Can changes in the weather have an impact on our mental health? We go to Bangladesh in South Asia, a country on the front line of the impacts of climate change, where researchers have been exploring connections between incremental changes in heat and humidity, along with bigger impacts like flooding, and the levels of anxiety and depression in the population. They say their study has stark implications, not just for Bangladesh, but for many other countries too. Dr Belinda Fenty joins us bringing...
Feb 08, 2023•26 min
This week we’re dedicating the programme to a common medical emergency – one that can be deadly within minutes without the right help to hand. A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body. We’ll hear from a doctor who battled for five hours to save a man 40,000ft up in the air; a student who’s teaching people not to be afraid to help in an emergency and we’ll hear a survivor’s story of life after cardiac arrest. Globally, there are tens of thousands of cardiac ...
Feb 01, 2023•26 min
Six months on from the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history, a medic in eastern Balochistan describes what he is seeing daily. Khalid Saleem, who works for the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), says many people are still living in shelters at the side of the road and must walk miles if they need healthcare. There are high levels of malnutrition, malaria and skin conditions such as scabies. We also talk Professor Zainab Samad, from Aga Khan University in Islamabad, who i...
Jan 25, 2023•28 min
In this week’s episode we hear from two women who talk about what life is like with endometriosis, an incredibly common but debilitating condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places in the body. Katherine from Ghana and Dee from Wales describe their long journeys to diagnosis and how the “invisible illness” affects every aspect of their lives, from mental health to work and relationships. We also hear from a researcher in the US who is studying the condition in ...
Jan 18, 2023•28 min
In this week’s episode of Health Check, we meet the Poulin family who live in Thailand. They tell us about their long quest to have their little girl Rylae-Ann diagnosed with an incredibly rare disease. And that’s just the beginning of the story. Rylae-Ann was fortunate enough to have gene therapy on a clinical trial in Taiwan – and it has transformed her life – but it’s not a treatment that’s available to everyone. Joining presenter Smitha Mundasad in the studio is family doctor Graham Easton, ...
Jan 11, 2023•28 min
Claudia Hammond explores the psychology of regret with an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival. What role do rueful thoughts on "what might have been" play in our lives? Is regret a wasted emotion or does it have some hidden benefits? Joining Claudia on stage : Teresa McCormack - Professor of Cognitive Development at the School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast who researches how regret in childhood can shape our decisions; novelist and essayist Sophie White - whose latest novel T...
Jan 04, 2023•26 min
Many people say that knitting or crochet helped ease their anxiety during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Claire Anketell set up free Yarn for Mental Health courses in Northern Ireland last year and Gemma McAdam says crochet helped to reduce her stress levels and she's now making blankets. Esther Rutter's book This Golden Fleece: A Journey through Britain's Knitted History aims to unpick what textiles mean to us - including how they became part of the treatment for mental health problems. Learning a ski...
Dec 28, 2022•26 min
It’s been another busy year on the BBC’s Health Check, where we’ve brought you the health and science stories that matter to you from around the globe, week in, week out. In this episode, Claudia Hammond is joined by Dr Ann Robinson to pick out some of the biggest breakthroughs of the year, from major advancements in gene therapy for two debilitating blood conditions, to a huge leap forward on treatment for dementia, and what looks like the conclusion of a long-running medical mystery. Claudia a...
Dec 21, 2022•28 min
We’ve grown used to hearing about potential new treatments for Covid-19 – well here’s another. Researchers in Britain have, by chance, discovered that a tablet used to treat liver disease for decades could be repurposed to stop Covid-19 in its tracks. The drug appears to shut a crucial ‘doorway’ the virus uses to get into our cells – and scientists are excited about its potential to tackle different variants and provide a low-cost weapon in the pandemic. We hear how researchers used a combinatio...
Dec 14, 2022•27 min
Claudia meets Professor Elizabeth Stokoe author of 'Crisis Talk' whose research shows when preventing a suicide, that words really do matter and can save lives during a crisis. Through analysing real time recordings of actual conversations between people in crisis and police negotiators, new findings highlight what can work and what doesn't. (Picture: Vector illustration of two profiles of women with speech bubbles inside their heads. Photo credit: JakeOlimb/Getty Images.) Presenter: Claudia Ham...
