119 episodes

Dr Ayan Panja has been putting health into context as a doctor for over 25 years. He shares his expert generalist perspective on important themes around health & wellbeing, pondering what impacts our health journeys, societal attitudes and meaning in our lives. SAVING LIVES IN SLOW MOTION is a bite-sized, enriching and mind-expanding podcast. Powerful messages, science, medicine and storytelling with a professional but informal tone.
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Saving Lives In Slow Motion Dr Ayan Panja

    • Health & Fitness

Dr Ayan Panja has been putting health into context as a doctor for over 25 years. He shares his expert generalist perspective on important themes around health & wellbeing, pondering what impacts our health journeys, societal attitudes and meaning in our lives. SAVING LIVES IN SLOW MOTION is a bite-sized, enriching and mind-expanding podcast. Powerful messages, science, medicine and storytelling with a professional but informal tone.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    High Blood Pressure - the biggest silent killer?

    High Blood Pressure - the biggest silent killer?

    High blood pressure is the biggest modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is still the leading cause of death worldwide.
    It’s often called a silent killer because it has usually has no symptoms.
    This episode give you the lowdown on high blood pressure (also known as essential hypertension).

    Links:
    WHO page: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension
    A summary of high blood pressure: https://www.healthline.com/health/high-blood-pressure-hypertension
    Vitamin D and blood pressure in African-Americans: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3775458/
    Salt and potassium: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7697211/
    Low carb diets and blood pressure: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6695889/
    NICE guideline for hypertension: https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2019/11/NICE-NG136-Visual-Summary.pdf
    Potassium enriched salt and blood pressure: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10863666/
    Salt substitutes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9532913/
    Measuring blood pressure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfwBpBXUYHs
    Why blood pressure matters: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-combating-high-blood-pressure/health-matters-combating-high-blood-pressure#
    Resperate - the evidence is mixed, the effects small and it is not a substitute for any medication:
    https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/expert-answers/resperate/faq-20057998#
    https://northyorkshireccg.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NYCCG-Resp-Devices-Hypertension_v1.0_01.07.2021.pdf

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    • 18 min
    Mind Body Medicine - a new and old frontier

    Mind Body Medicine - a new and old frontier

    Mind Body Medicine is fascinating but has been poorly understood over the years. I believe it is more important to try to understand better now more than ever as we are surrounded by medically unexplained symptoms and non-communicable symptoms and diseases. 
    In this episode I look at the origins and theories behind it as well as link to the evidence in the show notes.
    Links:
    The Holmes-Rahe Stress scale: https://www.mindtools.com/avn893g/the-holmes-and-rahe-stress-scale
    The effectiveness of mind-body medicine (narrative): https://journals.lww.com/mjhs/fulltext/2023/11020/effectiveness_of_mind_body_medicine.2.aspx
    Somatising: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/somatic-symptom-disorder/what-is-somatic-symptom-disorder
    Opinion piece - a new ear of mind body medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7486127/#
    Views on Dr Sarno’s work: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/2/16338094/dr-john-sarno-healing-back-pain
    Mind Body Medicine in Crohn’s Disease: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2022.960301/full
    Mindfulness and meditation - effects on stress:
    https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness/meditation
    Repressed emotions and physical health: https://www.healthline.com/health/repressed-emotions
    Heart rate variability and stress: https://www.webmd.com/heart/what-is-heart-rate-variability
    Mechanisms on how writing can help: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7957853/
    Journaling and heart failure: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4927423/
    Psychoneuroimmunology during COVID-19: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9075982/
    THE HEALTH FIX: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Health-Fix-Dr-Ayan-Panja/dp/1914239326/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

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    • 17 min
    Weight loss drugs - are the new blockbuster medicines really a solution for obesity?

    Weight loss drugs - are the new blockbuster medicines really a solution for obesity?

