Health Check

Systemic racism affects our wellbeing long before we ever see a doctor. How can the health community address it?

Also on the programme, a new malaria vaccine is rolled out in the Ivory Coast, we take a closer look at the story behind it. And while we have long been cautioned against heavy exercise before sleep, it turns out that light intermittent exercise may be the secret to getting a bit more sleep.

In the last two years, online searches for ‘toxic positivity’ have spiked. In this discussion from the Cheltenham Science Festival, we find out what toxic positivity is, and how it can hurt you and people around you.

In front of a live audience, Claudia Hammond is joined by psychologist Dr Linda Blair, GP and educator Dr Anisha Patel, and wellbeing consultant and content creator Benjy Kusi.

Linda has been interested in the rise in the use of the term ‘toxic positivity’ and has noticed how it’s having an impact on our wellbeing. She reveals why it is important for us not to suppress ‘negative’ feelings and emotions.

Anisha was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 39. She authored the book Everything You Hoped You’d Never Need To Know About Bowel Cancer, where she speaks about her diagnosis and treatment journey. She experienced first-hand the harm that toxic positivity can do.

Benjy works with many different companies to help improve their inclusion and wellbeing practices. He’s the author of the book Hope This Helps and posts frequent videos about lots of tricky issues on TikTok and Instagram.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

A new medication offers a potentially revolutionary disruption in HIV transmission – just as a leading global program to fight the disease gets hit with funding cuts.

Also on the program, what can the recent heat wave in India teach the rest of the world about heat adaptation, and how health care systems can deal with rising temperatures world wide.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

A special episode from this year’s annual Royal Society Summer Exhibition in London, with Claudia Hammond joined by BBC health and science correspondent, James Gallagher, to take a look at a range of new health research.

The exhibitions include a look at how special forms of UV light might be able to cut away cancerous cells in brain tumours, with the possibility of light emitting bandages also being used to target cancer treatments.

Claudia and James also look at research from The Francis Crick Institute into whether a simple blood test can help work out how to quickly identify patients who are most likely to deteriorate when they have a virus.

We also hear how much brain devices we can buy online really tell us about our brain activity, as well as research into how the way babies wriggle may help identify future developmental issues.

Claudia and James also compete in a number of scientific games to see who is this year’s Summer Exhibition champion.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

This week on Health Check, we get an update on a new and concerning strain of MPox that is spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Also on the program, it has been two years since the United States overturned the constitutional right to an abortion with the Dobbs decision. What effect has this had on the global picture of abortion?

And could arts-based strategies help doctors to cope with burnout and patient communication. Doctor Graham Easton joins Claudia Hammond to discuss these stories and more.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

(Photo: Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" are seen in this illustration. Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

This week, Health Check takes a deep dive into the evidence on the relationship between exercise and mental health. Not just whether getting moving can make a difference, but why.

Claudia Hammond laces up her running shoes and goes for a jog at the seaside with a group of people who are running for their mental health. Claudia meets the founder of 'Run Talk Run', Jess Robson, and talks to other members of the group about why they find exercise helpful.

Back in the studio, Claudia speaks to Jonathan Roiser, Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health at University College London in the UK. He’s about to embark on a major piece of research that should help us understand a lot more about what exercise does for people with depression. As well as explaining what they’re hoping to discover, he tells her about the latest research into exercise and mental health. Why does it work for some people and not others, and what’s the best exercise for your brain?

Then there’s the commonly held belief that exercise is good for your mood because it ‘gets the endorphins going’, but we know that endorphins are not able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Claudia talks to Dr Hilary Marusak from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit USA about one of the possible alternatives – the endocannabinoid system.

Throughout the programme Claudia is joined by Dr Peter Olusoga, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. Together they discuss the many barriers people face to improving their physical activity, including the fact that poor mental health itself can stop you wanting to exercise in the first place.

And if getting more exercise really does sound like the worst idea you can think of, it turns out that watching sport on TV might also be good for you.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Many of the discussions around how we use the internet focus on its potentially negative impact on our wellbeing, but is that actually the case? A new study of more than 2 million people says being online may actually improve things such as our life satisfaction and sense of purpose.

Claudia Hammond is joined by Professor Matt Fox from the Departments of Epidemiology and Global Health at Boston University to look at what this might tell us about the effects of being able to access the internet.

We also speak to Dr Edgard Camarós from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, to hear about his study looking at ancient Egyptian skulls that’s found signs doctors at the time may have performed cancer surgery.

Claudia and Matt also discuss the latest on a combined vaccine for flu and Covid, as a single shot jab passes an important part of final-stage scientific checks.

And we hear about the ‘bug bounty’ programme paying researchers to find errors in published scientific papers.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

A third human case of bird flu has been reported in the US in a farmworker in Michigan who experienced respiratory symptoms. It follows a recent rapid spread of the virus among dairy cows across the country.

Claudia Hammond is joined by public health consultant Dr Ike Anya to discuss the latest developments, as half of the nation’s stockpile of the H5N1 vaccine is made ready to deploy.

We also hear from the women who’ve posted on social media that they’ve become pregnant after using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for weight loss. Claudia speaks to Dr Charlotte Moffat from the University of Ulster about whether the drugs could be interfering with birth control and boosting fertility.

We also hear from author David Robson about his new book ‘The Laws of Connection’, which explores the science and health effects of our social connections, and discuss what social strategies we can all take to improve how we socialise.

And Claudia and Ike take a look at a competition in South Korea trying to raise awareness of stress where the person with the lowest resting heart rate wins.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Life expectancy is expected to increase by almost five years around the world by 2050, according to new research. The Global Burden of Disease Study says countries with lower life expectancy are expected to see the biggest increases.

Claudia Hammond is joined by BBC Africa health correspondent Dorcas Wangira to hear how public health measures are behind the predicted increases.

We also hear about how negotiations at this week’s World Health Assembly to secure a global deal for countries to prepare for pandemics have fallen through.

Claudia and Dorcas discuss new research in Kenya into the time of day mosquitoes are biting children in school, and what it tells us about whether the insects are getting smarter.

We also hear about the project twinning hospitals in Mexico and the US to try to improve the survival chances of children with leukaemia.

And new research from Australia suggests having a baby takes much more metabolic energy than previously thought.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

This week, we’re looking at examples of innovative thinking in medicine. A new, non-invasive device could help people with paralysis to regain movement. And as Namibia passes a critical milestone, we look back on one of the biggest developments in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Also on the programme, an update on the Korean doctors’ strike, and a summit looks to tackle the often-overlooked problem of indoor air pollution.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond