Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University,  reveals the key role our body clock plays not just in controlling how and when we sleep, but in every aspect of our biology and health.

He discusses his tips for getting a good night's sleep and what do when you just can’t drop off. And explores the huge toll that shift work takes on both our physical and mental health, so much so that the World Health Organization has described the link between shift work and cancer as probably carcinogenic.

Russell goes on to explain why modern medicine needs to pay far more attention to the impact that our body clock has on the time of day we should take certain drugs.

Remarkably, one study revealed that if you take an aspirin for stroke prevention,  it can be 50% more effective depending on the time of day you take it.  And another trial for the treatment of ovarian cancer discovered there was a fourfold difference in a successful outcome depending on when in the 24 hour cycle the chemotherapy was taken.

Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Director of the Sir Jules Thorne Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, and  Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology at Oxford University. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded a CBE for his services to science. And he is the author of the book Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionise Your Health.

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director.  You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

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