My Health Focus

Editorial Team - My Health Focus

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My Health Focus provides a wide range of health educational information through podcasts and articles, interviewing both patients, carers, healthcare professionals and charities. My Health Focus provides information to allow you to make an informed decision on your health choices, along with offering a pathway to take part in future health research such as clinical trials. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3d ago

Gene People: Supporting Families Through Rare Genetic Conditions

Samantha Barber, CEO of Gene People, and Emily Clark, a registered genetic counsellor, discuss the work of their national charity supporting people living with genetic and rare conditions. 5 Key Takeaways: 1. Over 3.5 million people in the UK live with a rare condition, 80% of which are genetic, spanning the entire lifespan from babies to older adults. 2. Gene People's helpline offers flexible support at all stages, from pre-diagnosis through to family planning, with some conversations lasting months or even years. 3. The charity supports people with ultra-rare conditions where no condition-specific group exists, as well as those with slightly less rare diagnoses who need additional guidance. 4. Their partnership network connects rare disease organisations, from Facebook peer support groups to registered charities, offering free membership, symposiums, and discounts on essential services. 5. Many rare condition charities are family-run, born from families who don't want others to face the same struggles, and Gene People helps them navigate compliance, governance, and fundraising. Samantha Barber is CEO of Gene People, bringing nearly 30 years of voluntary sector experience. Emily Clark is a registered genetic counsellor who runs the charity's genetic conditions helpline. If you or someone you know is affected by a genetic condition, visit genepeople.org.uk or call their helpline for support. 1. [[00:05:52.980]] Emily explains that some conditions are so rare there might only be a handful of people diagnosed with that condition in the world, so they may not have a condition-specific support group to turn to. 2. [[00:06:39.679]] Emily points out that although the condition may be different, many questions families have are similar across conditions, allowing her to work with families on inheritance, family planning, and genetic testing regardless of diagnosis. 3. [[00:08:04.010]] Emily describes the diagnostic odyssey, saying it can take a really long time to get a diagnosis and to get the right diagnosis, with some families experiencing symptoms that remain undiagnosed over quite a long period of time. 4. [[00:10:34.640]] Emily explains that a few people maintain ongoing contact intermittently over a much more extended period of time, like a couple of years, such as those in the 100,000 Genomes Project. 5. [[00:14:08.000]] Sam says that not being focused on one condition gives us a range of perspectives and experiences that we hear about, which helps inform the other parts of our work. 6. [[00:17:54.340]] Sam explains that whether you are a 10,000 pound charity or a 10 million pound charity, the same level of compliance and governance are needed, but it just gets harder to fund for smaller organisations. 7. [[00:20:30.660]] Sam recounts families saying, 'I couldn't let anyone else go through what we went through,' explaining the altruism that drives family-run rare condition organisations. 8. [[00:22:49.780]] Emily says we know it is isolating for so many families out there with rare conditions and it's hard to pick up the phone or send off that email sometimes initially because you don't know really where it's going. My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 10

AI in Healthcare: Who's Responsible?

On the day the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare published its landmark report, Gabriela Commatteo, AI Regulation Policy Lead for the MHRA, joined Catriona Williams from My Health Focus to explain what it all means for patients, prescribers, and the healthcare system. Key takeaways: 1. AI in healthcare refers to technologies that analyse information, identify patterns, and support clinical decision-making, not replace doctors or nurses. 2. AI is already in use across parts of the NHS, from ambient voice technology recording GP consultations to stroke imaging tools and one of the world's largest breast cancer screening trials involving 700,000 women. 3. More than 12,000 people contributed to the National Commission's research, and the message was clear: patients want AI in their care, but support is conditional on safety, transparency, and clear accountability. 4. The Commission recommends evolving the regulatory framework to reflect AI's unique characteristics, including ongoing monitoring, proportionate risk-based requirements, and clearer controls around updates after deployment. 5. If something goes wrong, responsibility depends on the facts of each case, but manufacturers, healthcare providers, prescribers, and regulators all have distinct roles, and the system needs greater clarity on who is accountable for what. Gabriela Commatteo leads AI regulation policy and projects at the MHRA and was closely involved in the National Commission process. Subscribe to My Health Focus for expert interviews that answer the questions patients and professionals are actually asking. 02:45 "AI in healthcare refers to technologies that analyse information, identify patterns, make predictions or recommendations, and in the context of healthcare that means using technology to help support health and care delivery." 04:30 "Some GPs are using ambient voice technology to record consultations and produce draft notes, which frees up clinicians to focus more fully on patients rather than taking notes during the appointment, bringing back that human aspect to the clinician-patient relationship." 05:20 "The NHS has launched one of the world's largest trials of AI in breast cancer screening, involving around 700,000 women, to understand whether AI can help identify signs of cancer and support radiologists in reviewing scans more efficiently." 08:15 "More than 12,000 people gave their views, including through public polling, a call for evidence, sector roundtables, and patient and public engagement through partner organisations, and engagement especially included seldom heard groups and underserved, underrepresented groups." 10:40 "Unlike many traditional medical devices, because it can be updated more often and may perform differently across services, patient groups, and clinical settings, the Commission recommends putting more emphasis on ongoing monitoring and clear controls around updates rather than relying only on a single approval point before a product reaches the market." 14:50 "The key message is that patients actually want AI, they want to see AI technologies used in their healthcare, they recognise their benefits, but that support is not automatic, it's conditional. They want to know that it is safe, how it is going to be used, they want meaningful human oversight, and they want to understand what happens if something doesn't go as planned and where the responsibility lies." not anti-AI, but they have non-negotiable expectations about transparency and accountability. 17:20 "There is no simple answer to that question because questions about liability depend on the facts of a specific incident, but what I would like to stress is one clear message from the Commission, which is that the system needs greater clarity about who is responsible for what." My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 3

Inside the MHRA

Welcome to a new series inside My Health Focus: conversations with the MHRA, the body that decides which medicines and vaccines are safe for the UK.In this first episode, Catriona Williams talks to Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the MHRA. Lawrence opens up about his mother's cancer diagnosis when he was a teenager, and how a clinical trial at Addenbrooke's gave her 12 more years than doctors expected. We also cover the new weight-loss pill and why the UK approved it first, what really happened to clinical trial approval times after Brexit, and why women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are still underrepresented in clinical trials.This is the first of several conversations with the MHRA team. Follow the show for the rest of the series.Timings: 00:00 — Intro00:58 — Welcome, and what the MHRA actually does02:33 — Balancing patient safety against innovation and access05:46 — How the MHRA's medical and scientific assessors work with pharma and biotech08:07 — The new weight-loss pill: why the UK approved it first12:00 — Brexit's impact on approval speed and the UK's standing globally12:34 — Covid, budget cuts, and how the MHRA fell behind, then caught up15:10 — Lawrence's mother's cancer diagnosis and the clinical trial that gave her 12 more years16:55 — Why patients struggle to find and stay in the right clinical trials20:47 — Bringing patients into the research process, not just researching on them21:08 — How the MHRA can use approval as a lever to demand diversity in trials22:04 — The gender gap in clinical trial participation23:25 — Ethnicity, Covid vaccine hesitancy, and representative research25:29 — Checking for diverse trial populations before granting a licence27:22 — Does industry see this as a barrier to getting drugs to market?29:03 — Closing thoughts and the road ahead29:50 — The football referee analogy: what the MHRA is really there to do My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 26

