Unhealthy Curiosity

Dr Sarah Holper
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Curious about why your stomach doesn’t eat itself, or why some people sweat blood? Dr Sarah Holper, neurologist, explores the human body’s features, flaws, and questionable design choices. Unhealthy Curiosity uses science, medical mysteries, history, and stories to explain why our bodies behave the way they do.

  1. 4D AGO

    Doctor, or Piss Prophet?

    For thousands of years, doctors believed urine revealed the hidden workings of the body. By peering at a patient’s wee, they diagnosed everything from epilepsy to death — sometimes without even meeting the patient. This episode explores the strange history of uroscopy, the rise of the “piss prophets”, and why modern doctors still occasionally ask you for a wee sample today.

    13 min

  2. APR 26

    When Doctors Got it Wrong: Prescribing the Sun

    If you were feeling sickly 100 years ago, your doctor might have prescribed a loincloth, a bed, and a sun-drenched balcony in the Swiss Alps. No blood tests or scans — your degree of tan would determine your prognosis. From sun worship to sun-gazing to Coco Chanel accidentally making bronzed skin chic, this episode explores the many ways medicine and mankind have misunderstood the sun.

    12 min

  3. APR 19

    DNA, Twins, and the Serial Killer Who Never Existed

    Your DNA can build a body, grow a tumour, or implicate you in a crime. This episode explores what happens when DNA evidence meets identical twins, and why one of Europe’s most feared serial killers turned out to be much stranger than anyone expected.

    12 min

  4. APR 12

    Could You Get a Voice Transplant?

    If you’ve ever heard a recording of your own voice, you may have wished for a voice transplant. But would it be possible? This episode explores why your voice is more than your voice box — and what it would actually take to sound like Elvis.

    12 min

  5. APR 5

    Heartburn – And Why Astronauts Love Shrimp

    Your oesophagus was never designed to handle acid splashes — and yet, sometimes it has to. This episode looks at heartburn — why it happens, the neat trick emergency doctors use to distinguish it from a heart attack, and what spaceflight reveals about reflux.

    13 min

  6. MAR 29

    How to Actually Stop Hiccups

    Over the centuries, doctors have tried everything to cure hiccups — from sugar to shock to what modern medicine would classify as controlled drugs and poisons. This episode looks at what hiccups actually are, why they happen, and which cures have at least some chance of working.

    14 min

  7. MAR 22

    The Point of That Groove in Your Upper Lip

    Many animals use chemical signals — pheromones — to find mates, mark territory, and warn of danger. Humans, despite popular belief, can’t detect them. This episode examines these signals — including the anatomical relic of our pheromone-sniffing past, still sitting in the middle of your face.

    9 min

  8. MAR 15

    The Man With a Window Into His Stomach

    A strange accident in 1822 left a man with a window through his chest into his stomach. What followed was one of the most unusual series of experiments in medical history — revealing how digestion really works, and why your stomach doesn’t digest itself.

    11 min
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About

Curious about why your stomach doesn’t eat itself, or why some people sweat blood? Dr Sarah Holper, neurologist, explores the human body’s features, flaws, and questionable design choices. Unhealthy Curiosity uses science, medical mysteries, history, and stories to explain why our bodies behave the way they do.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr Sarah Holper
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dr Sarah Holper
  • Show Website
    Unhealthy Curiosity