News update on the new Omicron variant now in many countries across the world. Plus Hannah Fisher reports on the science of smell and conditions other than Covid where it can be lost. Holly Bradshaw, Olympic pole-vaulter turned psychology researcher discusses the post-Olympic blues with Karen Howells, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology. And could Viagra be a candidate drug for Alzheimer's disease? This week’s guest is Mathew Fox, Professor of Global Epidemiology from Boston Univers...
Dec 08, 2021•26 min
Omicron Covid variant – what do we know? Claudia examines key questions about the new variant with Professor of Molecular Virology, Jonathan Ball. Plus growing evidence that pollution has a negative effect on our mental health. And a new way of testing for TB in children. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Image: Microscopic view of influenza virus cells. Photo credit: Panorama Images/Getty Images.)
Dec 01, 2021•26 min
James Gallagher, BBC health and science correspondent, examines Covid case rates across Europe. A report on a new study documenting the incidence of Typhoid in three capital cities - Blantyre, Malawi and Kathmandu, Nepal, for the first time - plus updated estimates in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Claudia discusses the role of antibiotic resistance and gets an update on a new vaccine for the disease. Remembering Professor Sir Michael Rutter, ‘the father of child psychiatry’ who died recently. And can house...
Nov 24, 2021•27 min
New research on how some people had a level of Covid immunity before the pandemic started. Blood samples showed hospital staff being monitored in the first wave already had protective ‘killer’ T-cells probably from exposure to other viruses related to the one that has swept the globe. The difference between antibodies to an infection and antibodies caused by a vaccine. And the extraordinary story of a woman who rid her body of HIV. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: Micr...
Nov 17, 2021•26 min
New antiviral pills to treat Covid are coming thick and fast. Pfizer have just announced their new antiviral Paxlovid in the same week UK’s MHRA was the first country in the world to approve Molnupiravir – Merck’s pill launched last month. So how do the two antivirals compare? And a report from the longest operating milk bank in North America. Since 1974, the Mothers’ Milk Bank in San Jose, California has been collecting breast milk to help nurture vulnerable babies (especially premature ones) a...
Nov 10, 2021•26 min
An International team of scientists has launched a global hunt for rare people who may be genetically resistant to SARS CoV-2 infection. Individuals who’ve been exposed to the virus living in families where everyone else in the household got infected, who repeatedly tested negative and didn’t mount an immune response. Claudia Hammond speaks to immunologist Evangelos Andreakos, part of the team at the Biomedical Research Foundation in Athens about this fascinating quest. And Claudia hears from No...
Nov 03, 2021•26 min
New evidence from Sweden and France on the benefits of mixing and matching doses of different types of Covid vaccine. The impact misinformation around treating Covid with Ivermectin is having on the Neglected Tropical diseases where the drug is known to work. And are oat and soy milks as nutritious as cow’s milk? Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: A healthcare worker holds vials of the Covaxin and Covisheld vaccines in Allika Village, India. Photo credit: Pallava Bagla/C...
Oct 27, 2021•26 min
New Covid vaccine from Valneva produces stronger immune response when compared to AstraZeneca, the French company reports, with no severe cases of Covid-19 seen in either group. And new positive research on lateral flow tests. Plus guest Graham Easton discusses the urgent need for teaching climate and environmental health in medical schools. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: Coronavirus vaccine vials on a laboratory shelf. Photo credit: Joao Paulo Burini/Getty Images.)...
Oct 20, 2021•27 min
Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 from a virulent cervical cancer. A sample of those cancer cells was taken at the time, and the way they behave has changed medical science forever, contributing to everything from the polio vaccine to drugs for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. As the WHO give a posthumous award, Claudia discusses how the Henrietta Lacks legacy raises issues of global health equity. Plus with a Malaria Vaccine given a historic green light by the WHO to protect children in Africa, ...
Oct 13, 2021•26 min
Trials stopped early of a new Covid antiviral pill, Molnupiravir, as it may cut numbers of people in hospital by about a half. Claudia Hammond discusses the ethical questions of who should be given it. Plus Unicef report on findings about childhood mental health before and during the pandemic. And a new exhibition on the researchers and trial participants outwitting cancer. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Photo: An experimental Covid-19 treatment pill called Molnupiravir. Phot...
Oct 06, 2021•29 min
Many people have struggled with their mental health during the pandemic, but still don’t always feel free to discuss it, especially at work. Stigma remains a problem and discussing your difficulties at all is off-limits. For many years in England a campaign called Time To Change tried to change attitudes and the evidence from that and other initiatives was used to launch campaigns in India, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda in 2019. Sue Baker, Mind’s International Health Advisor, and Rosemary Gat...
Sep 22, 2021•31 min
In 2020 Vietnam ran a successful track and trace system, with very few coronavirus infections and for a long time no deaths at all, while other countries had thousands. In 2021 things haven’t gone so well and since July strict stay at home orders have been in place in some cities. Nga Pham, a journalist from BBC World News, and software engineer Kevin Vu talk about what life is like in Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City. Dr Monica Lakhanpaul, Professor of Integrated Community Child Health at University C...
Sep 15, 2021•28 min
How art and gardening has saved some people’s mental health during the pandemic. Claudia visits the most wonderful allotment to find out how one community in the UK has benefited. Nightmares and how people with psychosis can be plagued and even traumatised by bad dreams, but that there is a way of dealing with them. Plus, can kindness help you live a long life and evidence on whether dogs feel jealous! Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: Close up of women planting salad s...
Sep 08, 2021•28 min
When was the last time you did something really kind for someone or someone else did something really kind for you? Claudia Hammond and guests are looking at the place of kindness in today’s world, asking what it really means, what happens in our brains when we act kindly and whether there can ever be a role for it in the cut-throat worlds of business and politics. She hears what kindness means to people in Kenya, Chile and in the UK. And with many aspects of kindness remaining under-researched,...
Sep 01, 2021•33 min
Trials have shown that cocktails of antibodies are effective against Covid, and one called Ronapreve has just been approved for use in the UK, following in the footsteps of Japan and the US. Claudia Hammond talks to Penny Ward, Professor of Pharmaceutical Medicine at Kings College, London, about how these monoclonal antibodies work and where they are best used, given that they are very expensive. The UN Refugee Agency and the International Organisation for Migration have called on governments to...
Aug 25, 2021•28 min
The adventurer and ultra-runner Alex Staniforth talks about his survival on Everest following the devastating Nepalese earthquake in 2015. Rachel Manning from Buckingham University considers why we do or don’t intervene in risky situations and in everyday life. And Patrick Tissington from Warwick University draws on the stories behind those awarded the Victoria or George Cross for bravery to suggest some of the best ways to manage our fear in allowing us to be more courageous. The programme is p...
Aug 18, 2021•26 min
Claudia Hammond and her studio guest global health journalist Sarah Boseley discuss the health impact of the fires that are raging in many places including Southern Europe and the US. Lizzie Crouch reports on the longer term physical and mental effects of fires on people who experienced them in Colorado last year. Two reports, from the Netherlands and the US, are published this week that highlight the lack of women in drug trials for heart disease. Heart disease is often thought to be more commo...
Aug 11, 2021•32 min
USA gymnast Simone Biles won Olympic bronze but withdrew from earlier events due to ‘The twisties’ and resulting mental health issues. Family Doctor Graham Easton looks at the evidence for what causes this condition. Childhood myopia: A new study finds an increase in childhood short-sightedness during the pandemic. Lead author Jason C. S. Yam explains the potential impact of lockdowns on eye health by increasing close work on screens and decreasing outside activity. Cannabis and vomiting: Alison...
Aug 04, 2021•26 min
New research on Covid vaccination in prisons. Plus can financial incentives like free tuition or free cruises encourage people to get the jab? Samara Linton reports on some surprising examples, while Professor Stephen Higgins reviews the evidence. And does the use of words like "provider" or "customer" subtly change healthcare? Claudia's guest is Matt Fox, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at Boston University. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: Prisoners at the La...
Jul 28, 2021•26 min
A really intriguing finding on flu vaccines - that they might offer some protection not just against flu, but against the most serious effects of Covid-19 – even though it is of course a completely different virus. Claudia Hammond talks to Dr Devinder Singh who led the research using anonymous medical records from countries including Singapore, Germany, Italy and Israel, which medical researchers can use. Summer viruses And why are some countries in the middle of the summertime, seeing a surge o...