Dec 07, 2022•26 min
After years of setbacks, the announcement of the first drug to slow the brain's decline in Alzheimer's is being hailed as "momentous". What makes this breakthrough different? To study the effect of the environment on our health, scientists sometimes have to look to the past. We hear from the author of a study which has uncovered how the worst recession in US history may leave an indelible mark on how well people age. Claudia Hammond’s guest this week James Gallagher, the BBC's health and science...
Nov 30, 2022•26 min
Ask 40,000 surgeons from around the world what they would pick to scientifically investigate and what do they choose? They voted for a new trial to establish whether changing to new surgical gloves and clean instruments just before abdominal wounds are closed up during surgery, would reduce infection. Thirteen thousand operations in seven countries later (in Benin, Ghana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa) the answer to the most common complication of surgery is in, and the results...
Nov 23, 2022•26 min
Ayoka from Atlanta, Georgia in the US is desperate to have a baby and her family is helping to pay for her IVF treatment. But Ayoka knows that she carries a serious genetic condition, Fragile X, which she does not want to pass on to her children. She tells Claudia Hammond what it means to know that she would be prevented from having an abortion, even if pre-natal testing revealed her unborn baby had the inherited condition. That is because the state of Georgia, up until yesterday when the ban wa...
Nov 16, 2022•26 min
South Africa's anti-retroviral programme to treat HIV infection is the largest in the world with 5.5 million people in treatment. It’s transformed this disease from an automatic death sentence, to something that can be managed as a chronic illness and the government is determined to expand the programme and get more people with HIV in treatment. It’s an ambitious plan and Claudia Hammond hears how psychological tools called "nudges", drawn from behavioural economics, are being used and tested as...
Nov 09, 2022•26 min
Claudia Hammond discovers that some livers have the potential for extraordinary longevity and after a long life in a transplant donor, can survive for many more years in a transplant recipient. Livers over one hundred years old, called centurian livers by researchers, have been identified and many are still going strong. The new study has important implications for the future of liver transplants because donated organs from some older-age people were also found to last longer than those from you...
Nov 02, 2022•26 min
Health-threatening fungal infections are on the rise and the World Health Organisation identifies the pathogens which pose the greatest risk to human health. Dr Graham Easton, family doctor and Professor of Medical Education at Queen Mary, University of London, tells Claudia how growing resistance to anti-fungal medication resistance, just like antibiotic resistance, is making the problem even worse. Graham also highlights growing health concerns about the recreational use of the drug Nitrous Ox...
Oct 26, 2022•26 min
After decades of progress – how can we stop the pandemic, climate change and conflict around the world from turning back the clock when it comes to women and children’s health? We hear from UNICEF’s Dr Jennifer Requejo about a new report which examines the impact of natural disasters, war and the pandemic and offers some ideas of how to catch up on targets for improvements. The BBC’s medical and science correspondent James Gallagher thinks he hasn’t had Covid-19 – and takes a blood test to see w...
Oct 19, 2022•26 min
If you’re trying to work out what’s healthy to eat and what to avoid – there’s a new five star rating system. Researchers in the US have looked at previous studies which examined how much certain foods increased the risk of developing a particular disease – or if they could even protect you. Dr Chris Murray from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Washington says he hopes the star ratings will help people to make informed decisions about their health. We hear from Dr Tammy Tong, a...
Oct 12, 2022•26 min
There’s encouraging news about a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease following years of disappointing drug trials. The drug lecanemab is a monoclonal antibody which is designed to remove clumps of amyloid proteins which damage the brain. Professor Bart de Strooper who’s director of the UK Dementia Research Institute explains how patients who had regular infusions of the drug had their rate of cognitive decline reduced by 27% when compared to those given a placebo. Sewage testing has been...
Oct 05, 2022•28 min
Waterborne diseases are on the rise in Sindh province in Pakistan where water levels are still high after record floods. BBC Urdu’s Riaz Sohail visited the region and tells us about the conditions in roadside camps and a hospital in Dadu district. A recently published Motor Neuron Disease trial suggests that a new drug could make a fundamental difference for some people living with the disease. And how does healthcare work if a doctor can only be reached by boat, helicopter or plane? BBC’s Marni...
Sep 28, 2022•26 min
Egypt has almost eliminated the 'silent killer' hepatitis C – less than a decade after having the highest number of cases of the virus in the world. A new report from the World Economic Forum details how they managed to screen almost the whole adult population and treated those infected with the virus which can cause liver damage and even cancer. Professor Imam Waked from the National Liver Institute explains how other countries like Rwanda and Georgia are now following suit – but not quite at t...
Sep 21, 2022•26 min
The trial of a malaria vaccine in Burkina Faso has revealed promising results, protecting young children from being infected by the parasite for a second season. Most malaria deaths are in children under five in sub-Saharan Africa. We hear from one of the research team Professor Katie Ewer, about how difficult it is to create a malaria vaccine. It’s hoped that the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer in Pune, India, will make enough of the vaccine to make it available to every child who needs it...
Sep 14, 2022•26 min
China has approved the first nasal Covid vaccine inhaled up the nose. James Gallagher, BBC Health and Science correspondent explains how a sniffed vaccine primes the immune system. Plus Claudia hears about the health consequences of a ban on abortion in some US states for young women who develop a breast cancer diagnosis during pregnancy. Professor Virginia Borges and Assistant Professor Nicole Christian from the University of Colorado explain the difficult decisions women are having to make. An...
Sep 07, 2022•26 min
Statins save lives by lowering the level of 'bad' cholesterol in our blood, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But warnings about potential aches and pains in our muscles has put off some people from taking them. UK scientists have analysed the best statin trials and found that these side effects are actually rare – and the benefits outweigh the risks. We hear from Professor Colin Baigent in Oxford about how this study should reassure those who need to take them. On Health Check we ...
Aug 31, 2022•26 min
In the week that a case of Ebola has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the WHO calls for support to help at-risk countries to make lifesaving drugs available in case the virus spreads. The UK researchers who saved many thousands of lives with Covid treatments are now testing antivirals against monkeypox. And New Scientist's medical writer Clare Wilson explains how long Covid lingers in our bodies - and why thinking hard makes you tired. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erik...
Aug 24, 2022•26 min
A new Covid vaccine – which targets both the original virus and one of the latest Omicron variants – has been approved for use in the UK. About half of the 26 million older and vulnerable adults in the UK who are due a booster this autumn should get the new vaccine. There’s news of British scientists changing the blood group of donated kidneys – which could boost the supply of organs for transplant. Professor Magdi Yaqoob says switching to blood type O means the organs can be transplanted into a...
Aug 17, 2022•26 min
In the pandemic when intensive care units were full and visitors were not allowed some families kept in touch using phones and tablets. A new study in the UK shows that this “virtual” visiting did help to reduce the distress felt by relatives – and the practice still continues to keep families in touch when they live far apart. Training relatives to give medicines at home to ease their loved ones’ symptoms at the end of life was pioneered in Australia. This week a specially-adapted version of th...
Aug 10, 2022•26 min
In the cut throat world of work, can bosses be kind? Claudia Hammond unpicks the psychological evidence from around the world to find out if it’s possible for managers to be both kind all the time and successful. The quest starts with Thom Elliot Co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims in the UK, who deliberately set out to foster a kind culture in a sector not exactly known for its benevolence. They're joined for pizza by Prof Robin Banerjee, architect of the Kindness Test to discuss the findings and exam...
Aug 03, 2022•27 min
What can the latest research tell us about whether there is any such thing as pure kindness? Claudia Hammond meets a man who has done an exceptionally altruistic act for someone who was seriously ill. What prompts acts of kindness like this? Specialists from the fields of psychology and neuroscience unpick the evidence. Producer: Geraldine Fitzgerald
Jul 27, 2022•26 min
As Marburg virus cases are confirmed in Ghana, Dr Graham Easton discusses the importance of a swift response. BBC Africa correspondent Charles Mgbolu reports from Nigeria on the relationship between monkeypox emergence and smallpox eradication. Plus Claudia hears good news from Dr Jaekeun Park at the University of Maryland about progress on making a universal flu vaccine. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright (Picture: Marburg virus, cut-away illustration. Photo credit: Roger Harris/...
Jul 20, 2022•26 min
