Inside Health

BBC Radio 4

4.4 (486)
HEALTH & FITNESS
UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.

4 DAYS AGO

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 young age and how she has coped with reactions that mean just touching her face after chopping a carrot has put her in hospital. For Priya, when she reached adolescence and moved out of her family it was a scary time and she had to grow up quickly to take responsibility for her allergies. In a recent debate in the House of Lords it was discussed that moving young people out of the paediatric allergy services they have grown up with the support of and into adult services, just as everything else in their life is changing too can be really difficult for patients, and potentially dangerous. Dr Claudia Gore from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust shared her experience of working in a children's allergy clinic in London for that debate and she joins James along with Dr Paul Turner from Imperial College London to discuss how this transition from children's to adult services could be made safer and smoother for patients. Also in the programme, James is joined again by Dr Vanessa Apea, Consultant in Genito-Urinary and HIV medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust to answer more of your questions on genital herpes, UTIs and urinary incontinence. Presenter; James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Assistant Producer: Anna Charalambou Editor: Colin Paterson

28 min
25 FEB

How shoes affect our bodies and a focus on genital herpes

Has James been buying shoes that are bad his feet? He meets podiatrist Dao Tunprasert to find out how healthy his shoes are. Also, returning to our theme of health conditions you find embarrassing, we get the lowdown on genital herpes from Dr Vanessa Apea. She's consultant physician in Genito-urinary and HIV medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and answers some of your questions. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Assistant Producer: Siobhan Maguire

28 min
18 FEB

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 insidehealth@bbc.co.uk 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 medicine and neuroscientist Dr Tim Craig and his team are taking it into their to lab to investigate whether it might harbour properties that could benefit people with dementia. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions after listening to our episode 'What next for Alzheimer's treatment' which is available on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024ng7 Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Editor: Holly Squire

28 min
11 FEB

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 health problems and lots of you have asked about the problem of leaking urine, known as urinary incontinence. James puts your questions to Dr Vanessa Apea, a consultant physician in Genito-urinary and HIV medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett

28 min
4 FEB

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 Producer: Tom Bonnett

28 min
28 JAN

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 College London Eleanor Riley - Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at University of Edinburgh Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Hannah Robins Content Editor: Holly Squire The programme was produced in partnership with the Open University.

28 min
27 JAN

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 pollutants in homes across the west of the capital. Presenter James Gallagher meets Mum of four Roxanne who had monitoring equipment installed in her house to collect data that could lead to guidance on housing quality and inform how healthcare professionals look for and treat conditions affected by mould. Joining James at Roxanne's is WellHome's Dr Athena Trachalaki, a Respiratory Registrar with Imperial College NHS trust. With her, to go through all the pollutants that pose a risk to our health indoors is WellHome lead and Professor of Community Health and Policy at Imperial College, Frank Kelly. Dr Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University, London, tells James it could be the end of the line for the gas cooker, and Professor Alastair Lewis who is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of York takes a virtual tour of James's home to discuss all the ways James could be cleaning up the air he breathes. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Editor: Holly Squire

29 min
19/11/2024

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 stop teeth rotting in the first place? One way initiative announced by the new Labour government is to expand supervised toothbrushing sessions to more children. We find out how these work with Oral Health Team Lead Helen Bullingham who supports nurseries and schools in East Sussex to deliver these programmes. But what about the evidence to support this intervention? Zoe Marshman, Professor of Dental Public Health at University of Sheffield, explains her findings and dental hygienist and researcher at King's College London Dr Claire McCarthy describes what parents should be doing, in an ideal world, at home. And finally, what role does sugar play and how can we get consumption down? Dr Nina Rogers from the Population Health Innovation Lab at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine explains her findings into the impact of the Sugar Drinks Industry Levy introduced in 2018. Presenter: James Gallagher Producers: Hannah Robins Content Editor: Holly Squire Inside Health is a BBC Wales & West production for Radio 4, produced in partnership with The Open University.

28 min

See All (350)

4.4

out of 5

486 Ratings

Informative

10/08/2023

Dazzlerbar

This is such a useful programme: informative and so well presented.
Paternalistic and less informative than formerly

01/05/2024

An1t

Quality of this programme has diminished considerably. Latest episode regarding growth of cancer rates amongst younger people an uninformative, qemotive, speculative tour of possible causes which lacked evidence. In contrast no mention of the fascinating topic of over diagnosis/ over treatment.
Disappointing. No stars an option!

18/04/2024

Helly UK

I used to look forward to each new episode of what used to be a really interesting programme about health conditions, interviewing sufferers and their doctors and with excellent analysis by Margaret McCartney. BBC should make a different programme with a different name to cover the recent topics rather than high jack Inside Health.
Inside health

18/11/2023

Happy-Matty

Genuinely used to love this podcast. As a Gp it helped me to stay abreast of many developments and gave an in depth “behind the headlines “ view. Told everyone about it. But more recently I am finding it much less informative and more shallow/ populist and so sadly have stopped recommending it to colleagues as I no longer look forward to the podcasts
Terrific!

26/04/2022

Grandmatriarch

Love this program. James has done a good job taking over from Mark whom I’d thought irreplaceable. Margaret brilliant, a breath of fresh air and invariably the whole program is helpful and informative.
Inside health

31/10/2020

Annie the Blake

This programme is informative and provides non biased clinically accurate and well researched material which, as a retired clinician I find extremely interesting. It is presented in a manner that is easily understandable and informative to lay listeners
Cowardly

28/07/2021

istandwithjkr

I used to enjoy this podcast thinking it was based in science. How disappointed I was to hear the ridiculous pandering to the trans agenda in this topic. The first contributor couldn’t even bring herself to mention the word “woman” in her segment about periods, a uniquely female experience. Am I wrong in my understanding of biology that only women get periods? Not all women obviously, but only women. There is no need for every discussion about female reproductive health to be derailed in this way. This is especially insulting when in the same podcast the discussion about erectile dysfunction was (rightly) all about men, given that this is a uniquely male experience. Have a good look at yourselves BBC, because you are alienating a lot of women.
Bring back mark porter please

17/02/2021

keitflyer

James Gallagher isn’t a patch on the old team. Long winded and he doesn’t ask the questions properly. Latest episode was about long covid clinics but failed to give useful info on them. Also discussed vaccines efficacy percentages but again simply didn’t explain it. Sorry - but he isn’t improving and needs moving.
Excellent podcast

25/07/2020

daphnedodo

The episode on 21 July 2020 was informative and very interesting. I agree with Margaret McCarthy, let the local public health people do their jobs as only they know how.
Great listening

19/05/2020

XtraGilly

Balanced, interesting, challenging, clear and well explained medical content of interest to everyone and anyone who’s got questions about their own health or health stories in the news.