Jul 21, 2021•26 min
Claudia Hammond presents three stories where people have helped someone who’s going through mental health difficulties. Dale had spent his childhood playing basketball at an elite level, and when his career stalled he became depressed. A chance meeting with Mike, a customer in the mobile phone shop where Dale was working, has turned his life around. Poppy was going through a very tough time when she was 16, but a teacher at her college called Sophie Durant was determined to give her the chance t...
Jul 14, 2021•26 min
The lambda variant of coronavirus, first seen in Peru and Chile, has now spread to 27 other countries and new research just out suggests it’s better than other variants at escaping the antibodies produced by the CoronaVac vaccine that’s widely used in Latin America. The WHO does only currently classify it as a variant of interest and not a variant of concern. Ricardo Soto Rifo from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Chile, Santiago who conducted this new research explains his findings....
Jul 07, 2021•27 min
New evidence on whether mixing Covid vaccines and spreading doses out gives better results. Plus, has five years of food labels in Chile warning of high fat, sugar or salt made a difference to obesity levels? Jane Chambers reports. And what gives some people a sense of entitlement? Emily Zitek, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Cornell University explains her new research. Claudia's studio guest is James Gallagher, BBC Health and Science Correspondent. Presenter: Claudia Hammond...
Jun 30, 2021•26 min
As Tanzania joins Covax, Rhoda Odhiambo discusses the challenges ahead and says 'joining' makes it sound simple but the requirements that need to be put in place are far from simple. Also,results from the first national TB prevalence survey in South Africa shows that the disease is found more in men and young people than previously recognised. Claudia talks to professor Martie van der Walt, director of the TB platform of the South African Medical Research Council while Taurai Maduna reports from...
Jun 23, 2021•26 min
Good news that a new treatment for Covid could help one in three people in hospital. Results are from the Recovery trial in the UK using an infusion of two antibodies made in the laboratory which bind to the virus and stop it replicating. But it is expensive and those people who haven't made their own antibodies should be given the treatment. And Project S - the unique experiment that vaccinated a whole town in Brazil. Claudia speaks to Dr Ricardo Palacios, clinical studies director at the Butan...
Jun 16, 2021•26 min
Aducanumab the controversial new drug for Alzheimer’s disease, just approved by the FDA in the US is the first approved breakthrough in nearly 20 years. But, as Sarah Boseley explains, scientists dispute the drug’s effectiveness. Good news from a study published in Lancet Healthy Longevity looking at protection levels from getting Covid. It studied the risk of COVID reinfection in care home staff and occupants up to 10 months after first being unwell and showed substantial levels of protection i...
Jun 09, 2021•26 min
Could over the counter Steroids be driving the Black Fungus epidemic in India? Claudia talks to Dr Awadhesh Singh from the GD Hospital and Diabetes Institute in Kolkata who explains the link between Steroid use and the shocking surge in cases of this deadly disease. Guest Matt Fox from Boston University discusses mass Covid testing in Vietnam and a trial of mask wearing in Bangladesh, plus the renaming of Covid variants using the Greek alphabet. And bestselling author Dr Jen Gunter on her new bo...
Jun 02, 2021•26 min
The kind boss who transformed their employee's mental health – Natalie and Gillian share their amazing story with Claudia Hammond. And new research finds kindness really is contagious - Alison van Diggelen hears from scientists in California that kindness really does spread. Plus guest professor Monica Lakhanpaul discusses vaccine effectiveness against the variant first identified in India and addresses ethical questions of vaccinating children. Plus new science on how mammals breathing through ...
May 26, 2021•26 min
New evidence for when to have your second Covid vaccine dose; Plus the long awaited results of a 20 year trial into Ovarian Cancer screening and whether picking the disease up early with a simple blood test helps to save lives. And Misophonia – the curious condition where sounds of other people eating can cause anger and panic. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: Vials of vaccine for Covid-19 to be administered by injection. Photo credit: A. Martin UW Photography/Getty Im...
May 19, 2021•26 min
New research from The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal shows current body mass index [BMI] guidance is outdated and dangerous for people from different ethnic groups. The study’s principal investigator, Dr Rishi Caleyachetty unpicks the global implications of his findings. Maria Rebollo Polo – WHO lead for Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa – explains the important task of mapping NTDs like Trachoma. Plus Khadidiatou Cisse reports from Benin on Trachoma – one of the oldest known in...
May 12, 2021•26 min
