In the week of World AIDS Day, Health Check looks at what’s being described as a milestone in the prevention of HIV infection in women. It is a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – an injection every 8 weeks of a drug called cabotegravir. A clinical trial has been comparing it to a daily PrEP…
Global measles deaths were already at a 23 year high in 2019 after several years of inadequate immunisation levels in a number of countries around the world. The coronavirus pandemic looks set to make matters worse. The World Health Organisation is worried that disruptions to measles vaccination programmes this year in Africa have substantially raised…
Prisoners in China and Jennifer Pak looks at the ban on harvesting organs from executed prisoners in China. Officials say that the practice has now stopped but is it really being enforced? For decades China was the only country in the world to systematically harvest organs from executed prisoners to treat its sick patients. In…
This week health Check from the BBC and presented by Claudia Hammond looks at Vitamin D, earworms and declining malaria available LIVE on Phuket Island Radio on Sunday morning at 8 am. Vitamin D refers to a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate and zinc. In humans,…
Trafficked children in Southeast Asia, Â In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have discovered high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, self-harm and suicide attempts in trafficked children and adolescents rescued from sex work and forced labour in Southeast Asia. Dr Ligia Kiss discusses…
Does eating while walking lead to over-eating and weight gain? A study in the UK suggests eating on the move makes you eat more, especially chocolate. We hear from Professor Jane Ogden from the University of Surrey plus Dr Graham Easton assesses the research and the role that modern lifestyles play in the rise of…
To mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein we tell the story of what happened to his brain. Einstein’s work is known for its influence on the philosophy of science and he developed the general theory of relativity, considered to be one of the two pillars of modern physics. Graham Easton talks…
Millions of us – adults and children – play games like rugby and football every week. But the concern is growing that the dangers of concussion, traumatic brain injuries, aren’t taken seriously enough in contact sports. New evidence that head knocks and headbangs could be causing early onset dementia called CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,…
Ebola: Claudia Hammond speaks with BBC Health Reporter Smitha Mundasad to hear the latest news about the Ebola virus. Eating Bushmeat: Bats are seen as a local delicacy in many countries in Africa, but they are thought to be carriers of the Ebola virus, as well as other diseases. Now researchers have surveyed nearly 600…
Health Check this week from The BBC in London reports on a new campaign in Madrid that aims to raise awareness and get people the treatment they need. When people travel abroad they can bring more than their luggage. That’s the case with Chagas disease a tropical parasitic disease spread by an insect that causes…