Mental health is fundamental to overall health, yet its determinants extend far beyond individual diagnosis. Suicide alone accounts for more than 700,000 deaths globally each year, representing a major public health concern across age groups and regions.

This episode examines:

• The global epidemiology of mental disorders and suicide• Social determinants …

Diabetes has emerged as one of the most significant non-communicable diseases worldwide, with rapidly increasing prevalence across high-, middle-, and low-income countries. Once considered a condition of affluence, it now disproportionately affects disadvantaged populations.

This episode examines:

• Global epidemiology of type 1 and type 2 diabetes• Patho…

Physical inactivity is a leading risk factor for global mortality and contributes substantially to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers, musculoskeletal disorders, and poor mental health. Despite clear evidence of benefit, modern environments increasingly discourage movement.

This episode examines:

• The global burden of physical inactivity• …

Obesity is one of the defining public health challenges of the twenty-first century. Once concentrated in high-income nations, it now affects populations across all income levels and regions, contributing substantially to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and musculoskeletal disorders.

This episode examines:

• Global trends and epidemiological tra…

Chronic respiratory diseases rarely command the urgency of pandemics or malignancy, yet they impose a vast and persistent global burden. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma together account for millions of deaths and even more years lived with disability.

In this episode of Medlock Holmes: Global Public Health, Holmes turns to the air…

Cancer is not a single disease but a family of disorders defined by uncontrolled cellular growth, genomic instability, and progressive invasion. It is both biological inevitability and environmental consequence - shaped by ageing, exposure, behaviour, and inequity.

In this episode of Medlock Holmes: Global Public Health, Holmes examines the epidemiologic…

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death globally. Yet unlike outbreaks or epidemics that command immediate alarm, CVD progresses quietly - built over decades through patterns of behaviour, biology, and inequality.

In this episode of Medlock Holmes: Global Public Health, Holmes turns his attention to the slow-burning architecture o…

Why do some risks terrify us while others barely register?Why does a rare plane crash dominate headlines, while chronic air pollution remains background noise?

In this episode of Medlock Holmes: Global Public Health, Holmes leaves the laboratory of quantitative toxicology and enters the theatre of human judgement.

Risk is not experienced purely as probabi…

How do we decide when a chemical becomes dangerous?When does exposure become risk?And how does public health move from suspicion to regulation?

In this episode of Medlock Holmes: Global Public Health, Holmes steps into the laboratory of uncertainty - where molecules meet measurement and harm is quantified.

We explore:

• The fundamental toxicological princi…

In this episode, Medlock Holmes enters the workplace - the factory floor, the construction site, the hospital ward, the office tower. Occupational health examines how work environments influence physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial risk.

Holmes traces the historical roots of occupational health - from early recognition of industrial lung dise…