Health Check

Ebola drug trials in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Two Ebola drugs are due to be trialled in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as cases of the disease continue to rise in the country. BBC health and science correspondent James Gallagher joins Claudia Hammond to discuss the new clinical trial, and to update on the latest from the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda.Claudia also visits The Royal Society’s annual Summer Science Exhibition in London to explore a range of new health research on display.We hear about how salt water is being used to try to make lateral flow tests more sensitive and targeted, with Guido Bolognesi and Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh from University College London. They also explain the role gold nanoparticles play in current lateral flow tests, which rapidly diagnose pregnancy or Covid-19.Claudia also visits a 'microbe zoo' and speaks with Revathy Krishnamurthy from the Quadram Institute of Bioscience in Norwich, England, who explains what phages are, and how they can be harnessed to improve food safety.Finally, we meet Pat Price, visiting professor at Imperial College London, to learn about the high-energy particles that could kill cancer cells, how they could completely change treatment for patients, and how it’s hoped lasers can help them accomplish it.Image Credit: Credit: Photo by DIEUDONNE DIROLE/EPA/ShutterstockPresenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Dan Welsh and Georgia Christie

Lack of evidence most IVF ‘add-ons’ improve fertility

Many people with infertility use in vitro fertilisation (IVF), however the probability of having a baby following IVF is only approximately 30-40% per cycle and decreases significantly with age. It can be a lengthy and expensive process. Providers sometimes offer ‘add-ons’, additional treatments that they claim could help patients conceive, which are themselves also usually expensive. In Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom more than 70% of patients pay for at least one of these add-ons. A new review published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health journal has found that evidence on the benefits of these add-on treatments is unclear. Claudia Hammond speaks to Dr Sarah Lensen, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health at the University of Melbourne.Joining Claudia from Ghana is genito-urinary consultant and HIV expert, Vanessa Apea. Claudia and Vanessa discuss a draft African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values, which claims that comprehensive sex education, as well as a range of sexual and reproductive health rights, are a threat to African families from foreign ideologies.They also discuss a report from the Office of Inspector General of US Agency for International Development (USAID) which reveals that President Donald Trump’s administration has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in storage and transportation costs for $9.7 million worth of contraceptives that are being stored in Belgium rather than distributed to the various low-income countries they were intended for. Many of the withheld contraceptives are now expired or unusable due to their removal from temperature-controlled storage.We also hear from Health Check reporter Jane Chambers in the Chilean city of Valdivia, where wetlands are part of everyday life—and increasingly, part of people’s health. And we hear how faecal-microbiome transplants could improve the efficacy of some antidepressants in patients with major depressive disorder.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producers: Jonathan Blackwell & Georgia Christie

The global toll of food poisoning

The WHO has conducted their first global assessment of food contamination in over a decade and found that more than 1.5 million people are killed by food poisoning every year. Dr Ann Robinson joins Claudia Hammond to discuss the common causes of foodborne illness.Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis which can cause sudden and severe joint pain. Claudia is joined by Professor Nicola Dalbeth an academic rheumatologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand to discuss misconceptions about the disease.Reporter Tony Vinyoh then brings us to Cameroon, where Mbingo Baptist hospital is creating its own compressed oxygen supply to address the shortages and high costs of life-saving medical interventions.We also discuss a new wearable ultrasound patch which could detect pregnancy complications in real-time, and we hear about a weekly 5 kilometre run in a park which has grown to become a global phenomenon - with over one million events across 5 continents and 23 countries - promoting regular exercise and well-being.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producers: Jonathan Blackwell and Georgia Christie

How reading fiction impacts our mental health

How does reading shape our mind and spirit? Why do novels make us feel more human? In front of a live audience at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts in Wales in the UK, Claudia Hammond looks at the science of what reading does to the mind and explores the profound impact it can have on our lives and well-being.She is joined on stage by award-winning novelist and travel writer Joanna Kavenna; Dr Paula Byrne, Jane Austen biographer, writer and co-founder of ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation and Ben Alderson-Day, Professor in Psychology at Durham University and lead researcher on ReaderBank, an ongoing research project studying reading, imagination and wellbeing.With these leading experts in psychology and the literary world, she examines the range of imaginative experiences that fiction readers have, whether novels can deepen our capacity for empathy and the therapeutic effect of reading on our minds.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Helena Selby

Health at the football World Cup

From heat exhaustion to dengue fever - monitoring public health risks at the biggest tournament in football history. With millions of fans travelling to the USA, Canada and Mexico for the men’s football World Cup, Claudia Hammond speaks to Professor Rebecca Katz from Georgetown University in Washington DC who is the Director of the newly set up Health Security Operations Center, a surveillance hub to track threats to health, monitoring the risk of diseases such as measles, dengue and chikungunya.With the World Cup coinciding with rainy season in Mexico, which also means mosquito season, our reporter Rogelio Navarro in Guadalajara brings us the latest on efforts in Jalisco state to prevent outbreaks of dengue which is transmitted by mosquitoes.And the potential for health issues due to extreme heat has caused concerns amongst players, spectators and scientists. At the men’s FIFA Club World Cup in the USA last year Chelsea and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez spoke out about the difficulties of playing in high temperatures. We hear from Norwegian international midfielder Morten Thorsby and Douglas Casa, CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute and Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, who have written to tournament organisers, FIFA, calling for stronger heat protection measures for players and spectators.Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Jonathan BlackwellImage: Aziz Behich and Mathew Leckie of Australia drink water during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group D match between Australia and Denmark at Al Janoub Stadium on November 30, 2022 in Al Wakrah, Qatar