Health Check

The kind boss who transformed their employee's mental health – Natalie and Gillian share their amazing story with Claudia Hammond. And new research finds kindness really is contagious - Alison van Diggelen hears from scientists in California that kindness really does spread. Plus guest professor Monica Lakhanpaul discusses vaccine effectiveness against the variant first identified in India and addresses ethical questions of vaccinating children. Plus new science on how mammals breathing through their bottoms could be a future solution to oxygenating human blood without risking the lung damage caused by ventilators.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Photo: A boy protects his younger brother from the rain with an umbrella. Credit: Estersinhache fotografía/Getty Images)

New evidence for when to have your second Covid vaccine dose; Plus the long awaited results of a 20 year trial into Ovarian Cancer screening and whether picking the disease up early with a simple blood test helps to save lives. And Misophonia – the curious condition where sounds of other people eating can cause anger and panic. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: Vials of vaccine for Covid-19 to be administered by injection. Photo credit: A. Martin UW Photography/Getty Images.)

New research from The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal shows current body mass index [BMI] guidance is outdated and dangerous for people from different ethnic groups. The study’s principal investigator, Dr Rishi Caleyachetty unpicks the global implications of his findings.Maria Rebollo Polo – WHO lead for Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa – explains the important task of mapping NTDs like Trachoma.Plus Khadidiatou Cisse reports from Benin on Trachoma – one of the oldest known infections and a leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide.And, have our memories really got worse during the pandemic? Professor Catherine Loveday of Westminster University discusses her new research on our memories during lockdown. Guest: Dr Ann RobinsonPresenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: Female doctor weighing senior patient at medical clinic. Photo credit: Jose Luis Pelaez/Getty Images.)

As Tanzania announces new Covid prevention measures after the new president instigates a change in response to the pandemic, correspondent Rhoda Odhiambo discusses the implications for the country. And celebrating the Windrush generation in theatre - nurses who came to the UK from the Caribbean to work in the NHS share their memories in a new play. Plus Claudia talks to Mohsen Rajabi about his new research surveying Mental Health in Iran - both parents and children - after 16 months of school closures and hears from 18 year old Parnia Abharian about her first hand experience. And the science of a baby's first poo!Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: People come to wash their hands with chlorinated water in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in March 2020. Photo credit: Ericky Boniphace/AFP/Getty Images.)

As India surpasses 200,000 Covid deaths Claudia asks why the surge has been so steep and hears the latest from health reporter Anoo Bhuyan in Delhi. And there's good news of a new Malaria Vaccine showing 75% efficacy. Studio guest Tabitha Mwangi discusses this important breakthrough in the context of a new study from the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal with the first clinical evidence of drug-resistant malaria mutations gaining foothold in Africa. Plus Caroline Williams on her new book MOVE! which unpicks the science of how movement opens up a hotline to our minds changing the way we think and feel.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Photo: People wait to refill empty oxygen cylinders on 27 April 2021 in New Delhi, India. Credit: Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

Claudia Hammond hears stories of medical mysteries from author of Sleeping Beauties and consultant neurologist Suanne O’Sullivan. From the refugee children in Sweden who slept for months to the US Embassy staff in Cuba who fell ill with dizziness, what can cases like these and others from around the world reveal about the mind and body.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Deborah Cohen

Claudia and guest Professor Matthew Fox from Boston University discuss the latest Covid-19 research this week – and there’s plenty of it! There’s new data on the variant first found in the UK, plus efficacy data just out comparing the immune responses to the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines. And news from India of a so called ‘double mutant’ where two variants come together. Meanwhile the big vaccine news in the US is that they have temporarily suspended the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, so much to discuss!Plus, despite an acclaimed vaccine roll out Chile is experiencing a second wave of Covid infections. This has led some to claim that vaccine roll outs aren’t making the difference we all hoped or that it’s the type of vaccine being used. Jane Chambers reports and finds that it’s more complicated – as ever!And David and Barbara got in touch with the BBC about a treatable condition that can be easily confused with dementia - Normal pressure Hydrocephalus.Finally, a study from Japan on the risk of dementia and – surprisingly - whether it has anything to do with whether there are pavements nearby.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: Health workers give the Sinovac vaccine against Covid-19 at a vaccination centre in Santiago, Chile. Photo credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images.)

Mental Health and Covid; Claudia examines 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. Professor Jun Shigemura discusses whether the unseen threat of exposure to radiation can teach us anything about dealing with the hidden threat of the current Covid-19 virus.A report from Nigeria on how some people with fractures may turn to the traditional bonesetter to get their bones mended. Charles Mgbolu reports from Lagos.And diagnosing concussion: how a team at the University of Birmingham in the UK has developed a saliva test which can detect whether someone with a bang on the head during sport can safely return to the game. Professor Tony Belli explains the science behind the test. Plus Claudia’s studio guest is Graham Easton, Professor of Clinical Communication Skills at Barts and the London Medical School.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright(Picture: A traditional Japanese kite, bearing messages of hope by children living in Fukushima prefecture, is flown over the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba town on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the disaster. Photo credit: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images.)

Despite the myths and fear which surround leprosy it can be treated and prevented with a short course of antibiotics. The disease is spread by a bacteria which is easily killed with these drugs. Although this stops the virus spreading it doesn’t help those who have been disfigured by the parasite, they are still viewed negatively even though they are no longer infectious. As Seydina Alioune Djigo reports, Senegal has embarked on a campaign to both treat Leprosy with drugs and educate more widely on the condition. They have also removed restrictions on those banished to former leper colonies. Also if you died would you donate your eyes to help some else see? Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha reports from Nigeria on an eye banking project there, which uses donated eyes to restore the sight of people affected by corneal blindness. However as with many forms of organ donation the practice is not widely accepted yet. Presented by Priscilla Ngethe.

Vaccine hesitancy and Covid vaccines for Children. Claudia talks to paediatrician Dr Robert Jacobson of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA about issues of Covid vaccine hesitancy and why this issue may grow as Covid vaccines become available for children. As trials on children as young as 6 months get underway, and vaccination for children likely to be available, in some countries, from the summer/early autumn, why is vaccinating children against Covid important and what can be done to help parents overcome any hesitancy they might have?New Test to predict pre-term labour. Every year, around 15 million babies in the world are born too early. In countries such as Malawi, Pakistan and Indonesia, more than 15% of babies are premature. Not all survive and some of those that do have disabilities, which might have been preventable with simple care. The question is how to predict which pregnant women might go into labour too early. Reporter Madeleine Finlay investigates a new test using the vaginal microbiome to predict which mums might be most at risk. The first 1000 days. Claudia talks to Professor Monica Lakhanpaul about the critical first 1000 days of a baby's life and a new exhibition that hopes to highlight this key period in a child’s development. Claudia also talks to her about the idea of Reverse Innovation: lessons that richer countries can learn from poorer countries when it comes to health. We’re much more used to it being the other way round, but there are now many projects that are using techniques and ideas learnt from middle and lower income countries in providing health support to communities in the UK and other higher income countries.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Alexandra Feachem(Picture: A young boy who has just been vaccinated. Photo credit: D.Jiang/Getty Images.)