that a positive attitude towards touch in treatment settings increases as we get older. Surprisingly men reported being more likely to feel comfortable with touch in treatment settings - despite women preferring tactile treatments more than men. Lees meer

GPs Margaret McCartney and Ann Robinson agree on the importance of touch in their consulting rooms - both to help tell the difference between constipation and a ruptured appendix - and to place a comforting hand on the shoulder of a distressed patient.

Chemotherapy cannot cure 82 year old Anne Townsend who was given a diagnosis of ovarian cancer a year ago - but it's hoped it will help to relieve her symptoms. One side effect has been a loss of her sense of touch - devastating because she loves to sew quilts. She found that reflexology sessions helped - though they stopped because of lockdown and she now uses acupressure techniques which she was taught online by therapists at St Christopher's hospice.

Deborah Bowman, Professor of Bioethics at St George's University, also felt calmer and better-prepared for medical procedures when she was having cancer treatment. She explains how she trains medical students to approach their patients in a sensitive way and use touch with care.

Antibodies to Covid in Kids, Covid and Colds, PIMS-TS,

29 september 2020 · 28 min

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The story of one child's recovery from PIMS-TS, the rare new condition that caught doctors by surprise in April. James Gallagher visits specialists at the Evelina London Children's Hospital to hear how they coped with identifying and treating a condition they'd never seen before. Dr Jenni Handforth and Dr Sara Hanna explain how 'they had to reinvent and tweak the rule book' to manage PIMS-TS, where 'the immune system has gone a bit crazy' and treatments worked 'like a fire blanket to dampen down the immune system'. And scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have discovered that children can have Coronavirus-fighting antibodies from before the pandemic started. Dr George Kassiotis explains how kids could have them and what this might mean. And Dr Margaret McCartney unpicks the tricky issue of spotting Covid and cold symptoms in children. Lees meer

Sticky Blood : From Blood Clots to Covid-19

23 september 2020 · 29 min

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Thromboses - blood clots that form in the circulation - are easily the biggest single killer of British men and women. They affects people of all ages, races and ethnicities. Most strokes and heart attacks are caused by thromboses forming in the arteries supplying the heart or brain. But clots in the veins can be just as lethal, particularly when part of the clot breaks off and travels around the circulation and lodges in the lungs. Recently, the appearance of abnormal micro-clots in the lungs of severely affected Covid patients has highlighted the huge impact even tiny clots can have on our long term health and mortality. What more should be done to protect people from this misunderstood condition? Lees meer

James Gallagher unravels the risks and causes for blood clots, from deep vein thrombosis to clots in the lungs. As he hears from patients, the surprise of a DVT diagnosis and debilitation can be profound. Treating clots is a delicate process with a need to get the balance right between thinning the blood but preventing bleeding. James examines the effectiveness of the latest range of anticoagulants that have a more predictable blood thinning effect, without the need for regular checks to make sure the blood’s not too thick or too thin.

The psychological effects of being diagnosed with thrombosis are often under reported. but in up to half the cases severe anxiety, depression and PTSD can arise. We hear of a major new study following the experiences of patients from their diagnosis to follow ups after treatment that explores how effectively they overcame the impact on their mental health of knowing they carried a blood clot.

And James Gallagher reports on the newly emerging relationship between Covid and clotting. It was back in April when the alarm was first sounded about abnormal blood clots in severe Covid cases. Research is shedding new light on the causes of the problem - sticky blood. In turn, this knowledge is offering up new ways to treat some of the major com…

Flu Vaccine; Dentistry and Covid; Diagnosing Coeliac disease; NHS preparations for winter

11 augustus 2020 · 28 min

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How will this year's expanded flu vaccine programme be delivered? In addition to usual groups the flu vaccine will be offered to all eleven year olds, any household contacts of vulnerable people told to shield, more health and social care workers and - the biggest change - everyone over 50! Dr Margaret McCartney discusses the difficult logistics for GP practices and pharmacies trying to work out how to immunise around half the population, whilst managing PPE, social distancing and infection control. Dentistry and Covid - Eddie Crouch, Vice Chair of the British Dental Association discusses how practices open since lockdown are coping. And a good news story of how the pandemic has instigated change in the diagnosis of coeliac disease. Dr Hugo Penny, one of the authors of new interim guidance, explains while Radhika tells of her personal experience of coeliac disease. Plus NHS preparations for winter. Trevor Smith, Divisional Director of Medicine at Southampton General Hospital, and Professor Neil Mortensen, President of the Royal College of Surgeons in England, both share their forecasts.. Lees meer

Bedside Covid Test; Longterm Covid Recovery

4 augustus 2020 · 28 min

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Dr Mark Porter on a new bedside test that differentiates between Covid-19 and other infectious diseases including flu in under an hour. Mark meets Dr Tristan Clark who has already been using the test as part of a trial. And the world's largest study into 'Long Covid' recruiting 10.000 people from 50 different hospitals across the UK who've been hospitalised for Covid to assess their long term recovery. Lead author Professor Chris Brightling discusses the long term symptoms seen in many people recovering from the virus and how research can answer difficult questions such as how long will these continue and what's the best way to help people. And Mark hears from Roz, still recovering from Covid after being admitted to intensive care on May 26th and from physiotherapists Matt and Gemma about how early and long term rehab can help. Plus Professor Sally Singh on the new NHS online rehab service 'Your Covid Recovery'. Lees meer

Prescribing Cycling; Temperature Checks; False Positives; Choirs and Covid-19

28 juli 2020 · 28 min

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As the Government announces GPs should start to prescribe cycling Margaret McCartney examines the evidence for exercise referrals with Harry Rutter, Professor of Global Health at the University of Bath. Temperature checks are popping up in bars, restaurants and receptions but do they work or are they giving false reassurance? Plus while the pandemic progresses Professor Carl Heneghan explains another type of false result, that the chance of false positive tests go up. Navjoyt Ladher, Head of Education at the BMJ, talks us through two highly topical terms - specificity and sensitivity. Amateur choirs have been closed due to Covid-19. Margaret talks to Professor Jackie Cassell who is currently researching what aspect of choirs congregating is particularly dangerous and whether the singing is actually a red herring. Lees meer

Producer: Erika Wright
Studio Manager: John Boland

Public Health in the time of Coronavirus

21 juli 2020 · 29 min

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Public health doctors don't dash around hospitals wearing white coats brandishing stethoscopes. The work of this medical specialty is mainly outside of hospitals and it has a very long history. It has a local, national and global reach, an international skeleton charged with the care of populations. And in this pandemic, it is public health which is doing the heavy lifting. Lees meer

In this special edition of Inside Health Dr Margaret McCartney investigates the serious questions being raised about the UK's public health response to trying to stop the spread of the virus, and how tension, over the performance of the government's Test and Trace programme, has spilled out into the open.

Margaret hears from Directors of Public Health who feel that their role and expertise in local communities working closely with local Public Health England teams has been overlooked. Instead a new national Test and Trace system has been set up using private companies outside the traditional public health infrastructure. The DPH for Wigan and lead director of public health for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Professor Kate Ardern, tells Margaret she believes government didn't understand the role and the experience of local public health teams and so instead of empowering them to oversee test, trace and isolate services, set up a new national system, from scratch, using private companies without public health experience. And the data needed locally to identify and deal with Covid cases, she tells Margaret, just hasn't come through. This is despite the fact that the law is clear; Covid is a notifiable disease and local directors of public health should receive the information.

Margaret explores the history of public health with Professor Martin Gorsky from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and hears from Professor of Global Health at Queen Mary, University of London, David McCoy, who believes the very structure of public health institutions after the 2012 Health and …

Covid-19 and ethnicity in medicine; medical devices safety review

14 juli 2020 · 28 min

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One of the most striking features of the coronavirus pandemic is the disproportionate toll it’s taken on some groups in society. Research by the Office for National Statistics shows black people are nearly twice as likely to have died from coronavirus than white people. And you see a similar pattern of elevated risk in other ethnicities too. Why is this? And to what extent is Covid 19 shedding light on approaches being taken in medicine more generally when assessing and treating people from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic groups? Lees meer

We hear from GP Dr Navjoyt Ladher who’s been navigating the language of race for the British Medical Journal; Dr Rohin Francis, cardiologist and host of the Medlife Crisis podcast, and Prof Kamlish Khunti who’s establishing a detailed Covid risk score to establish exactly who’s at most risk of infection.

A major review has found women’s lives have been ruined and babies have been harmed in the womb and yet concerns were dismissed for years as simply “women’s problems”. Those are the findings of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. It looked at the hormonal pregnancy test Primodos, the epilepsy drug sodium valproate and vaginal mesh implants which are used to treat prolapse and incontinence. Inside Health’s resident GP Margaret McCartney. discusses what needs to change.

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Adrian Washbourne

Covid-19 and the Impact on UK Cancer Services

7 juli 2020 · 28 min

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Coronavirus has turned the NHS upside down and inside out and by re-organising to treat people with the virus, other potentially fatal diseases like cancer have taken a backseat. At University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, which Inside Health visited weekly as the pandemic unfolded, cancer diagnoses fell by half in March and April and of the 50% who were asked to come in for follow up, only 25% actually did. The virus was more frightening than a potential cancer diagnosis. Divisional Director for Medicine at Southampton, Dr Trevor Smith, tells James Gallagher, the BBC's health and science correspondent. that patients are coming back, but it will take a long time to tackle the backlog. Lees meer

For those with cancer caught up in the pandemic, they have experienced disruption, cancellations, altered treatments and they have had to cope with consultations and even surgery by themselves, without loved ones to support them. Charly from Wiltshire was diagnosed with breast cancer in February and her treatment was changed as lockdown happened. Instead of chemotherapy then surgery, she had surgery first. And a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy. But despite the disruption to her care, she still considers herself one of the lucky ones because she did get treatment.

Others weren't so lucky and across the country, lives have been lost. The focus now is on Covid-proofing cancer care and tackling the backlog in screening, diagnosis and treatment. And it's an enormous backlog.

Professor Charlie Swanton, chief clinician of Cancer Research UK tells James Gallagher, the BBC's health and science correspondent, that 2.7 million people have missed out on cervical, breast and colorectal screening and 300,000 fewer people than normal have been referred under the urgent 2 week cancer pathway. The creation of Covid-free cancer hubs, he says, safe zones for cancer treatment, are vital, but it will still take a long time to recover and of course there's the spectre of a second wave of…