Dr Alice Hoyt: Why cure is the wrong word in food allergy care

Dr Alice Hoyt is a board-certified allergist and author of Navigating Food Allergies: A Parent's Guide to Care, Coverage and Confidence. In this episode, she explains why the word cure has no place in allergy vocabulary, what the evidence says about allergic reactions on planes, and how parents can transition food allergy responsibility to the child who has to live with it. Five key takeaways: 1. Precautionary labelling on food packaging is not regulated, so families must assess risk case by case with their allergist. 2. The science does not support airborne peanut reactions on planes, but the psychological response to proximity to an allergen is real and valid. 3. Oral immunotherapy teaches the body to tolerate an allergen by introducing very small, controlled amounts over time, but tolerance must be maintained through regular exposure. 4. Early introduction of allergens, starting as early as four months, prevents allergies from developing, it does not test whether an allergy already exists. 5. Transitioning allergy management tasks to children should start early, with age-appropriate responsibilities building over time so they are independent by adulthood. Dr Alice Hoyt is a board-certified allergist and the author of Navigating Food Allergies: A Parent's Guide to Care, Coverage and Confidence. She helps families make evidence-based decisions about food allergy diagnosis, management and treatment. For more expert interviews on allergies, chronic conditions and evidence-based health information, subscribe to My Health Focus on YouTube, follow the podcast or sing up to out weekly newsletter on: https://myhealthfocus.com/ 1. [03:45] Precautionary labelling is not regulated. There is no standardised definition of what may contain means, so families must assess risk with their allergist case by case. 2. [06:30] The science does not support that someone three rows back eating peanut will cause anaphylaxis. Peanut is heavy, it floats down to the tray table, it does not become aerosolised unless in a lab. 3. [08:15] I can see the look on my husband's face when he sits next to someone eating something that could kill him with one bite. He is a physician, he is evidence-based, but that response is real. 4. [12:00] One part of the book that stands out is the roadmap for transitioning responsibilities of managing a food allergy over to your child, starting young with age-appropriate tasks. 5. [17:20] Oral immunotherapy takes very small amounts of allergen, like five milligrams of peanut when one peanut has 300 milligrams, and teaches the body to tolerate it over time. 6. [19:45] The sooner we start oral immunotherapy, the more likely the child will freely eat the allergen. I see kids started under two eating PB&J sandwiches by kindergarten. 7. [21:30] We never want to say something is a cure. A cure means you apply it, the condition goes away, you remove the cure, and it does not come back. With OIT, if you stop, the allergy may return. 8. [25:00] Early introduction is not testing whether they are allergic. We know at four months it is highly unlikely they are allergic, so we feed the food to grow tolerance and prevent the allergy. 9. [28:10] The allergen that really makes allergists uncomfortable is cashew. We are finding more and more kids with cashew allergies, and very small amounts can cause robust reactions. 10. [30:45] The sensationalisation of food allergy, the fear-mongering, the over-promising and under-delivering, those are the things on social media that really bother me. My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 8

