Focus on the breath

Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy is calling for more prostate cancer testing after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Prostate cancer can often present without symptoms, and for people like Sir Chris, this can mean it isn't diagnosed until it has spread and become incurable. Unlike breast, bowel, or cervical cancer, there is currently no national screening programme that routinely invites men for prostate cancer testing. Instead, men over 50 can request what's known as a PSA blood test from their GP, but it's not automatically offered. Sir Chris wants that to change and is calling for the test to be made more easily available for men under 50, especially those with a family history of prostate cancer. But, expanding prostate screening is a divisive issue. While it could help detect cancer earlier in some cases, there are potential drawbacks. Inside Health's James Gallagher talks with Professor Frank Chinegwundoh, Consultant Urological Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust, Professor Hashim Ahmed, Chair of Urology at Imperial College London and Inside Health's resident GP Dr Margaret McCartney about the evidence for and against prostate cancer screening - and whether Sir Chris's campaign could and should change the guidance. This programme was produced in partnership with The Open University.Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Editor: Holly Squire

The first drugs to slow Alzheimer's progression have been making headlines around the world. For researchers in the field, the arrival of these two therapies called Lecanemab and Donanemab is testament to decades of advancements in the field of Alzheimer's research because for the first time they go further than modifying the symptoms and have been shown in trials to slow down cognitive decline. For patients and families these treatments offer hope that the amount of quality time they'll have together could be lengthened. Around the world regulatory bodies are weighing up their effectiveness, safety and cost. In the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved Lecanemab and Donanemab for use but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) rejected them for use in the NHS on the basis the benefit to patients did not outweight the cost, although they could still be available privately.Presenter James Gallagher examines the decision with Professor of Public Health Carol Brayne from the University of Cambridge and neuroscientist Professor Tara Spires-Jones from the University of Edinburgh. Then, looking forward, he meets scientists searching for future treatments including Dr Emma Mead, chief scientist at the Alzheimer's UK Drug Discovery Institute at the University of Oxford, Dr Ashvini Keshavan, co-lead of University College London's ADAPT blood biomarker trial, Selina Wray, Professor of Molecular Neuroscience and Alzheimer's Research UK Senior Research Fellow at University College London, and UK Dementia Research Institute Emerging Leader Dr Claire Durrant.This programme was produced in partnership with The Open University.Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Editor: Holly Squire

Have you ever thought about how you breathe? For many of us, the 20,000+ breaths we take each day go underneath our conscious awareness. But every now and then, a short-lived spout or a chronic case of breathlessness can remind us just how vital good breathing is for our health. But can we all breathe “better”? Some wellness trends suggest so... James Gallagher gets to grips with mouth-taping: the practice of taping the mouth shut during the night to promote exclusive ‘nasal breathing’. Many claim it has improved their sleep, their athletic performance and even given them a more chiselled jaw. Ken O’Halloran, professor of physiology at University College Cork, explains what research has been done looking into this trend and warns about when taping might do more harm than good. James also visits The Coliseum in Covent Garden to hear how an operatic training programme has improved the quality of life for people living with Long-COVID. ENO Breathe, designed by The English National Opera and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, has seen 4000 people learn to breathe like a classical singer to help them handle breathlessness. Creative director, Suzi Zumpe, and respiratory registrar, Keir Philip, talk through the programme and its impacts. Finally, could taking consciousness control of our breathing for a short time each day improve our health? Guy Fincham, researcher at the University of Sussex, dives into his PhD research on breathwork, including his initial studies looking at who might benefit from these practices. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Julia Ravey Content Editor: Holly Squire Studio Engineer: Giles Aspen Production Coordinator: Ismael Soriano This programme was produced in partnership with The Open University.

There are so many campaigns now to stop stigma and embarrassment - from Davina McCall talking about the menopause to Idris Elba campaigning for black men to get their prostate checked. And when we asked for your stories of how embarrassment impacts your health, our inbox was flooded with stories of incontinence, IBS, genital problems, skin issues, fertility troubles, fatty lumps and more - along with the huge and varied ways these issues are affecting your lives. So, how does embarrassment affect how we behave regarding our health, how can doctors and our health service adapt to alleviate it, and do awareness campaigns really help? To discuss James Gallagher is joined by:Dr Margaret McCartney, GP Dr Vanessa Apea, consultant in sexual health at Barts Health NHS Trust and Medical Director at Preventx Professor Ruth Parry, communications expert who studies clinician-patient interactions about sensitive issues. Plus, James gets some top tips to help alleviate embarrassment when talking to your doctor. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Hannah Robins Content Editor: Holly Squire Production Coordinator: Ismael SorianoThis programme was produced in partnership with The Open University.

If you have a rare genetic disorder, new technology that allows your genetic code to be analysed means you could have a diagnosis within weeks. Before, people with rare diseases would often go their entire lives without a diagnosis. It's a revolutionary advancement but does it change how patients are treated or help improve their wellbeing?Presenter James Gallagher meets Lisa whose daughter Jaydi was born with a rare genetic disease that affects her growth, speech, eyesight and a number of other conditions. We hear the story of Lisa and Jaydi's journey to diagnosis through Exeter University's Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study, and how it changed the course of Jaydi's life.Her clinician, Consulatant Clinical Geneticist Dr Emma Kivuva, tells James how the diagnosis impacted on the care they offered and Dr Caroline Wright, Genetics & Genomics Theme Lead on the DDD study explains how they are measuring the effect of diagnosis on patient treatment and wellbeing.This programme was produced in partnership with The Open University.Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Editor: Holly Squire

Trials of a cancer 'vaccine' have begun and presenter James meets Steve, one of the first patients to trial the new treatment, Steve remembers his shock at being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in his 40s and tells the story of how he became involved in this pioneering research into tackling cancer.The vaccine is based on the same mRNA technology as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and James heads to the University of Cambridge to find out how the early work into cancer vaccines became the foundation for the rapid rollout of the covid vaccine. In the lab, molecular biologist Dr Anne Willis and immunologist Dr James Thaventhiran explain how the vaccine is personalised to target the unique make-up of an individual patients' cancer cells, and how if the trials are successful they could open the door to mRNA treatments being used to treat a wide range of diseases.Also, Imperial College London cyber security researcher Dr Saira Ghafur joins James in the studio to explain why healthcare is a growing target for cyber attackers and how we can prepare for the next one because, as Saira says, it really is a case of "when" not "if".Presented by James Gallagher Produced by Tom Bonnett with Hannah Robins Assistant Producer: Katie Tomsett Editor: Holly Squire

Mpox is spreading and it’s been classified a public health emergency by the World Health Organization. Presenter James Gallagher meets Professor Trudie Lang from the University of Oxford who has been working in the areas affected to discuss what it means for people in the countries it’s already reached and whether its spread can be stopped.James also puts your questions on statins to Professor Naveed Sattar, and we hear the story of Simon who works in the outdoors as a landscape manager. He was having bouts of severe illness and was struggling to understand what was behind it. The answer? He’d had successive bites from ticks and was having symptoms of an allergic reaction when he was eating meat. He had alpha gal syndrome, commonly known as a meat allergy. We hear how it’s caused debilitating changes to his life.We also hear from Consultant Immunologist Dr Rachael O’Brian who has been documenting the first case of alpha gal syndrome her team have been diagnosing at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Assistant Producer: Katie Tomsett Editor: Holly Squire

Richard was 10 when he started smoking, and by the age of 35, he had given up on giving up smoking. But thanks to vaping he quit, almost by accident, in just a few months. However, vaping has been in the spotlight recently, with the rise of disposable vapes and awareness of more young people starting to vape. So, is vaping a useful tool to help people get off of cigarettes, or is it a gateway for young people into smoking? We hear from young people about their experiences and thoughts on vaping. In the studio, Dr Sarah Jackson, Principal Research Fellow at UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group, and Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive of ‘Action on Smoking and Health’, are with James to discuss. Plus, podiatrist Dr Ivan Bristow is on hand to advise why James and listener Linda have had a hard time getting rid of their verrucas for years. We find out exactly what the warts are and what options are available to help our body tackle them. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Hannah Fisher Assistant producer: Katie Tomsett Editor: Holly Squire

The inventor of statins, Akira Endo, died this summer. When he was prescribed statins in older age for high cholesterol he refused, preferring to improve his diet and lifestyle instead. But how far can changes like these really go to reduce our bad cholesterol and our overall risk of cardiovascular disease? Our resident GP Margaret McCartney and Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine Naveed Sattar discuss. Dermatologist Dr Alexandra Banner gives us the lowdown on how to treat sunburn, including reviewing some of your surprising home remedies. And what is snus and does it enhance sporting performance? Professor Toby Mundel explains. Presenter: James Gallagher Producers: Hannah Robins and Tom Bonnett Assistant producer: Katie Tomsett Editor: Holly Squire

From the Hay Festival, James and a panel of experts explain what we can all do to help ourselves age well. We discover what’s going on in our bodies when we age, the difference between biological and chronological age, as well as getting the audience moving for a physical test. James is joined by gerontologist Sarah Harper from the University of Oxford, biomedical scientist Georgina Ellison-Hughes from King’s College London, and doctor Norman Lazarus to understand how exercise, diet, and mental health all have a part to play in how we age. Presenter: James Gallagher  Producer: Gerry Holt Editor: Holly Squire