Health Check

It has been another ‘milestone week’ for the fight against malaria. The archipelago island nation Cape Verde became the third country in Africa to officially eliminate the disease. Meanwhile in Cameroon, a ‘world first’ routine malaria vaccination programme has begun. A little girl called Daniella received the first vaccine in a clinic near capital city Yaoundé on Monday. BBC health reporter Philippa Roxby joins Claudia Hammond in the studio to gauge what progress we are making against a disease which kills 600,000 people in Africa every year.Philippa also brings brand new research from the US that shows how air pollution, particularly from forest fires, can cause more people to suffer with eczema. Figures from one study suggest that dermatology visits rose eightfold in Boston in August 2023 compared to the same period a year earlier, while wild fires raged in Canada.Mike Powell updates on his journey to having a kidney transplant. David Mataix-Cols, professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Science at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden discusses his new research that helps to explain why some people who suffer with health anxiety have a higher risk of dying. It has become known as the ‘hypochondria paradox.’ And Philippa and Claudia hear about a collaboration between a cardiovascular surgeon and a two-Michelin-starred chef, Doctor Nirav Patel and Fredrik Berselius, who have created a free cookbook designed as a training tool to improve heart surgeons’ dexterity, called The Heart Surgeon's Cook Book. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producers: Jonathan Blackwell and Clare Salisbury Researcher: Imaan Moin

Have you ever considered rowing across the Atlantic? How about making it even more challenging by doing it whilst wearing an ECG monitor and filling in psychological questionnaires? Claudia Hammond speaks to the first Austrian woman to row the Atlantic, Ciara Burns, who collected data throughout her 42-day crossing. And to the professor who studied the data, Eugenijus Kaniusas from the Vienna University of Technology, about the three big dips in mood along the way. Ciara talks about the emotional highs and lows of rowing to America, about the night skies, meeting whales, and how it feels when the Atlantic comes crashing down on you. Sports psychologist Peter Olusoga from Sheffield Hallam University, discusses the mental challenges and dealing with emotions during an adventure like Ciara's.Claudia also speaks to Dr Nick Tiller, ultramarathon runner and exercise scientist at Harbor-UCLA, about the physical benefits and costs of taking part in ultra-endurance sports. Nick has run 100-mile races as well as running across the Sahara Desert. They discuss how peak performance in endurance events can peak at an older age than more fast-paced, high intensity sports, and whether anyone is physically able to take up an endurance sport if they set their mind to it. Also giving their thoughts on the physical impact of endurance sports are Yvette Hlaváčová who holds the women's world record for swimming the English Channel and Louise Deldicque who is professor in exercise physiology at UCLouvain in Belgium.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producers: Jonathan Blackwell and Lorna Stewart Editor: Holly Squire

Researchers from the University of Toronto discuss a study showing lower postoperative complications and costs for patients treated by female surgeons. The podcast also covers the risks of hydroxychloroquine, the impact of Sesame Street on the health of Syrian refugee children, and the connection between hearing loss and dementia risk.

A treaty to help the world cope with the next pandemic, new ways to treat undernutrition and a last goodbye to polio. Could these be some of the health advances that 2024 will bring? Claudia asks global health journalist Andrew Green for his predictions. Monica Lakhanpaul, professor of integrated community child health at University College London joins Claudia in the studio to discuss new evidence showing that a vaccination for winter virus RSV could cut hospital admissions in children by more than 80%.And a mobile phone app which has been used to screen people’s coughs in Kenya for signs of TB.Plus Claudia speaks to British journalist Mike Powell who was diagnosed a year ago with kidney failure as he prepares for transplant.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Clare Salisbury Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Holly Squire

As 2024 draws ever closer, Claudia Hammond looks back at the medical news, trends and advances which the last twelve months have brought us. She is joined in the studio by BBC health reporter Philippa Roxby and Graham Easton, Professor of Clinical Communication Skills at Queen Mary University in London who debate their favourite health advances of the year. And Claudia returns to some of the biggest health news stories of the year to ask what happened next? Reuters’ Krishna N. Das gives an update on the contaminated cough syrup scandal in which more than 300 children are known to have died worldwide. And she revisits a story Health Check has been following for more than a decade; the case of disgraced transplant surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, as a new TV series hits Netflix. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Clare Salisbury

