Speedy medicine, and is fermented food good for us?
Jan 23, 2024
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Smitha Mundasad explores emergency medicine outside hospitals, meeting the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team and London's Air Ambulance. Also, the podcast discusses the popularity of fermented food and its health benefits, including gut health and immunity.
Emergency medicine outside of hospitals and surgeries involves the use of specialized equipment and techniques to provide immediate care and transport to patients in a variety of settings.
Fermented foods have the potential to promote gut health by removing harmful compounds, regulating microbial composition, and producing beneficial metabolites.
Deep dives
Emergency Medicine in Unusual Places
This podcast episode explores how emergency medicine is delivered outside of hospitals and surgeries. It focuses on the work of the Brecken Mountain rescue team in Wales, who respond to a variety of call outs, including patients with dementia, ankle injuries, trauma cases, and lost hikers. The team, comprised of volunteers with different backgrounds, relies on a party pack containing essential medical equipment, including a first aid kit, stove, shelter, and oxygen bottle. They also carry an automated compression device and a pocket-sized defibrillator. The team emphasizes the importance of caution, avoiding rapid movement for severely hypothermic patients, and utilizing heat packs and vapor barriers for warmth and stabilization during rescues.
London's Air Ambulance
This segment of the podcast explores the work of London's air ambulance, which provides emergency medical care and transport via helicopter. The episode features Dr. Matthew Mack, one of the doctors with the air ambulance. The team's daily routine involves conducting aircraft checks, carrying specialized equipment for emergency procedures, such as anesthetic administration, ventilator usage, and even chest surgery. They respond to various emergencies, often being the first on the scene, and provide immediate medical interventions, such as administering strong pain relief and antibiotics. Dr. Mack highlights the challenges of working in difficult weather conditions and the intense pressure of treating the sickest patients in London within seconds or minutes to save lives.
Fermented Food and its Benefits
The podcast delves into the world of fermented food and its potential health benefits. Chef Olya Hercules demonstrates how to make a Ukrainian fermented pickle called Palushtitsa. The episode then shifts to an interview with Paul Cotta, the head of Food Bioscience at Ireland's Agriculture and Food Development Authority. He discusses the lack of gold standard studies on the health benefits of fermented food but highlights evidence on their positive impact on gut health, specifically in removing harmful compounds, regulating microbial composition, and producing beneficial metabolites. Cotta suggests consuming fermented foods regularly and starting with small amounts to observe any potential sensitivities. While fermented food is not a miracle cure, incorporating it into a healthy lifestyle shows promise in promoting wellbeing.
In this episode we’re taking a look at emergency medicine outside hospitals and surgeries – and meeting the people who save seriously-ill people in unusual places.
Smitha Mundasad goes on a rainy walk in the hills with the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team and meets the flying medics of London’s Air Ambulance. Will she have time for a chat before they get a call-out? We also hear from Sweden where they’re making lifesaving changes before the ambulance even arrives.
And from kombucha and kimchi to keffir and sourdough, fermented food and drink is everywhere. But as these foods have exploded in popularity, so have claims of health benefits, from digestion and gut health, to immunity and mood.
We start by trying some fermenting with chef Olia Hercules and then Smitha chats to fermented food “nerd” Professor Paul Cotter to sift through the evidence.
Next week’s Inside Health is all about the perimenopause – the time leading up to the menopause when oestrogen starts to drop. Why is it all still such a mystery?
Send us your questions – and we’ll put them to our panel. It’s insidehealth@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Smitha Mundasad
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
Declared interests:
Professor Paul Cotter: “Research in the Cotter laboratory has been funded by PrecisionBiotics Group, Friesland Campina, Danone and PepsiCo. Paul Cotter has also received funding to travel to or present at meetings by H&H, the National Dairy Council U.S., PepsiCo, Abbott, Arla and Yakult. In addition, he is the co-founder and CTO of SeqBiome Ltd., a provider of sequencing and bioinformatics services for microbiome analysis.”
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