Introducing What’s Up Docs? With Chris and Xand van Tulleken
In their new BBC Radio 4 podcast, Drs Chris and Xand are on a mission to help us take better care of ourselves.
May 09, 2025•29 min
Inside Health
Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.
Episodes
Can you be addicted to sugar?
What's the science behind a sweet tooth? James Gallagher explores whether sugar really can be addicted and what happens in our bodies when we want it and when we eat it. He's joined by Professor Susanne Dickson, who specialises in the neurobiology of appetite at the University of Gothenburg, and Professor James Brown from the School of Biosciences at Aston University. With Easter coming up, James meets dental hygienist and researcher Dr Claire McCarthy from King's College London in the BBC loos ...
Apr 22, 2025•28 min
Assisted Dying: What might the final moments be like?
We continue our exploration of some of the issues that could crop up if assisted dying becomes law under The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that is currently working its way through Parliament. Today we consider what those final moments might be like and if the ideal of a peaceful death is a reality with the drug options currently available. To discuss we're joined by: Katherine Sleeman - Professor of Palliative Care at King's College London David Nicholl - Consultant Neurologist at Un...
Apr 15, 2025•28 min
Dementia: Your questions answered and lion's mane mushrooms in the lab
You sent in your questions on dementia and now we're tackling them. Professor Tara Spires-Jones, Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, joins James Gallagher to go through the [email protected] mailbag. James also visits mushroom grower the Bristol Fungarium which has teamed up with the University of the West of England to examine a mushroom called lion's mane. Lion's mane has a lot of hype about it online as well as a long history in traditional...
Apr 08, 2025•28 min
Assisted dying: How can we be certain someone wants to die?
We continue our exploration of some of the issues that could crop up if assisted dying becomes law under The Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill that is currently working its way through Parliament. Today we tackle safeguarding. How can we be certain an assisted death is what the person wants? And who should even bring up the conversation? To discuss we're joined by: Katherine Sleeman - Professor of Palliative Care at King's College London David Nicholl - Consultant Neurologist at University ...
Apr 08, 2025•28 min
Assisted dying: Who’s eligible under the proposed bill?
The Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill is working its way through Parliament. If it became law in England and Wales it would be one of those moments in history that profoundly changes society. There are similar discussions taking place in Scotland, the Isle of Man and Jersey too. To be clear about what we’re doing on Inside Health. We’re not going to debate the rights or wrongs of assisted dying. Or go through the politics of the Bill. Instead, over the next few episodes we’re going to explo...
Apr 01, 2025•28 min
How did the Covid-19 pandemic change medicine?
Five years on from the first Covid lockdown in the UK, we consider how the pandemic changed medicine. We're joined by Dr Emma Wall, academic consultant in Infectious Diseases at University College London Hospital who also runs a long covid clinic, Professor Katrina Pollock, Associate Professor in Vaccinology at the Oxford Vaccine Group and Jon Otter Director for Infection Prevention and Control at Guy’s Hospital London. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Hannah Robins
Mar 25, 2025•28 min
Why do we lose our hearing with age?
John is registered blind, and relies on his hearing to get around in his everyday life. But as he has got older, he’s started to notice his hearing deteriorate. He wants to know – is there anything available in between the initial solution of wax removal, and the final destination of hearing aids? He emailed Inside Health to ask James Gallagher to investigate. James speaks to Nish Mehta, an Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon at Royal National ENT Hospital, to find out how we hear, and learn about the ...
Mar 18, 2025•28 min
Will wearables revolutionise healthcare? Cardiff Science Festival special
Fitness trackers at the ready! Join James Gallagher at Cardiff Science Festival as he runs through the ways wearable tech is making an impact on health and how it might shape the future of medicines and care. With him are Dr Sanne Lugthart, Haematology consultant at the University Hospital of Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. She's pioneering using wearables and an app to track pain in people who suffer from sickle cell disease. Also on the panel is Professor Kathryn Peall who is Personal...
Mar 11, 2025•28 min
Allergies: How to support young people as they grow up
When we hit our teens it's often a time when everything starts to change. We meet new friends through work or studies, we start going out more at night and we're often in new situations independent from our parents. For people with severe allergies it can be a risky time because they have all this change in their life, on top of what Priya Matharu calls the 'full time job' of managing your condition. Presenter James Gallagher talks to Priya about her experience of having severe allergies from a ...
Mar 04, 2025•28 min
How shoes affect our bodies and a focus on genital herpes
James Gallagher visits a podiatrist to analyze how his footwear impacts his gait, learning about common foot problems like bunions and plantar fasciitis, the effects of shoe trends, and how shoes can affect the whole body. Later, Dr. Vanessa Apea clarifies what genital herpes is, its prevalence, transmission, symptoms, and addresses the significant stigma and myths, offering advice on management and discussing risks like those in pregnancy.