    This is a super hot topic in health care in some parts of the world at the moment. In this episode I look at how these drugs work and the pros and cons of taking them for weight loss purposes.
    Obesity, in some instances, is in essence a form of ‘malnutrition’ because of the nature of food consumed and how rates have increased rapidly over the last 40 years.
    Body Mass Index definition: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-21264134
    Heart disease risk reduced by weight loss jab: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd188m73vn1o
    Ultra processed food and your brain: 
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/junk_food_brain
    Supersize Me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me
    Obesity health risks: https://www.healthline.com/health/obesity/how-obesity-affects-body
    The genetics of obesity: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-021-00414-z
    The story behind semaglutide: https://www.vox.com/22553793/gila-monster-lizard-venom-inspired-obesity-drug-semaglutide
    Weight loss stats on semaglutide: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9486455/
    Semaglutide can stop working and even if it works it may need to be taken forever:
    https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/why-weight-loss-drugs-stop-working-how-to-break-past-ozempic-plateau#Hitting-a-weight-loss-plateau-after-a-year


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    • 17 min
    Continuous Glucose Monitoring: life saver or wellbeing fad?

    Continuous Glucose Monitoring: life saver or wellbeing fad?

    CGM has changed lives for the better people with Type 1 Diabetes but nowadays people without diabetes use it as a tool. In this episode I look at the pros and cons of CGM and how it can be used as a lens into our general health and how it is linked to our gut microbiome amongst many other systems.

    Links:

    CGM early days review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4717493/
    Prof Partha Kar: https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/girft-diabetes-lead-awarded-obe-in-new-year-honours/
    Red meat and gut bacteria: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gut-microbes-affect-harmful-compound-red-meat#
    Akkermansia Muciniphilia: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8726741/
    Gut bugs and metabolic disease: https://joe.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/joe/248/2/JOE-20-0473.xml#
    Alcohol and blood glucose: https://blog.supersapiens.com/3-ways-alcohol-affects-your-glucose-levels/
    Exercise and blood sugar: https://www.sugarfit.com/blog/workout-spikes-exercise-induced-gluconeogenesis/
    Glucose spikes - the dangers?: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7530333/#:
    The view of Harvard on CGM without diabetes:https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-blood-sugar-monitoring-without-diabetes-worthwhile-202106112473
    Walking after meals: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/walking-after-eating
    Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10401445/#
    THE HEALTH FIX - the ultimate health manual tailored to you: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Health-Fix-Dr-Ayan-Panja/dp/1914239326/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
    25wktvbz

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    • 19 min
    Smart phones - the hidden addiction that affects us all

    Smart phones - the hidden addiction that affects us all

    In this episode I look at smart phones. They have changed the way we live beyond imagination 
    but are they doing us any harm in terms of the way we think and behave?
    Links:
    Life before smartphones:
    https://medium.com/be-unique/before-smartphones-were-a-thing-87208717b8d7
    Teenage brain: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Whats-Going-On-in-the-Teenage-Brain.aspx
    Teenagers and smart phones: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-smartphones-really-destroying-the-lives-of-teenagers/
    Alpha brain waves: https://www.healthline.com/health/alpha-brain-waves#bottom-line
    Multitasking and switching focus: https://neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/why-multitasking-does-more-harm-good
    Phones and attention: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36256-4#
    Alpha waves: https://www.healthline.com/health/alpha-brain-waves
    Dopamine fasting: https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/dopamine-fasting-smartphone-addiction

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    • 21 min
    Addiction

    Addiction

    Addictions can ruin lives but why do they occur in the first place and what can we do to acknowledge them better?
    In this episode Iook at why they can be so hard to conquer and touch on different aspects of addiction.

    Links: 
    How the addicted brain works:
    https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/how-an-addicted-brain-works
    Sugar - why most of us could easily have a sweet tooth: https://theconversation.com/a-taste-for-sweet-an-anthropologist-explains-the-evolutionary-origins-of-why-youre-programmed-to-love-sugar-173197
    Addiction and childhood: https://www.jkacap.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.5765/jkacap.2017.28.1.4#
    Heroin detox in Thailand: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-13674101

    Dr Gabor Maté on trauma: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/12/the-trauma-doctor-gabor-mate-on-happiness-hope-and-how-to-heal-our-deepest-wounds

    Gambling addiction: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/gambling-addiction/

    A personal story: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/30/studied-neuroscience-understand-addictions-not-cure

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    • 16 min

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