MedicalRSS

A panel of experts and BBC reporters around the world answer questions on the coronavirus outbreak, including the latest health advice, what to do if planning a trip abroad and a look at whether there will be an impact on businesses.

Dr Adam Rutherford investigates the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them.

The coronavirus disease is spreading at frightening speeds from Wuhan, China, to the rest of the world. How did this virus develop, and how close are we to finding an effective vaccine?

The biggest tech revolution of the 21st century isn't digital, it's biological. A breakthrough called CRISPR has given us unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens the door to curing diseases, reshaping the biosphere and designing our own children.

Documentary about the ongoing battle between world-famous brands Pepsi and Coca-Cola to prove which one of them is top of the pops. The film looks at the secrets of each drink's success and also reveals the strategies and secrets behind the fierce contest between the long-time rivals, interrogating their canny marketing ploys and aggressive promotional techniques in their battle to win the never-ending cola war.

A handy haul of health hacks to propel you into 2020, including a look at ginger, spinach and your 'five-a-day' fruit and veg

Examines the plans to sell off the National Health Service. The film explores the history of the world's first people's health service and how it has provided a vital safety net to generation of people, and examines efforts to introduce an insurance-based healthcare system, which in the US, has denied vital medical treatment to millions of people. Filmed in both countries, the film warns of danger to the fundamental human right to medical care.

Cameron McNeish explores our deep-seated passion for walking, something that stretches back through the centuries. It's an important part of our social history and is embedded in the Scottish psyche. And, as Cameron discovers, its something that attracts all kinds of people.

The British Sleep Council says that 70 per cent of people in the UK do no get enough sleep. Gaby Roslin and Amir Khan present the first of two programmes in which they aim to put things right, applying the latest science to some of the worst sleepers. They include a sleep deprivation experiment, as well as help for an extreme snorer and a man who suffers from night terrors. A woman who has restless leg syndrome, and a man who has had chronic insomnia for 20 years. The sleep deprivation experiment continues, setting up a mini casino to test for risky behaviour, pain resistance and emotional control. Finally, as the subjects reach the final hours of the challenge, the experiment begins to take its toll as the participants' emotions go into overdrive, with one threatening to quit altogether.

Das Wassup follows the band 'Yo Majesty' through its trials and tribulations as they are making it in the music industry and not. The Band consists of three vocalists from Tampa, Florida, ...

It's long been known that German soldiers used a methamphetamine, called Pervitin, during WWII. But have tales of Nazis on speed obscured the massive use of stimulants by British and American troops?

Did total war unleash the world's first pharmacological arms race? And in the face of industrial slaughter, what role did drugs play in combat? Historian James Holland is on a quest to dig deeper and unearth the truth behind World War Speed.

Could dyslexia be a gift? Or can it only ever be a disability? Documentary maker Richard Macer sets off on a road trip with his dyslexic son Arthur to find the answer. En route, they meet Richard Branson and Eddie Izzard, and many other successful dyslexic people.

Dyslexia is a difficulty with reading and writing that affects one in ten people. It causes misery to many schoolchildren, and it can lead to greater problems later in life. Fifty per cent of prisoners are thought to be dyslexic, but at the same time, many successful people are also dyslexic, and businesses like Google, NASA and GCHQ see the benefit in a neuro-diverse workforce. Richard and Arthur are looking for an answer to this conundrum and interview academics, scientists and designers.

The story of Britain's biggest ever food scandal. Since 1996, almost 200 people have died from vCJD, whilst the cattle disease BSE has been responsible for the death of over four million cows. It has cost the NHS over a billion pounds and virtually destroyed the British beef industry in the 1990s. Beneath the statistics is a story of greed, corruption and catastrophic political misjudgement by the then Conservative government. With access to all of the politicians, scientists and families who have been defined by this epidemic, this film pieces together a forgotten chapter of our recent history.

Safa and Marwa are twin girls who were born joined at the head. They were brought, by their family, from Pakistan to London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital for a series of highly complex operations to separate them. The BBC’s Fergus Walsh has followed them through the dangerous nine-month process aimed at giving independence to the girls, who have never been able to see each other's faces.

Follows two patients through groundbreaking 'first in-human' trials for CAR T-cell therapy, a treatment described as the beginning of the end of cancer.

Not allowed to meet and separated by two floors of a hospital, 53-year-old Graham and 18-year old-Mahmoud are nevertheless bound together by their commitment to the treatment and their faith in the science. Terminally ill, the trial represents their only option. How do their ages and life experiences affect their physical and emotional response?

Filmed over six years following a group of volunteers with Parkinson's disease as they take part in a ground-breaking medical trial to test a new drug that could be the first to halt progression or even reverse their condition.

The Red Pill chronicles filmmaker Cassie Jaye's journey following the mysterious and polarizing Men's Rights Movement. The Red Pill explores today's gender war and asks the question "what is the future of gender equality?"

Most people will have an operation in their lifetime, but few of us have a clue what really happens once we are put to sleep. This series goes beyond the theatre doors of the surgical unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, where 700 operations are carried out every week, across 42 specialist theatres. Whilst many operations are vital but routine, this series focuses on some of the country's top surgeons as they perform high-stakes surgery that simply wouldn't have been attempted a few years ago, pushing the boundaries of modern medicine to its very limits. Unprecedented opportunities to save lives offer surgeons the chance to develop their astonishing skills - but also carry daunting risks and responsibilities. A dark sense of humour, a cool head and extraordinary levels of accomplishment are the tools of the trade.

Could the power of fake pills be used to treat some of our most common medical complaints? To find out, Dr Michael Mosley embarks on Britain's largest ever trial to investigate the placebo effect. He is heading to Blackpool to gather 117 people suffering from backache - one of the leading types of chronic pain - before trying to treat them with nothing but fake pills and the power of the mind.
Working with experts from the University of Oxford, Michael discovers that the placebo effect is more than just a medical curiosity. The brain is actually capable of producing its own drugs, and these can be more powerful than prescription painkillers. Michael's volunteers come from all walks of life, but they have all suffered with bad backs for years and feel their conventional medication isn't up to the job. They include Stacey, who is struggling to keep up with her two energetic daughters, wheelchair user Jim, who longs to be able to get back on a boat, and poker player Moyra, who is looking for a painkiller which doesn't affect her performance.
They think they are taking part in the trial of a powerful new painkiller, but their blue and white capsules actually contain nothing but ground-up rice. Can this fake treatment make a real difference? And how will the volunteers react when Michael reveals the truth? Michael also finds out about some remarkable placebo experiments from around the world, including a woman in Oxfordshire who experienced a near-miraculous recovery after undergoing fake surgery to fix her chronic shoulder pain. Plus a team in Lancashire who want to see if the placebo effect can cure a broken heart. And Michael discovers a team in Germany working on a placebo that works even if you know you are taking it, which might improve the lives of transplant patients. Michael also tests this out on himself - attempting to train his own body to respond to a fake treatment - a foul-tasting green drink - as if he were taking actual drugs.

NOVA takes you inside the operating room to witness organ transplant teams transferring organs from donors to recipients. Meet families navigating both sides of a transplant, and researchers working to end the organ shortage. Their efforts to understand organ rejection, discover ways to keep organs alive outside the body, and even grow artificial organs with stem cells, could save countless lives.