Feb 25, 2025•28 min
Bird flu update after UK farm worker infected and your questions on urinary problems
James Gallagher discusses the risk from H5N1 bird flu in the UK as a poultry worker in the West Midlands is infected and looks to the US where the disease is spreading in cattle. He's joined by virologist Dr Ed Hutchinson from the University of Glasgow to discuss how the virus is evolving, whether we are edging closer to bird flu becoming a pandemic and how it's being handled in the US as President Trump's government takes office. Also, you've been sending in your questions on embarrassing healt...
Feb 11, 2025•28 min
Raw milk: What are the risks and why are people talking about it?
Pasteurising milk makes it safer, but are there any benefits to drinking it “raw”? James heads to a dairy farm to investigate the evidence and see if anything is lost in pasteurising milk. Guests: Professor Marion Nestle, food policy expert, New York University Dr Ellen Evans, food safety expert at Cardiff Metropolitan University Jonny Crickmore, Fen Farm Dairy and chairman of the Raw Milk Producers Association Professor Markus Ege, researcher, University of Munich Presenter: James Gallagher Pro...
Feb 04, 2025•28 min
Can you really boost your immune system?
From kombucha to cold water swims, sleep to supplements, so many things are claimed to help enhance your immune system. We investigate the evidence, and ask if it's possible to avoid catching a virus this winter (and still leave the house). Plus, James braves 3.9 degree water to see for himself if cold water swimming has any affect on our immune systems. Guests: Margaret McCartney - Resident GP and expert in evidence-based medicine John Tregoning - Professor in Vaccine Immunology at Imperial Col...
Jan 28, 2025•28 min
Mould and Indoor Air Pollution: How Concerned Should You Be?
It has been a cold start to the year and for many that means the heating's on, windows are shut and we're drying clothes inside the house. For many people, mould becomes a major concern in winter and the health problems mould can cause have been under more scrutiny since the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died in 2020 from long-term exposure to mould at his home in Rochdale. At Imperial College London a study called WellHome is underway to monitor levels of mould and other indoor pollutan...
Jan 27, 2025•29 min
Can supervised toothbrushing fix the children's dental crisis?
In the UK, around a third of British children have tooth decay. Just among the under-fives, it's a quarter - a figure that rises significantly in the most deprived areas. Tooth decay can cause speech development issues, embarrassment for children and in 2023, 15 million school days were missed due to tooth pain or treatment. There’s a financial cost too – in 2023 in England alone tooth extractions under a general anaesthetic cost the NHS £41 million. And it's totally preventable. So, how can we ...
Nov 19, 2024•28 min
Olympian Sir Chris Hoy wants more tests for prostate cancer - should it happen?
Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy is calling for more prostate cancer testing after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Prostate cancer can often present without symptoms, and for people like Sir Chris, this can mean it isn't diagnosed until it has spread and become incurable. Unlike breast, bowel, or cervical cancer, there is currently no national screening programme that routinely invites men for prostate cancer testing. Instead, men over 50 can request what's known as a PSA blood test from the...
Nov 12, 2024•28 min
What next for Alzheimer's treatment?
The first drugs to slow Alzheimer's progression have been making headlines around the world. For researchers in the field, the arrival of these two therapies called Lecanemab and Donanemab is testament to decades of advancements in the field of Alzheimer's research because for the first time they go further than modifying the symptoms and have been shown in trials to slow down cognitive decline. For patients and families these treatments offer hope that the amount of quality time they'll have to...
Nov 05, 2024•28 min
Focus on the breath
Have you ever thought about how you breathe? For many of us, the 20,000+ breaths we take each day go underneath our conscious awareness. But every now and then, a short-lived spout or a chronic case of breathlessness can remind us just how vital good breathing is for our health. But can we all breathe “better”? Some wellness trends suggest so... James Gallagher gets to grips with mouth-taping: the practice of taping the mouth shut during the night to promote exclusive ‘nasal breathing’. Many cla...
Oct 29, 2024•28 min
How does embarrassment affect your health?
There are so many campaigns now to stop stigma and embarrassment - from Davina McCall talking about the menopause to Idris Elba campaigning for black men to get their prostate checked. And when we asked for your stories of how embarrassment impacts your health, our inbox was flooded with stories of incontinence, IBS, genital problems, skin issues, fertility troubles, fatty lumps and more - along with the huge and varied ways these issues are affecting your lives. So, how does embarrassment affec...
Oct 22, 2024•28 min
Changing the lives of children with rare genetic diseases
If you have a rare genetic disorder, new technology that allows your genetic code to be analysed means you could have a diagnosis within weeks. Before, people with rare diseases would often go their entire lives without a diagnosis. It's a revolutionary advancement but does it change how patients are treated or help improve their wellbeing? Presenter James Gallagher meets Lisa whose daughter Jaydi was born with a rare genetic disease that affects her growth, speech, eyesight and a number of othe...
Oct 16, 2024•28 min
Cancer vaccine trials and planning for cyber attacks
Trials of a cancer 'vaccine' have begun and presenter James meets Steve, one of the first patients to trial the new treatment, Steve remembers his shock at being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in his 40s and tells the story of how he became involved in this pioneering research into tackling cancer. The vaccine is based on the same mRNA technology as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and James heads to the University of Cambridge to find out how the early work into cancer vaccines became the...
Aug 27, 2024•28 min
Mpox, your statins questions and tick-borne meat allergies
Mpox is spreading and it’s been classified a public health emergency by the World Health Organization. Presenter James Gallagher meets Professor Trudie Lang from the University of Oxford who has been working in the areas affected to discuss what it means for people in the countries it’s already reached and whether its spread can be stopped. James also puts your questions on statins to Professor Naveed Sattar, and we hear the story of Simon who works in the outdoors as a landscape manager. He was...
Aug 20, 2024•28 min
What should we do about vaping?
Richard was 10 when he started smoking, and by the age of 35, he had given up on giving up smoking. But thanks to vaping he quit, almost by accident, in just a few months. However, vaping has been in the spotlight recently, with the rise of disposable vapes and awareness of more young people starting to vape. So, is vaping a useful tool to help people get off of cigarettes, or is it a gateway for young people into smoking? We hear from young people about their experiences and thoughts on vaping....
Aug 13, 2024•28 min
Can diet and exercise ever replace statins?
The inventor of statins, Akira Endo, died this summer. When he was prescribed statins in older age for high cholesterol he refused, preferring to improve his diet and lifestyle instead. But how far can changes like these really go to reduce our bad cholesterol and our overall risk of cardiovascular disease? Our resident GP Margaret McCartney and Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine Naveed Sattar discuss. Dermatologist Dr Alexandra Banner gives us the lowdown on how to treat sunburn, including r...
Aug 06, 2024•28 min
How can we age well?
From the Hay Festival, James and a panel of experts explain what we can all do to help ourselves age well. We discover what’s going on in our bodies when we age, the difference between biological and chronological age, as well as getting the audience moving for a physical test. James is joined by gerontologist Sarah Harper from the University of Oxford, biomedical scientist Georgina Ellison-Hughes from King’s College London, and doctor Norman Lazarus to understand how exercise, diet, and mental ...
Jul 30, 2024•28 min
Is watching sport good for you?
As the emotional roller coaster of the Euros comes to a close and the summer Olympics begin, James joins Professor Damian Bailey for an experiment to measure the ups and downs of watching sport. We monitor brains, hearts, lungs and hormones to try to out if watching sport is good or bad for us. But is there an additional risk for sports fans attending the summer Olympics in Paris? As climate change drives the tiger mosquito northwards there are concerns over the potential spread of Dengue in Fra...
Jul 23, 2024•28 min
What does alcohol do to the body and brain?
This week James visits a pub in Liverpool where he's joined by a trio of alcohol researchers who’ll watch carefully as he drinks two pints of lager. They’ll give him a few tests and talk through exactly what is going on in the body and brain from the very first sip to the minutes and hours that follow. James finds out we might be more at risk of harm than we may have thought - even if we drink below the recommended guidance of 14 units of alcohol per week. And we’re also going to answer some mor...
May 07, 2024•28 min
Are more young people getting cancer?
Last month, Catherine, Princess of Wales shared she’d been diagnosed with cancer. Describing this news as ‘a huge shock’ and at age just 42, the Princess’ disease falls into a category known as “early-onset cancer” – when the disease affects those under 50. While cases in this age group are still rare, diagnosis rates over the past few years have been growing. And scientists are now on a mission to figure out why. Receiving a cancer diagnosis at any age is devastating, but younger people living ...
Apr 30, 2024•28 min
Can insomnia be fixed?
How did you sleep last night? Perhaps you couldn't drift off, or maybe you woke in the middle of the night and then couldn't nod off again. In this special edition of Inside Health we're talking all about insomnia. It’s an issue that may affect many of us at some point in our lives – but for some it goes beyond a short period of not being able to sleep and becomes something more serious. You’ve been getting in touch with your questions, and James is joined by a trio of experts ready to answer to...
Apr 23, 2024•28 min
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