Claudia Hammond is at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London looking at the latest medical research. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available NOW On-Demand until Wednesday the 13th of July. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 10th of July in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5 FM…
New research reveals a poor covid immunity boost after infection with the Omicron variant. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available NOW On-Demand until Wednesday the 29th of June. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 26th of June in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5 FM and 102.5 FM and…
News about new next-generation Covid vaccines that target specific variants is discussed with a studio guest, Dr Ann Robinson. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available NOW On-Demand until Wednesday the 22nd of June. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 19th of June in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5…
Brain scans can reveal new ways to diagnose and potentially treat psychiatric, psychological and neurological conditions. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now On-Demand until Wednesday the 15th of June. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 12th of June in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5 FM and 102.5…
Claudia discusses concerns about monkeypox misinformation and stigma with Andy Seale, Senior Strategic Advisor, department of HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections at the World Health Organisation. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now On-Demand until Wednesday the 8th of June. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 5th of…
Monkey Pox is spreading in more than 20 countries where previously it has not been seen, but BBC Health reporter Smitha Mundasad explains that this is not a new disease. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now On-Demand until Wednesday the 1st of June. It will also be broadcast on Sunday…
Reports from North Korea have suggested a scarcity of data on healthcare provision but Claudia hears from Professor Hazel Smith who has researched North Korea for over thirty years that there is good information about health services. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 26th of May. It…
Brand new results of a 4th Covid booster trial, with a mix and match approach including half doses, reveal good news for global vaccine rollout. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 19th of May. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 15th of May in Phuket…
Claudia is joined by Matt Fox, Professor of Global Health at Boston University to discuss evidence investigating a hybrid combination of Covid vaccines and prior infection. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 12th of May. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 8th of May in…
Update on New Covid Research and the latest global research into Covid-19 and Claudia talks to the authors of a new study charting brain development over the human life span. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 4th of May. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the…
Claudia Hammond talks to Chris Gill, Associate Professor at Boston University School of Public Health and co-author of a new paper revealing the devastating impact of Covid in Africa. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 13th of April. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 10th…
The stress and anxiety for the Ukraine people. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 6th of April. It will also be broadcast on Sunday the 3rd of April in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5 FM and 102.5 FM and Online via the Internet radio portals. This…
What is to be done Covid 19 in Hong Kong facing the highest death rates in the world while Worldwide the number of new Covid-19 infection cases jumps by 10%. Tabitha Mwangi, Programme Manager at Cambridge Africa at Cambridge University, gives us a rundown of how that overall increase is playing out in different parts…
People die waiting for replacement hearts, lungs and kidneys. Could genetically modified pigs be the solution to a worldwide shortage of organ donors? This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 23rd February. It will also broadcast on Sunday 20th of February in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5…
Breast cancer makes up a third of all cancer diagnoses for black women and for those with the most common type of cancer, ER-positive (estrogen or oestrogen positive) cancers, black women are 42% more likely to die of the disease than white women. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until…
The pandemic has caused many people to die alone in hospital intensive care units – whilst others have died at home without the support and pain relief they needed. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday 9th of February. It will also broadcast on Sunday 6th of February in…
Wheezing and feeling breathless is a fact of life for the 262 million people around the world who have asthma. Some worry that exercise will worsen their asthma symptoms. But UK researchers say that evidence shows that all people with asthma can exercise safely – even if that’s just walking across a room. This programme…
What is your solution, are you working from home or travelling to your office? As millions of us have had to stay away from our workplaces during the pandemic. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 12th of January. It will also broadcast on Sunday the 9tth of…
In the past philosophers and scientists have argued about the nature of animal minds. But, Does your pet care about you? Darwin thought they differed from us only by degree but Descartes believed they were merely machines made of flesh. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday the 5th…
A detailed look at Covid in Europe and the rapid rise of infections with data from the last 7 days. James Gallagher, the BBC health and science correspondent, examines Covid case rates across Europe. As of November 22, 2021, Slovakia had the highest rate of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases reported in the previous seven days in…
New research on how some people had Covid protection before the pandemic correct they had a level of Covid immunity before the pandemic started. This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday 24th November. It will also broadcast on Sunday 21st of November in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5…
New antiviral pills to treat Covid are coming thick and fast. Pfizer has just announced their new antiviral Paxlovid in the same week UK’s MHRA was the first country in the world to approve Molnupiravir – Merck’s pill launched last month. So how do the two antivirals compare? This programme is available on the Health Check…
An international team of scientists has launched a global hunt for rare people who may be genetically resistant to SARS CoV-2 infection. Individuals who’ve been exposed to the virus living in families where everyone else in the household got infected, who repeatedly tested negative and didn’t mount an immune response. Claudia Hammond speaks to immunologist…
A question this week on Health Check, Should we mix and match Covid vaccines. New evidence from Sweden and France on the benefits of mixing and matching doses of different types of Covid vaccine. The impact misinformation around treating Covid with Ivermectin is having on the Neglected Tropical diseases where the drug is known to…
Great news, A New Covid vaccine from Valneva produces a stronger immune response when compared to AstraZeneca. The French company reports, with no severe cases of Covid-19 seen in either group. And new positive research on lateral flow tests. Plus guest Graham Easton discusses the urgent need for teaching climate and environmental health in medical…
Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 from virulent cervical cancer. A sample of those cancer cells was taken at the time and the way they behave has changed medical science forever – contributing to everything from the polio vaccine to drugs for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Updated 16th February 2022: Henrietta Lacks Virginia home was demolished…
Trials stopped early of a new antiviral covid pill Molnupiravir as it may cut numbers of people in hospital by about a half. Claudia Hammond discusses the ethical questions of who should be given it. Plus UNICEF report on findings of childhood mental health before and during the pandemic. And a new exhibition on the…
Many people have struggled with their mental health during the pandemic but don’t always feel free to discuss it, especially at work. Mental health stigma remains a problem, and discussing your difficulties at all is off-limits. For many years in England, a campaign called Time To Change tried to change attitudes. The evidence from that…
In 2020 Vietnam ran a successful track and trace system Covid in Vietnam, with very few coronavirus infections and for a long time no deaths at all, while other countries had thousands. In 2021 things haven’t gone so well and since July strict stay at home, orders have been in place in some cities. Vietnam,…
How art and gardening have saved some people’s mental health and wellbeing during Covid the pandemic. Claudia visits the most wonderful allotment to find out how one community in the UK has benefited. Nightmares and how people with psychosis can be plagued and even traumatised by bad dreams, but that there is a way of…
Claudia examines Mental Health and Covid and a large new Lancet Psychiatry study showing that one in three people develop anxiety, depression or a neurological problem in the six months after they were ill with the virus. Ten years on from the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. Well-being during the Covid Pandemic and…
Coronavirus in Iran which was was one of the first countries to be hit hard by the coronavirus. In the first population wide survey of infection rates in a Middle Eastern country, Iranian medical researchers now estimate that about one in five people on average were infected during its first wave in 18 cities in…
Are genetic therapies for sickle cell disease beginning to come of age? Claudia Hammond talks to David Williams and Erica Esrick of Boston Children’s Hospital about their promising results with a gene therapy for the disease. This is a pilot trial involving six young patients. Their report appears in the latest edition of the New…