The Getting of Resilience: Sally Baker on Health Anxiety

Senior therapist Sally Baker returns to talk about resilience, not as bouncing back or staying relentlessly positive, but as something pragmatic that can be learned at any age, whatever your upbringing. Sally and Catriona talk through why toxic positivity is exhausting rather than helpful, the "game show noise" technique for interrupting anxious rumination, breathing as an early signal of overwhelm, and the havening technique for calming the nervous system. They also cover emetophobia, the fear of vomiting, and how it can shape a life long before anyone names it. 1. [02:30] Resilience is not about being massively positive all the time, it is exhausting being positive when you are feeling fearful, anxious and not very well → Sally challenges the common misconception that resilience means forced positivity, which is a relief for anyone struggling with chronic health anxiety 2. [04:15] All of the overthinking is like a vine in your hand, the more attention you pay the seed of these worrying thoughts, it gives it energy, as if you are growing a seed with water and sunlight so that eventually your thoughts become completely overwhelming → This is Sally's signature metaphor for how rumination spirals, and it helps people understand why their anxiety keeps growing 3. [05:20] The game show noise technique: when you find yourself ruminating about your health, say the game show noise, it goes uhhhh, that's an unhelpful thought, and break it, break the thought pattern → Sally gives a concrete, memorable tool that clients and their families can use immediately to interrupt health anxiety spirals 4. [10:45] Resilience is developed in the crucible of the family, if you are raised in an environment where you are loved, honoured and adored, you will develop natural resilience, but what is great about resilience is that you can learn it as an adult later in life → Sally explains the origins of resilience but emphasises hope, this is not a life sentence, adults can build resilience even if they did not develop it as children 5. [13:30] Health anxiety becomes a problem when it interrupts you living your life as best as you are able to, poor health can already make our life small, but then anxiety on top of that means we are spending all our time and energy ruminating → Sally defines the tipping point clearly, this helps listeners recognise when health anxiety has become a genuine problem rather than a normal worry 6. [14:50] The period of waiting for a diagnosis is almost harder than being given the most terrible news, because even when the waiting is endless, it is an abstract, no one knows what is going to happen, and as soon as you have had the news, there is a palpable release, at least now I know what I am facing → Sally validates the experience of waiting for results, which many listeners will find deeply relatable and reassuring 7. [16:30] The music box metaphor: when you are winding yourself up with anxiety and ruminating, you are in effect winding up the music box, and when the music box is completely wound up, it can only play one tune and it can only do one dance → Sally uses a physical prop to demonstrate how rumination locks you into a single pattern, making the abstract concept tangible 8. [19:00] Havening is a great technique, you start with your hands on the top of your shoulders and you slowly stroke down, what you are doing is you are calming your parasympathetic system → Sally introduces a self-soothing technique that listeners can practise immediately, with clear physical instructions 9. [26:15] Emetophobia, the fear of vomit, is the queen or king of all phobias because the threads of it impact on so many different aspects of life, it can stop someone going to university, make people agoraphobic, lead to orthorexia and even anorexia → Sally explains a less well-known phobia that affects mostly women and girls, showing how health anxiety can infiltrate every area of life My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 1

Geoff Rollason: Why Pharma Still Talks Patient Engagement - But Doesn't Do It

Geoff Rollason spent nearly 20 years in the NHS and a decade at Pfizer UK Oncology leading patient experience work. Now living with prostate cancer himself, he shares what really happens when industry tries to involve patients and why it so often falls short. 5 Key Takeaways: 1. Pharma still talks about patient engagement but rarely follows through because there's no short-term ROI and the driver is stockholder returns, not patient experience. 2. Patient insights panels fail when commercial colleagues aren't involved from the start and when the work is treated as a project rather than business as usual. 3. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can cause crushing fatigue, loss of body hair, and profound changes to self-image that aren't adequately supported. 4. Geoff received just 43 minutes of clinical input over six months, highlighting the gap between keeping patients alive and supporting their quality of life. 5. Real patient-centricity means changing what marketers and commercial teams do in response to patient insights, not just collecting data. Geoff Rollason is a patient advocate and former Associate Director of Primary Integrated Care in the NHS. He later led patient experience for Pfizer UK Oncology before retiring and being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and patient education content. Sign up to my newsletter here: https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 27