With the failure of the PrEPVacc trial in Southern and Eastern Africa, HIV researchers are concerned that an HIV vaccine will not be developed before 2030 at the earliest. Claudia Hammond is joined by Matt Fox, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at Boston University, to discuss the latest news about HIV vaccines, funding and treatment from around the world.We also hear about Super 5, a home-grown nutritional supplement being made by rural women in Rajasthan, in India, to address the problem of child undernutrition and malnutrition.Claudia also speaks to Dr Rašads Misirovs to talk about sneezing. In a rare case, a patient of Dr Misirovs in Scotland tore a hole in their windpipe by stifling a sneeze. We learn more about why we sneeze as well as how to prevent injury when doing so. Claudia and Matt also discuss how deaths from work-related illnesses are increasing, and concerns over the huge increase in calls to poison centres in the US because of accidental overdoses of injected weight-loss drugs.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

Morning sickness affects 4 in 5 women at some point in pregnancy but until now we’ve known little about why. Now researchers in the USA, Sri Lanka and the UK have discovered that it could be linked to a hormone produced in the placenta, and the mother’s reaction to it. Dr Graham Easton explains how it could lead to new cures. He also brings Claudia Hammond news from Ukraine where the ongoing war has caused an increase in multidrug-resistant organisms. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Center for Public Health of Ukraine are calling the spread of antimicrobial resistance in Ukraine an urgent crisis. People living in Port Sudan, the country’s biggest sea port city, have spent days struck by an unprecedented infestation of flies. Claudia hears how it has made everyday life almost impossible, and how it could have long term health consequences for residents. And how does watching news coverage of disasters make you feel? Claudia discusses how bad news can impact our mental health with Roxane Cohen Silver, Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science, Medicine, and Public Health at the University of California Irvine, and Michael Clemence, Associate Director, Trends & Futures at Ipsos. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Clare Salisbury Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

Learn how mysterious illnesses are identified and investigated, including the outbreak of anthrax in Uganda. Discover the power of the ProMed network in detecting and reporting global disease outbreaks. Explore the impact of unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic on blood pressure. Understand how a new method can analyze the aging of organs in humans, predicting disease risk and the effects of aging.

When former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern passed legislation to reduce access to tobacco products, the policy was held up as an international example. So there was shock among health experts in New Zealand and across the world this week when the newly sworn in Government announced they would be scrapping the plans. Claudia Hammond asks Janet Hoek, Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago what the international impact will be. She hears from the people who hear music when nothing is playing. Professor of cognitive neurology at Newcastle University, Tim Griffiths, describes what might be happening in the brain to cause these musical hallucinations. Claudia is also joined by public health expert Dr Tabitha Mwangi to discuss new research from Tanzania where health experts are collaborating with religious leaders to provide family planning services. They look ahead to COP28 in the United Arab Emirates where the climate conference will hold its first ever ‘Health Day’. And ask whether we should be concerned about the surge of childhood pneumonia in China?Image Credit: Peter DazeleyPresenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Clare Salisbury Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve a gene editing treatment for people with the genetic conditions sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. The news has been hailed as revolutionary, unthinkable just a decade ago. But will the new treatment provide a realistic option for the millions of people living with these haemoglobin disorders worldwide? BBC health reporter Philippa Roxby joins Claudia to look at the latest. She also brings new evidence from Australia on the health benefits of delayed cord clamping to new born premature babies. And a study drawing attention to the impact of surfing on surfers’ mental health. Could it add billions of dollars to the world economy? Losing a family member is a difficult experience for everyone but for people who no longer have a connection to the person who has died, it can cause a mixture of grief, sadness, guilt, or relief. Claudia talks to broadcaster and author, Professor Alice Roberts, about her experience of losing her mother after being estranged for 5 years. In the week that the World Health Organisation announced a new focus on the health impacts of loneliness, we noticed a familiar comparison in the headlines; that the health risks from being lonely are equivalent to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. But what does that really mean? Claudia asks Professor Andrea Wigfield, Director of Centre for Loneliness Studies in the UK. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Clare Salisbury Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell