Dr Guido Frank discusses his research in the use of ketogenic diets to treat anorexia nervosa. Although, his research is at an early stage his results appear do appear promising. Anorexia is a disease which is one of the hardest psychiatric conditions of all to treat with a depressingly high mortality rate, so this work is of huge potential interest. Up to now, there has been no effective treatment for the disease and no medication has ever been approved for it. Guido believes the critical key to treatment may lie in uncovering what happens in the brain chemistry of anorexic patients when they starve themselves. He argues by stopping eating, they actually put themselves into a ketogenic state, which calms their brain and makes them less anxious. But this has the consequence of stopping them wanting to eat again. So Guido and his team wondered what would happen if they put anorexic patients into ketosis not by starvation, but by feeding them a ketogenic diet. In an initial small study five anorexic patients who had regained weight but still had major food anxieties and concerns, were put on a ketogenic diet. Normally, in patients like this the relapse rate is around 50%, but in this case, all four patients who remained on the diet stayed healthy and the researchers also saw a dramatic reduction in their eating concerns and phobias. And Guido is now in the process of recruiting patients for a new study. So could this work offer a potentially successful approach to managing a disease which has proved so intractable to treat? The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Laura Delano, was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder when she was a teenager and would go on to spent 13 years receiving psychiatric care, both as inpatient and outpatient. In the process, she accumulated more and diagnoses, and was given more and more drugs. But - as she explains in her new book: Unshrunk – How the mental health industry took over my life and my fight to get it back, published by Monoray - there was a problem, Laura wasn’t getting better. Despite being a high achieving student for whom it had once appeared a glittering future awaited, her life had fallen apart. She had dropped out of university, was unable to hold down a job and had tried to kill herself. But then one day Laura had a life-changing epiphany - was it possible that rather than the care and medications she was receiving helping her, might they actually be causing her problems? Gradually over several years, she weaned herself off all her medication – no easy process given the withdrawal effect of many psychiatric drugs . But the impact was transformative and today Laura has completely turned her life around. So what went wrong with Laura's care? And why was the medical system unable to recognise how the treatment was making her worse not better? The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Investigative journalist Charles Piller explains the remarkable story of fraud he has uncovered in Alzheimer’s Disease research, which he discusses in a new book: Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s. Charles argues the result of this is that Alzheimer’s research and treatment has been set by years - if not decades. He goes on to discusse the trial data on which several Alzheimer’s drugs, including Aducanumab, Lecanemab and Donanemab, were approved. Charles says the data is unconvincing and the side effects – including brain swelling and bleeding - concerning. Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s by Charles Piller is published by Icon Books. Charles Piller is an investigative journalist who works for the journal Science. His work has also been published in a number of other publications including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Charles has won a number of journalism awards for his work and is also the author of the books Gene Wars and The Fail-Safe Society. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Kerry Bone, a herbalist who has spent 40 years working in the field, joins the podcast to discuss just what the evidence is that certain herbs and spices might benefit our health. Today we are bombarded with so much confusing information telling us what to eat, when to eat, and often how particular medicinal plants are particularly beneficial to our health. So, today I hope our conversation gives the opportunity to find out what the latest data suggests. One area Kerry discusses is pain managment. He explains that research now indicates that the painkiller paracetamol has a poor safety profile (something also discussed in my podcast with NHS pain consultant Dr Deepak Ravindran) and is not very effective, so reveals we thinks we should also be looking more at herbal alternatives such as curcumin and Boswellia. And Kerry reveals the herbs and spices that he takes every day. Kerry Bone is the Principal of the Australian College of Phytotherapy. He also founded the Masters of Health Science (Herbal Medicine) course at the University of New England in 2004, and served there as Associate Professor from 2004 to 2012. He is co-author of more than 40 scientific papers on herbal research, and currently serves on the editorial board of the journal Phytomedicine. In addition, he has written a number of textbooks on herbal medicine and is also a co-founder of the company Mediherb. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Adam Urato, explains why he is concerned about the huge increase in medications now taken by pregnant women. A figure that has surged in the last few decades. Across the world, women are taking more drugs than ever before while pregnant. In the US, around 90% of women expecting a baby will now take some kind of medication during pregnancy Adam argues the notion a drug is safe until proved otherwise goes completely against the precautionary principle and common sense. He was one of the first doctors to highlight the risks of a synthetic hormone called Makena, which was supposed to reduce the risk of preterm birth. It was on the market for two decades, even when the evidence showed it didn’t work, it took a further four years to get it withdrawn. Today Adam is particularly concerned about the number of women taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - or SSRIs for short - in pregnancy and doesn’t believe they are usually fully informed about the risk. Yet studies have shown that the medications can increase the likelihood of miscarriage, birth defects, an early birth, a low birth weight and postpartum haemorrhage. In some cases, there also appears to be a potential impact on the baby after birth. Dr Adam Urato is a board certified obstetrician and gynaecologist, who trained at Harvard Medical School and who practices in Massachusetts in the US. He has a particular interest in the risks and benefits of medications during pregnancy and has written a number of peer-reviewed papers on the topic. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
NHS consultant neurologist Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan argues that a range of medical conditions from autism to ADHD are now overdiagnosed, which is completely redefining how we think about sickness and disease. In a new book The Age of Diagnosis; Sickness, Health and Why Medicine Has Gone Too Far, she explains why she believes that creating large numbers of new diagnoses, carries risks for both our mental and physical wellbeing and can turn healthy people into patients. Suzanne is convinced that we should be cautious about having unnecessary medical tests and investigations that may cause more harm than good. And she reveals, perhaps surprisingly, that apart from a small benefit for large bowel cancer, cancer screening has not been shown to have an impact on all cause mortality. Suggesting that although we may be finding cancer earlier, we are not necessarily saving lives. The Age of Diagnosis; Sickness, Health and Why Medicine Has Gone Too Far by Suzanne O'Sullivan is published by Hodder. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Dr Bill Harris discusses the critical impact the Omega 3 fatty acids have - not just on our heart health - but on a myriad of other medical conditions. Bill was one of the earliest researchers in this field. Ever since he gave a fascinating presentation at the Integrative and Personalised Medical Congress in London last year, I’ve been really keen to get him on the podcast. In our conversation, Bill stresses why he believes the UK NHS's advice on limiting our oily fish intake is inaccurate and badly out-of-date. He reveals why getting enough Omega 3 is crucial. And in what will be a surprise to many, Bill explains that he doesn’t believe seed oils are problematic and why it is important we also get enough omega 6, which these oils contain. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
In the very first episode of the new season of Medical Evidence Matters with Lizt Tucker formerly known as What Your GP Doesn't Tell you, Liz Tucker talks to medical doctor and researcher, Dr William Li who has treated some of the toughest cancer cases imaginable. He argues for the 21st century treatment of cancer, the solution lies not in a single silver bullet but in an integrative approach. In addition to traditional cancer therapies this also includes newer ones such as immunotherapy and takes into account factors such as the gut biome. Published research now suggests that the health of someone’s gut biome and the particular species of bacteria it contains can make a genuine difference in their body’s ability to fight cancer. William believes it’s essential doctors use all the tools at their disposal to provide the most effective treatment possible. In a number of patients, including his own mother who faced a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Using a multi-factorial methodology, William has been able to successfully treating cancer cases which initially appeared to have extremely bleak diagnoses. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
GP Dr Safia Debar discusses how we can leverage emerging knowledge of neuroscience to help us more effectively manage our stress. This is something, she has personal knowledge of after finding herself burnt out as a GP, when she turned to her first degree in neuroscience to see how it could help her rethink her approach. Safia argues it is not so much the stress that we face, but how we think about that stress and the processes that we put in place to manage it. It is now implicated in almost every disease you can think of and intriguing new research suggests that using meditation as a calming technique, doesn't just affect the mind, but can create genuine biological change, switching our genes on and off. The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Psychiatrist Professor Joanna Moncrieff discusses her new book Chemical Imbalance: The Making and the Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth. I first spoke to Joanna two years ago, just after she had published a review paper suggesting that there was no link between depression and an imbalance of serotonin in the brain. And her book picks up what happened next. As her article gained more and more attention, she found herself in a political maelstrom facing vitriolic personal and professional criticism. Because if the serotonin hypothesis was false, what could be the possible grounds for prescribing the popular antidepressants - the selective serotonin uptake inhibitors - better known as the SSRIs? It’s been claimed in the past they can alter brain chemistry and correct imbalances, but how can they work if Joanna is right and no imbalance exists? What followed illustrates the fierce political divide in psychiatry between those who remain sceptical of her claims and believe that the current medication for depression is a vital tool and those such as Joanna who are unconvinced by its value. And we also discuss why much to her surprise, Joanna – although she has always been a socialist - found far more sympathy for her research from right wing media sources rather than the left. Chemical Imbalance: The Making and the Unmaking of the Serontonin Myth by Joanna Moncrieff is published by Flint Books. The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Dr Louise Newson, who runs a menopause clinic, discusses many of the myths about Hormone Replacement Therapy for women - or HRT for short. What are the risks? Who should take it and for how long? It's a subject which has been much misunderstood. Too frequently, women in either the years leading up to the menopause or during the menopause itself, get misdiagnosed when they go to see their GP about symptoms. That can mean they end up on antidepressants, sleeping pills and potentially a cascade of other drugs, some of which may be very difficult to stop once they start, and don’t actually treat the underlying issues caused by the menopause. Shockingly, Louise has even met women who have been given electro-convulsive therapy for their menopausal symptoms. Recently, there has also been controversy about dosage levels of HRT and why doctors like Louise sometimes prescribe higher doses of the hormone estradiol. But she argues this is because these women are poor absorbers of HRT. They need higher levels of the hormone to achieve an effective level of estradiol in their bloodstream. In a recent paper, she and colleagues explored the variation in estradiol levels in women using transdermal patches. Louise Newson's book: The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause is published by Yellow Kite. The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Journalist Katherine Eban's investigation over more than ten years has uncovered one of the most shocking medical scandals imaginable, which affects millions of patients across the world. In this podcast, she discusses the shocking reality of what happens or perhaps more accurately what doesn’t happen, when generic drugs that we import, are manufactured in countries with poor regulations. When a drug is first approved, it is released with its own brand name, but once the drug’s patent expires, then other manufacturers are allowed to make cheaper generic versions of the same medication. Now most patients and indeed many doctors think these generic drugs are the same as the brand name ones - but they are not. Current regulations only require the medications to be "bioequivalent" and they also allowed to have very different absorption rates, so may work very differently to the brand name pharmaceuticals, which has huge implications for patients. But although that is worrying enough, many of the world’s generic drugs are made in India and China - where as Katherine explains - there is little regulation and they can be made very cheaply. In what was India’s largest pharmaceutical company – Ranbaxy - 200 of its generic drugs were revealed to have been filed with the US drug regulator, the FDA, with inadequate, falsified or completely missing data. And furthermore in other companies, an FDA investigator found in over 80 plants in India and China he visited, 80% had falsified data. These generic drugs are sold into every country, so may well end up on the shelves of your local pharmacy, so what can we do as patients and doctors to protect ourselves? On her website, Katherine gives some tips for consumers in A Guide To Investigating Your Own Drugs. Bottle of Lies: Ranbaxy and the Dark Side of Indian Pharma by Katherine Eban is published by Juggernaut. The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Norwegian GP Dr Torkil Færø argues wearable devices that measure our heart rate and other health metrics, if used in the right way can be transformative in keeping us healthy and helping prevent disease in the future. In his book, The Pulse Cure, he explains why he thinks far more attention should be paid to a key metric which turns out to give a surprisingly accurate snapshot of our level of stress and overall health - and that is our heart rate variability or HRV for short. Torkil explains what it is and simple steps we can all take to improve our heart rate variability. Remarkably, it turns out that drops in our HRV may predict future illness and a higher heart rate variability has even been correlated with a better performing immune system. The Pulse Cure - The Revolutionary Way to Balance Stress, Optimise Health and Live Longer by Torkil Færø is published by Quercus. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Whistleblower Dr Carl Elliott's life changed for ever, when he tried to alert his university about the running of a drug trial which had resulted in the suicide of a patient. A patient whose mother felt should never have been enrolled in a trial in the first place. Carl’s battle came at a huge personal and emotional cost and at the end of years of campaigning and lobbying, little had really changed. His disillusioning experience as a whistleblower has driven him to meet others who have had similar experiences. And it seems few escape with their careers and personal lives intact. In a new book: The Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation and the The Price of Saying No, published by WW. Norton and Company, Carl reveals his own personal painful story and that of other medical whistleblowers too. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
The idea of developing dementia is probably one of our greatest health fears. We tend to think of it as an irreversible disease that gradually robs us of our faculties. But podcast guest, psychiatrist Dr Kat Toups is one of a group of doctors and researchers who argues that certainly in its early stages, the disease is actually reversible. The mistake - she says - is to think of dementia as an illness with a sole cause and instead we need to see it as multi-system disease, which requires a coordinated approach to work out what is injuring the brain and then provide effective treatment. Toups calls her approach the three Rs: remove, replace and regenerate. So that means taking away anything causing problems; providing the nutrients and hormones to help the brain function optimally; and then using a number of neuroplasticity techniques to enable the brain to form new connections and regenerate. Patients in her latest study who have undergone her protocol have seen a remarkable improvement. Their brain scans are now showing less signs of aging than those who don’t have dementia. All of her subjects have now raised their cognitive scores into the normal range. In one case a fine artist who had had to stop painting has been able to start painting again and has even opened a new exhibition, and another patient has just started a new business. For the full details of the protocol, please click here. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Cardiologist Dr Scott Murray discusses what we can all do to reduce our risk of heart disease. I think many of us are familiar with the idea that elevated levels of the so-called bad cholesterol - low density lipoprotein or LDL for short - have been linked to cardiovascular illness. (Although, in fact there is a group of scientists who argue that LDL levels are unconnected with heart disease.) But Scott argues the picture is actually far more complicated than looking at just one factor and we need to be examining all the different elements that make up our cholesterol and fats. That means looking at our figures for total cholesterol, high density lipoproteins (HDL), LDL and triglycerides, not solely focussing on LDL to get an accurate picture of what is really going on in our bodies. And there is one other factor that is often overlooked, but that Scott believes is an even bigger risk for heart disease and that is a high blood sugar level. But as Scott reveals, the good news is that there is preventive action you can take. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Professor Sarah Berry discusses her research in personalised nutrition, which is uncovering the hugely varied effects different foods may have on one particular group or individual compared to others. This variability can be due to our genetics, metabolism or a number of other factors. This may well have important implications for what, when and how we should eat. For example, research is revealing that as we age, many of us have a worse tolerance for eating carbohydrates in the evening compared to earlier in the day. And while some blood markers have a strong genetic effect, many others can be heavily influenced and changed by lifestyle. Professor Sarah Berry is a nutrition scientist based at King’s College, London University. She has particular research interests in individualised nutrition, food and fat structure, and the metabolic changes that happen after eating. She is also the chief scientist for the nutrition company Zoe. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Dentist Dr Victoria Sampson argues that while the gut microbiome gets a huge amount of attention, funding and publicity, the oral microbiome gets almost entirely overlooked, yet it is essential to our health. As she explains in this podcast, it has a close symbiotic relationship with our gut biome, so changing the composition of one affects the other. And perhaps most importantly of all, poor oral biome health is linked to a range of illnesses from heart disease and Alzheimer's to diabetes and arithitis. Remarkably even our fertility can be affected by the health of our mouth. But the oral biome is usually disregarded as a possible cause or aggravating factor in all of these conditions. So what can we all do to ensure that we have a healthy oral biome? Dr Victoria Sampson is a co-founder of the Health Society. In addition to all the standard dental services, the Health Society also offers oral diagnostic testing. And anyone wantting to join the waiting list for a new oral microbiome test which will shortly be available can do so here. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 20 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
This week's guest is Dave Feldman, who unusually for this podcast is not a doctor or a medical researcher, but actually a software engineer. For a long time, there has been concern that those on a very low carb or ketogenic diet are pushing their cholesterol to very high levels. This is something that Dave experienced personally, when he noticed the amount of his so called bad cholesterol - the low density lipoprotein, known as LDL - shoot up on a keto diet. And when he found others reporting similar findings, he decided to set up an organisation called the Citizen Science Foundation to fund research to find out exactly what was happening in the particular case of people like him - what he has labelled as lean mass hyper-responders - who are slim, metabolically healthy, but see their cholesterol levels rise substantially once they are on a ketogenic diet. Perhaps surprisingly, the early results from this work, suggest that this group - contrary to what has been thought in the past - may not be endangering their health. At the very least what this research clearly demonstrates is the large gaps in our current understanding of the role of cholesterol in metabolic health. One illustration of this is an experiment carried out by one of Dave's colleagues, Nick Norwitz, who found that eating Oreo cookies while on a keto diet actually lowered his LDL cholesterol more than a statin, which I don’t think I need to add is not a recommended medical intervention! The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 20 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Oncologist Professor Robert Thomas, argues along with standard conventional cancer treatments - all of which he uses - that exercise and diet can play a pivotal role in improving cancer outcomes. Robert says for the newer biological therapies which require a patient to have robust immunity, research is revealing that a healthier lifestyle and gut health, can improve the chances of responding well to these biological agents by 30-40%. He discusses his research using supplements which have shown significant benefit in the treatment of cancer patients.. One of which has also been shown to help those with long covid. Here are the links to the supplements discussed in the podcast: https://yourgutplus.com/prostate-research/ https://yourphyto.com/scientific-study The podcast receives no financial benefit or incentive from any of these products or companies. The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/ What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 20 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Lisa Mogs
The episode with Dr Horowitz was excellent. One question I would have would be what about those of us having to withdraw from antidepressants that's haven't helped so we are battling the condition plus the withdrawal.