Living with Genital Herpes: Facts, Stigma & Transmission

Living with Genital Herpes: Facts, Stigma & Transmission Show NotesMarianne Nicholson from the Herpes Virus Association and Shingles Support Society returns to tackle the stigma surrounding genital herpes and explain why most people who carry the virus never know they have it. She shares that by age 25, seven in ten people in the UK carry herpes simplex, yet only one in three ever develops symptoms severe enough for diagnosis. This means most transmission occurs from people who are completely unaware they are infected. Key takeaways: 1. Transmission most often occurs from people who do not know they have herpes, not from those who are diagnosed and aware 2. After two years without frequent recurrences, asymptomatic shedding is no longer a concern according to BASH guidelines 3. Women who already have herpes before pregnancy can have normal delivery, even with a recurrence at birth, because baby acquires protective antibodies 4. Commercial herpes blood tests give one false positive in ten and one false negative in three, making them unreliable 5. Herpes cannot be transmitted through towels, toilet seats, swimming pools, or any object, only direct skin-to-skin contact with friction Marianne Nicholson has personal experience with herpes simplex and now supports others through the Herpes Viruses Association helpline, where all volunteers also have the condition and have come out the other side. For support, contact the Herpes Viruses Association on 0345 123 2305. 1. Peronal. I don't mind having it myself, I just dread passing it on. Now, no one is going to say, I don't mind having cancer myself, I just don't want anyone else to have cancer. It doesn't work like that for anything else, which means that actually it's not the condition that people are worried about, it's the word. 2. Diagnosis]. Only one in three is ever going to get symptoms that are bad enough to get a diagnosis. Others will have little symptoms which they identify as say an infected hair follicle or a little cut or little sore patch, so they never know that their little itchy patch is actually a herpes simplex infection until much later when they've infected somebody. 3. Asymptomatic shedding.The expert doctors of BASH say very clearly that after two years, unless you are getting frequent recurrences, and they define that as six or more per year, you're allowed to forget about asymptomatic shedding. It's just not a thing. 4. Pregnancy.Since babies were first invented, women with cold sores have kissed their new babies 24 times a day. And there is no common knowledge that ladies with cold sores kill their babies. The reason why this is fine is that during pregnancy, baby acquires antibodies for all the things you've got antibodies to. 5. Condom effectiveness .When a man has got it, using a condom is 95% protective. Even when a woman has got it, using a condom is 65% protective to the man. Women are one sixth as likely to infect men as the other way around. 6. Blood tests.The blood tests that are available commercially are going to give you one false positive in 10. Would you buy a pregnancy test that was going to tell you you're pregnant when you weren't one time in 10? And they're going to give you a false negative one time in three. 7. Statistics .By the age of 25, 7 out of 10 people in the UK carry this virus. By the age of 35, one in five has got type two. And 85% of women, 77% of men have got type one, which is often genital. 8. [ransmission source. Transmission most often occurs from the people who are not diagnosed. That is a quote from one of the world's top herpes doctors, Dr. Lawrence Corey. The people who are diagnosed are less likely to be passing it on. 9. Myths. The expert doctors categorically say it will not be passed on through any object at all, towels, dirty underwear, anything you can imagine. It can only be passed on by direct skin to skin contact with the affected part when the virus is active with friction. My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 13

Why dermatologists use fewer skincare products than you think

Dr Erum Ilyas, dermatologist and author of The No-Nonsense Skincare, dismantles common skincare myths and reveals what actually works. With over 20 years treating patients from infancy to over 100 years old, she's witnessed generations of skin health and knows that great-grandmothers achieved beautiful skin without multi-step routines. In this episode, Dr Ilyas explains the marketing tactics that create disappointing product graveyards under our sinks, why only three ingredients have truly proven their worth in dermatology, and how to distinguish between acne and rosacea to avoid worsening your skin with the wrong products. Five key takeaways: 1. Only three over-the-counter ingredients have stood the test of time: petroleum jelly, retinol, and sunscreen 2. Temporary swelling agents create Cinderella effects that vanish by the time you get home after purchase 3. Fairy dusting means premium-priced products often contain only trace amounts of their advertised star ingredients 4. Most anti-aging products contain no active ingredients because no over-the-counter ingredient truly changes skin structure long-term 5. Rosacea is often misdiagnosed as acne, and using acne products on rosacea makes it worse Dr Erum Ilyas is a board-certified dermatologist with over two decades of clinical experience treating every age and stage of skin health, and author of The No-Nonsense Skincare. Explore more expert health content at My Health Focus. My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My Health Focus provides a wide range of health educational information through podcasts and articles, interviewing both patients, carers, healthcare professionals and charities. My Health Focus provides information to allow you to make an informed decision on your health choices, along with offering a pathway to take part in future health research such as clinical trials. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Editorial Team - My Health Focus
Years Active

2026
Episodes

25
Rating

Clean
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My Health Focus