Health Check

Can the world be rid of malaria by 2050? Claudia Hammond quizzes Professor Richard Feachem, one of 41 international malaria experts behind the Lancet Commission proposals for the global eradication of malaria by the middle of the century. Is this a realistic goal and how much will cost? Chemo-brain is the name given to the cluster of cognitive problems experienced by many people following chemotherapy. It is also known as cancer-related cognitive impairment. London’s Royal Marsden Hospital has started to offer help to patients suffering the lack of concentration and memories problems. Madeleine Finlay reports. Women and children who have to fetch water far from their homes are at risk of variety of adverse health consequences. These are revealed in the first large study on this by public health researchers Jo Geere and Paul Hunter at the University of East Anglia. Childhood deaths are more likely in households where women have to leave the house for long periods to fetch water. These women are also less likely to give birth in clinics and access antenatal care. Health editor of the Guardian newspaper, Sarah Boseley, joins Claudia to talk about malaria eradication, the fears around vaping in the USA and the different attitude to e-cigarettes in the UK, and taxes on cakes and biscuits to tackle obesity and diabetes. (Photo caption: Anopheles Minimus mosquito sucking blood from a human - credit: Getty Images) Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Getting a good night’s sleep plays a significant role in protecting you from heart attacks, according to a study involving 500,000 people. For the first time, it provides strong evidence that too little sleep (less than six hours) over a period of years causes your risk of heart attack to rise substantially. On the flipside, if you are genetically predisposed to heart attack, good sleep hygiene can reduce that risk. Sleeping between seven to nine hours a night is doctors’ recommendation. The findings come from a collaboration between the University of Colorado Boulder, Harvard Medical School and the University of Manchester. Sian Griffiths reports from Ottawa on a new approach to helping people with extreme alcohol addiction, slowly coming off booze in a medically managed way while addressing their underlying mental health problems. Claudia talks to orthopaedic surgeon Chloe Scott at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in Scotland about her study of ‘Worse than Death’ pain that patients waiting for hip and knee replacement surgery have to endure. Family doctor Graham Easton joins Claudia to talk about the British teenage boy who became blind because of a long term diet of snacks and processed food, a study of alternate day fasting for weight loss, and the benefits or otherwise of drinking several glasses of warm water first thing in the morning. (Photo: Woman yawning while lying in bed. Credit: Getty Images) Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Should everyone over 55 years old be taking a daily ‘polypill’ to cut their risk of heart attacks and strokes? The first really large trial of this preventative approach to cardiovascular disease found positive results. This was a study involving almost 7,000 people between the ages of 55 and 70 in rural Iran who were followed for five years. Heart attacks and strokes were reduced by about 30 per cent. Claudia talks to Professor Reza Malekzadeh of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Professor Tom Marshall of the University of Birmingham and Professor Anushka Patel of University of New South Wales in Australia. Thousands of Venezuelan doctors have fled the economic troubles and security issues in their home country and moved to Chile. The Chilean government welcomes them to make up for the short-fall of native doctors, but some Chilean doctors are hostile. Jane Chambers reports. Why do we make risky decisions one day and play safe the next? An experiment at University College London comes up with a surprising explanation. Claudia talks to UCL neuroscientist Robb Rutledge. BBC News correspondent James Gallagher joins Claudia to talk about why the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins sometimes cause muscle pain: why many elite athletes have bad teeth: and the discovery that allergies caused by tattoos may be caused by tiny fragments of tattoo needle lodged in the skin. (Photo caption: Hand holding a capsule - credit: Getty Images) Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

When ex-footballer Clarke Carlisle went missing in 2017 his wife Carrie thought the worst: he had severe depression and had already attempted to take his own life. Found safely after appeals on social media, he then spent weeks in a psychiatric hospital and 18 months in therapy. Clarke’s whole sense of identity was tied up with football and the buzz it gave him. He recalls how a knee injury at 21 made him feel like a failure, pushing him towards destructive behaviours with alcohol and marathon computer game sessions. Carrie responds to the question sometimes asked by well-meaning people: How could he put you through this? “Clarke didn’t put me through anything. This illness [severe depression] invades and puts all of you through it collectively.” The Carlisles share their tips for recovery: asking for professional help; talking openly to their children about feelings; their daily marks-out-of-ten check-in; how much the Pixar film Inside Out teaches them and their family about emotional resilience. (Photo caption: Former footballer and broadcaster Clarke Carlisle and his wife Carrie Carlisle – credit: BBC) Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond Producer: Paula McGrath

Many people with autistic spectrum disorder learn techniques to overcome their difficulties interacting with others. The first study that has looked at the consequences of these compensatory strategies reveals some benefits but also significant downsides. The consequences can be stress, low self-esteem, mental illness and misdiagnosis. Claudia talks to lead researcher Professor Francesca Happé from King’s College London and Eloise Stark, a woman with autism. A new research programme at Imperial College London is investigating the link between obesity and infertility in men. Madeleine Finlay explores why weight gain and other factors of modern life might be influencing men’s sperm health. Tick-borne Lyme disease is on the rise in the northern hemisphere. Lyme disease can develop into a serious illness. It is hard to diagnosis early and delayed diagnosis means lengthy treatment and recovery. Dr Mollie Jewett at the University of Central Florida is working on a much faster means of diagnosis, and a more effective treatment. Deborah Cohen meets Dr Jewett and her ticks. Graham Easton is in the Health Check studio to talk about links between hearing loss and dementia, and the worrying spread of bacteria resistant to carbapenems, one of the most important kinds of antibiotic drugs. (Photo caption: A young woman standing in the middle of a crowded street – credit: Getty Images) Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond with comments from Dr Graham Easton. Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker