Health Check

With deaths from opioid overdoses rocketing to more than 100,000 people each year, the US has moved to make the drug Naloxone available to buy in pharmacies for the first time there this week. The nasal spray treatment can revive people who have overdosed within minutes.

Claudia Hammond is joined by Dr Ann Robinson to hear how the drug works, and what lessons the US can learn from how other countries around the world are using it.

We also hear from the first polar research team to try to tackle taboos over menstruation by training the next generation of Arctic and Antarctic scientists how to deal with having your period during an expedition.

Claudia and Ann look at new research suggesting the morning after pill becomes more effective when taken with anti-inflammatory drugs.

And we find out whether opposites do truly attract, as a new study on romantic relationships uncovers what happy couples do and don’t have in common.

Image Credit: Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

In March 2015, Brazil reported a large outbreak of the Zika virus infection. Over the next year, the disease became a global medical emergency. Thousands of babies were born brain-damaged, after their mothers became infected while pregnant.

As the World Health Organisation discusses the current global Zika situation and the lessons learned from the outbreak, Claudia Hammond is joined by Dr Graham Easton to hear from the families affected in Brazil and ask what life is now like for the babies who were born with complications.

We also hear about new recommendations for how communities around the world can better prevent Sudden Cardiac Death, as well as research on whether how far away you are from a defibrillator is related to how deprived your area is.

Claudia speaks to a psychiatric nurse and the woman who says she saved her life by going above and beyond the call of duty.

And we hear about the world first from Australia, where scientists discovered a living worm in the brain of a woman who’d been experiencing stomach pain and night sweats.

Image Credit: Joao Paulo Burini

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

When former transplant surgeon Paolo Macchiarini first implanted a synthetic trachea into a patient more than a decade ago, it was hailed as a breakthrough. But the person he operated on died, as did subsequent patients. And in 2013, Macchiarini was reported to Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, where he had carried out the operations, for scientific misconduct. Over the years, Health Check has followed the story and in this programme we hear the latest as Macchiarini appeals against a prison sentence in Sweden for gross assault.

Claudia Hammond is joined by BBC health and science correspondent James Gallagher who has been finding out whether eating his meals quickly or slowly is better for his health. And he brings us news from the USA of one of the first functional kidney transplants from a pig into a human.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Iraq is the latest country to report a batch of contaminated cough syrup according to the World Health Organisation. It’s the latest in a string of health alerts issued by WHO in the last 12 months. According to reports, 300 children died worldwide last year by taking contaminated cough syrups. BBC health reporter Philippa Roxby joins Claudia Hammond to discuss this and the latest health research.

When the Ugandan government passed tough anti LGBTQ legislation in May, health experts claimed it would have a devastating effect on HIV healthcare services. We hear from a clinic in Kampala where people living with HIV are scared to collect their medicine.

And Claudia speaks to Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of California Berkeley in the USA, Bob Knight. His team are trying to improve technology for people who struggle with speech by decoding brain signals. All with a bit of help from classic rock music.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

In the week that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that leprosy could now be endemic in the South-eastern United States, Claudia Hammond looks at global action on leprosy with science journalist Kamala Thiagarajan.

There is an international effort to learn more about weaning seriously ill people off ventilator support in hospitals. We hear about the Weansafe study from Ireland.

Professor of integrated community child health at University College London, Monica Lakhanpaul joins Claudia in the studio to discuss why the roll out of a new vaccine for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) in the US could be a gamechanger. And why on your next trip to a hospital, you could see groups of elderly in-patients going on walks. Could it help prevent the effects of bedrest?

Image: Leprosy, nerve biopsy, nerve fibres surrounded by histiocytes

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Henrietta Lacks was only 31 years old when she died from cervical cancer in 1951. While she was in hospital in the USA, her cells were harvested without her knowledge which, since being replicated infinitely, have gone on to enable research into cancer, dementia and Parkinson’s. As well as contributing to the development of vaccines for polio and COVID-19. Her family have fought for decades to get justice for the “stolen” cells, and this week reached a settlement with Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

The United Nations says we now live in the era of "global boiling". As temperatures continue to soar across the southern USA, the BBC’s Health and Science Correspondent James Gallagher heads to a high-tech heated chamber in the UK, on a mission to find out how hot is too hot for our bodies to cope with.

In Sweden, dentist Dr Nivetha Natarajan Gavriilidou tells Claudia Hammond about her work using the bone structure of the jaw to predict how we might get shorter as we age. Could it lead to dentists working closer with GPs? It’s a question we also put to our studio guest family doctor Ann Robinson. Who brings us new research from the USA that could lead to better treatment for children’s runny noses. And potentially some good news if you’re struggling to shave seconds off your 5KM PB. Could beating your time be down to your genes?

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

The World Health Organisation and UNICEF say global immunisation services reached 4 million more children in 2022 compared to the previous year, after a huge backslide during the Covid 19 pandemic. But the progress in countries like India and Indonesia masks continued decline in many lower income countries. Global health expert Tabitha Mwangi and Claudia Hammond discuss how immunisation numbers can bounce back.

They also look at new research from Sub-Saharan Africa that suggests as many as one in 10 teenagers might have high blood pressure, and what might be the most effective way of lowering it?

While you may be gripped by the action from the Women’s football World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Dr Kerry Peek is keeping a careful eye on the games for health reasons. She’s one of a team of ‘concussion spotters’ deployed this year for the first time at the tournament. Claudia asks her why professional sports women are more at risk from head injuries than men.

And are you a perfectionist? Psychologist Dr Thom Curran says striving to be perfect could put our mental health at risk.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

(Photo: A child gets administered the polio vaccine from a health worker in Kabul, Afghanistan, 15 May 2023. Credit: SAMIULLAH POPAL Samiullah Popal/EPA)

Just months after the ‘momentous’ announcement of the first drug shown to slow the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, the results of a global trial into another have been published. The antibody medicine donanemab helped people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s by slowing the pace of the brain’s decline by about a third. Dr Graham Easton joins Claudia Hammond to look at what another ‘breakthrough’ means in practice.

They also look at new evidence from the USA that giving hearing aids to older people at risk from dementia could be another way to slow cognitive decline in some people.

While caring for women in childbirth, midwives are expected to be compassionate. Claudia hears from Dr Halima Musa Abdul, Senior Lecturer in Nursing Science at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, and to Dr Kaveri Mayra, who trained in India and is now a researcher at the University of British Columbia. They say that particularly in lower and middle income countries, midwives aren’t being shown enough compassion at work themselves.

And we hear from Germany where a portable brain scanner could provide a solution for people in hard-to-reach health clinics.

Image Credit: Andrew Brookes

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

“Sickle cell is not all that we are – Sickle Cell is solvable.” Lea Kilenga Bey from Kenya founded the non-profit Africa Sickle Cell Organisation to campaign on behalf of people like her who live with an inherited blood condition known as sickle cell disease. Now a group of experts from around the world are calling on Governments to provide better care for people with conditions like Lea’s. It comes just weeks after a study published in academic journal The Lancet Haematology showed that the number of people around the world who die with sickle cell disease could be as much as 11 times higher than previously estimated. Claudia Hammond speaks to Lea and hears from Professor Jennifer Knight-Madden in Jamaica where pioneering research has led to a newborn screening programme that helps to diagnose and treat Sickle Cell Disease in babies.

Side by Side is a pilot initiative led by the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK, pairing up volunteers with people living with dementia based on their common interests. It’s how David met Simon, who learnt he had Alzheimer’s disease during the Covid 19 lockdown. We hear from David, Simon, and Simon’s wife Ruth about the pair’s weekly walks and how they have helped Simon come to terms with his diagnosis.

And Claudia is joined by Consultant in public health Dr Ike Anya. They discuss new research on living with dementia including a study that suggests resistance training might delay the onset of symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s. There’s an early breakthrough in finding a treatment for parasitic born African Trypanosomiasis or Sleeping Sickness. And the researchers combining health education with street theatre in Malawi. How an interactive performance involving “infectious” beach balls transmitted by a giant Tsetse fly is teaching people about catching Sleeping Sickness.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Image credit: Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library

Since early times, the drum has been part of human society. But have you ever considered how drumming might actually improve our physical and mental health? Researchers from the University of Essex are at this year’s annual Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition in London to talk to the public about their work which shows drumming during a rock concert might give you a similar workout as playing football.

Along with the BBC’s health and science correspondent, James Gallagher, Claudia Hammond gets a drumming lesson.

They also hear how specially designed audio is being used in virtual reality gaming to train the brains of people with hearing impairments. How micro-robots may provide the future of intricate eye surgery. And how laser technology currently being deployed by the Mars Rover could revolutionise the way we screen our bodies for diseases.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

(Photo: Drumming workshop plus drumming teacher Richard Davis)