What Your GP Doesn’t Tell You

Why Having a Healthy Microbiome Is Critically Important

Colorectal surgeon Mr James Kinross reveals the remarkable impact that our microbiomes have on every aspect of health from the moment we are born. He argues that the biome may hold the key to understanding diseases as varied as cancer, bowel and auto-immune conditions.
And that the rise of these conditions may be at least partially due to the disruption that’s been caused to our biomes, by the food we eat, antibiotics and the environment around us.
In his new book: Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome, James even suggests that the way a man and woman’s biome interacts may have an  impact their ability to reproduce.
James Kinross is a senior lecturer in colorectal surgery and a  surgeon at Imperial College London. He leads a research team exploring how the microbiome may drive cancer and other diseases of the gut.
Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome by Dr James Kinross is published by Penguin Random House.
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/

Using Low Carb Diets To Treat Epilepsy And Other Neurological Diseases

Dr Tanya JW McDonald discusses the use of low carb (otherwise known as ketogenic) diets for patients with epilepsy, Alzheimer’s Disease, malignant glioma and other neurological conditions.
Remarkably, low carb diets have been used successful to treat  patients with epilepsy for 100 years, but fell out of favour when drugs were developed. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence in the use of these diets, and studies suggest that around 50% of pediatric and 40% of adult patients whose epilepsy is resistant to drug therapy can be helped with a low carb diet.
And in malignant glioma, a form of brain cancer, some research now suggests that tumour cells prefer glucose. So following a low carb diet cuts sugar, removing this potential cancer cell fuel source.
So is it possible that food can access neurological pathways that drugs can’t? And what implications does this have for the treatment of other neurological diseases?
Dr Tanya J. W. McDonald is a neurologist based at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US. She focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and seizures. Her particular interests include dietary therapies for adults with epilepsy, evaluations for seizure surgery and epilepsy in women.
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/
 

Your 24 Hour Body Clock: How It Controls Everything from Sleep To When You Should Take Medication

Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University,  reveals the key role our body clock plays not just in controlling how and when we sleep, but in every aspect of our biology and health.
He discusses his tips for getting a good night's sleep and what do when you just can’t drop off. And explores the huge toll that shift work takes on both our physical and mental health, so much so that the World Health Organization has described the link between shift work and cancer as probably carcinogenic.
Russell goes on to explain why modern medicine needs to pay far more attention to the impact that our body clock has on the time of day we should take certain drugs.
Remarkably, one study revealed that if you take an aspirin for stroke prevention,  it can be 50% more effective depending on the time of day you take it.  And another trial for the treatment of ovarian cancer discovered there was a fourfold difference in a successful outcome depending on when in the 24 hour cycle the chemotherapy was taken.
 
Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Director of the Sir Jules Thorne Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, and  Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology at Oxford University. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded a CBE for his services to science. And he is the author of the book Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionise Your Health.
 
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/

Can Longevity Drugs and Lifestyle Extend Our Lifespan?

The idea of staying fit, young and healthy for longer, is something many of us would love to achieve, but just how possible is it?
Dr Robert Lufkin, who has a particular research interest in the  science of longevity discusses the reality. He says the aim is not to live forever, or live longer when we are frail and ill, but to lengthen our healthy lifespan.
When we age, the odds of us getting a range of degenerative diseases or life threatening illnesses increase, so the science of anti-aging is really all about discovering why this happens and what we can do to slow or stop these pathways.
Lufkin reveals the role that he believes lifestyle, diet and exercise can play. And goes on to review drugs such as Rapamyzin that some people, including him, are now taking in the hope they can keep their bodies healthier for longer. So exactly what is the evidence that we can stave off the perils of aging?
Dr Robert Lufkin is currently Adjunct Clinical Professor of Radiology at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He is also Chief of Metabolic Imaging at a large medical network in southern California. Previously, Rob has been president of the society of magnetic resonance imaging, president of the American society of head and neck radiology. In addition to being a practicing physician, he is author of over 200 peer reviewed scientific papers and 14 books.
Link to the web page of Dr Lufkin's website with research paper references, some of which are discussed in this podcast: https://www.robertlufkinmd.com/academic-papers/
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/

Should You Take A Statin?

Dr John Abramson, who has published several peer reviewed papers examining the data behind statins, discusses the facts you need to know before deciding with your doctor whether to take one of these drugs or not.
Statins are drugs that lower cholesterol levels and the numbers of people recommended to take them continues to increase. Just this year, the UK’s National Institute of Clinical Excellence, NICE, has extended its recommendations to suggest that those with a less than 10% 10 year risk of heart disease consider taking one.
Yet interestingly, the vast majority of the clinical trial data had been collected ten years ago. So the podcast explores the basis on which these new recommendations are being made.
Dr Abramson discusses the risks and benefits of statins, which will vary depending on if you are male or female, and if you are at high or low risk from heart disease.  
And just to note, in this podcast we talk about US and UK recommendations, but both are based on the same clinical trial data,  which countries across the world rely on.
The key difference is the US measures cholesterol levels in milligrammes per decilitre and the UK in millimoles per litre. (To convert milligrams per decilitre to millimoles per litre divide by 18 and there are also various calculators online that can convert from one system to the other 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 20 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/

What You Need to Check Before Taking Any Prescription Drug

Former Canadian politician Terence Young became a safety advocate, starting the non-profit group Drug Safety Canada, following the tragic death of his 15 year old daughter Vanessa after taking the drug Propulsid. The drug was withdrawn from the North American market the day before Vanessa's funeral.
Terence argues in a new book that it’s essential that we all educate ourselves about drug safety. We can’t just leave it to doctors.  He says most of us have absolutely no idea about the true risks and benefits of the prescription drugs we take. And the only way we can find out this information is by asking the right questions.
So in this interview Terence explains the ten key points or rules we all need to know. For example, were you aware that a patient’s individual response to a drug can vary by 400 to 4,000 %? And why - unless there is a very good reason - you should try to avoid taking a drug less than seven years old?
Forbidden Knowledge: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Managing Your Prescription by Terence Young is published by Dundurn Press
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 at patreon.com/whatyourgpdoesnttellyou or via PayPal at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou
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/

Sugar, Refined Carbs and Polyunsaturated Fats: The Perfect Storm?

Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Gary Fettke frustrated by the increasing number of diabetic patients' limbs  he was having to amputate, started prescibing low sugar diets to these patients. But then found himself sanctioned by the Australian medical board for giving nutritional advice.
Fettke was told: "there's nothing associated with your medical training that makes you an expert, or authority on the field of nutrition, diabetes or cancer, you're not allowed to make any recommendations to your patients on nutrition". It would take nearly five years for the decision to be reversed.
Fettke's belief in the importance of preventative medicine began his lifelong research into the science of nutrition, dietary guidelines and exactly what makes a healthy diet.
And he has become convinced that for all of us - not just those with diabetes -  sugar, refined carbs and polyunsaturated fats come together to create a perfect storm in our bodie. That is why he believes we are seeing a higher level of metabolic illnesses such as diabetes type 2, heart disease and cancer,  than ever before.
 
Dr Gary Fettke, is an orthopaedic surgeon, based in Tasmania, Australia.  He has a particularly interest in  preventative medicine. Although his speciality is surgery, Gary believes it is much better to help patients avoid surgery if at all possible, by making dietary changes.
 
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 at patreon.com/whatyourgpdoesnttellyou or via PayPal at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou
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/

Could Stem Cell Transplants Play a Critical Role in MS and Other Auto-Immune Diseases?

Dr Richard K. Burt,  a world leading pioneer who performed America’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) to treat multiple sclerosis, discusses how he developed this innovative procedure and its future in the treatment of MS.
While the treatment is only suitable for certain MS patients it can be life changing. The US’s National MS Society says there is growing evidence that HSCT may be highly effective for people with relapsing remitting MS who meet very specific characteristics. The society adds it can greatly reduce and potentially even end MS disease activity in some.
But the treatment is not without its risks and patients have died.
However, as Richard argues in this podcast and his recently published book: Everyday Miracles Curing Multiple Sclerosis, Scleroderma, and Autoimmune Diseases by Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant not all types of stem cell transplantation are the same and that it’s vital that both doctors and patients understand the different approaches. That's because the type of stem cell technique used can affect the risks and effectiveness of the treatment for both MS and other forms of auto-immune disease.
And an effective treatment for MS is desperately needed. Currently researchers are also looking at the use of high level vitamin D in the treatment of the disease. While current drugs known as disease modifying therapies may slow the progress of the disease, they cannot stop it.
Dr Richard K. Burt is a Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Medicine at Scripps, a tenured retired Professor at North Western and CEO of Genani Biotechnology. In addition to performing America’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplant  for MS, he also carried out the first procedures in the US for a number of other auto-immune disease too. He was recognised by Scientific American as one of the Top 50 individuals for improving humanity and outstanding leadership.
His book: Everyday Miracles Curing  Multiple Sclerosis, Scleroderma, and Autoimmune Diseases by Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant is published by Forefront Books.
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 at patreon.com/whatyourgpdoesnttellyou or via PayPal at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou
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/

Could Inflammation, Diet and Disease Be Linked?

Dr Shilpa Ravella, a transplant gastroenterologist, argues that inflammation may be a common factor in many of the diseases we face today from heart disease to cancer.
While our bodies' inflammatory response is essential in fighting off infections and viruses,  in her recently published book A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease,  Shilpa claims many of us are suffering from hidden low inflammation which may be at the root of many illnesses and reveals simple lifestyle changes we can make to reverse this.
And one of the many surprising facts she reveals is that most so-called anti-inflammatory pain killers such as ibuprofen although they may suppress inflammation initially, actually delay the resolution of inflammation in our bodies. It turns out that one of the oldest pain killers of all - aspirin -  is one of the very few painkillers which does help resolve inflammation.
 
Dr Shilpa Ravella is a transplant gastroenterologist with a particular expertise in nutrition and an assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.
Her Book: A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease is published by Bodley House, an imprint of Vintage.
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 at patreon.com/whatyourgpdoesnttellyou or via PayPal at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou
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/

Dr David Healy Discusses SSRI Drugs, Suicide and Sexual Dysfunction

Dr David Healy was one of the first psychiatrists to suggest that while in some cases the antidepressant drugs, the SSRIs may help prevent suicide, in other very rare cases, they might actually increase the suicide risk. So how does a doctor balance that risk?
David also discusses the evidence from healthy volunteer trials, these are small trials that take place before the major trials and regulators can be unaware of these trials' results yet they often contain important information about a drug's potential side effects.
And he also discusses the problems of sexual dysfunction that some people suffer after taking SSRI drugs. David says he has had personal experience of several patients who have committed suicide as a result of this ongoign sexual dysfunction and even been asked by people suffering from this to write referral letters to the right to die group Dignitas.
 
Psychiatrist David Healy is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University in Canada.  He is also founder and CEO of Data Based Medicine Limited, which through its website RxISK.org, aims to make medicines safer through online direct patient reporting of drug side effects.  David has been involved as an expert witness in homicide and suicide trials involving psychotropic drugs, and in raising issues with these drugs with the American and European regulators.
https://rxisk.org/blog/
https://davidhealy.org/blog/
You can sign up to the mailing list to the podcast and be first to know when a new episode is published at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com and also find out more about the pod there.
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 at patreon.com/whatyourgpdoesnttellyou or via PayPal at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou
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/