Inside Health

Should private clinics be offering out dated injections for hay fever? Cheese Molars - why do up to 1 in 7 British children have soft yellow teeth? And generics versus branded medicines - why pay more for the same thing?

Dr Mark Porter goes on a weekly quest to demystify the health issues that perplex us.

Dr Mark Porter goes on a weekly quest to demystify the health issues that perplex us.

As High Intensity Exercise regimes hit the news headlines, Inside Health sceptic Dr Margaret McCartney reviews the evidence for short sharp workouts.With new legislation restricting the use of teeth whitening products, Dr MArk Porter examines the science behind a brighter smile.And misconceptions around so called 'Voice Lifts'. They are not designed to cosmetically rejuvenate the ageing voice, but to help people with real conditions that cause paralysis of the vocal chords.Plus an update on the measles outbreak in Swansea.

What's the story behind the headlines about the links between red meat and heart disease? Researchers have reported that the way meat eaters' gut bacteria process a substance in red meat, carnitine, could be the trigger for heart disease. As the numbers of measles cases in Swansea rise, where else might be at risk of an outbreak and as the age of vaccination in Swansea has been lowered to 6 months, why do we vaccinate babies and young children when we do? Around a million people in the UK every year have some form of head injury. Most make a full recovery but there is growing concern that doctors are missing a common complication of head injury. Dr Mark Porter investigates a condition called post traumatic hypopituitarism - the result of a damaged pituitary gland- a small vulnerable structure which sits at the base of the brain. It regulates the actions of hormones controlling everything from immunity and the thyroid gland, to normal growth, sex drive and fertility.

Dr Mark Porter reports on NHS 111 - the new 24 hour urgent care number designed for the public to access urgent medical care. It was meant to go live across the whole of England this week but has been plagued by problems.And Inside Health's resident sceptic Margaret McCartney turns her beady eye to the latest fashion in the diet industry - fasting and so called 2 day diets. Popular - but what about the evidence?And obesity and cancer - there's growing understanding that being overweight is an important risk factor for a number of common cancers, but the relationship is never realy explained - Mark Porter turns his attention to one of the factors that might explain the link.

As part of NHS reforms doctors will be holding the purse strings from April 1st. In a special edition of the programme Dr Mark Porter finds out what the changes actually mean in practice. He meets GPs who have already been piloting some of the ways in which health services are commissioned to find out what they will mean for services on the ground. He also hears from GPs and hospital doctors about their concerns. One doctor says implementing GP commissioning is like flying a plane while it's being built. Why are GPs concerned and what could the changes mean for the future of our health services?

The evidence behind minimum pricing of alcoholic drinks in England and Wales - putting the political debate aside, does it actually work?Could harnessing the power of phages - naturally occurring viruses that prey on bacteria - help fight the threat posed by growing resistance to antibiotics?Plus a follow up on last week's item about Cervical smears - if women in their late 60s are among those most likely to develop cancer of the cervix, why aren't they included in the national screening programme?And babies' hips - concerns that the resurgence of swaddling is leading to abnormal hip development.

Following the chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies apocalyptic report comparing the threat of antibiotic resistance to terrorism, Dr Mark Porter looks at the overuse of antibiotics. He asks is it even useful to ask if an infection is viral or bacterial - are antibiotics the right thing even in a bad, bacterial infection? 60,000 pregnant women will go into premature labour every year in the UK. Mark visits a pioneering clinic at St Thomas's hospital in London to prevent premature labour. He also asks do all women need smear tests even if they're in long term monogamous relationships, have always had clear tests or are in a lesbian relationship? And aspirin to prevent the risk of stroke after hip replacements.

Dr Mark Porter questions Lord Howe, Minister for Health, as the government announces a U-turn to the NHS reforms following widespread concern that they would lead to privatisation by the back door, and the end of the NHS as we know it.Why women with epilepsy need to take extra care with their contraception, and the importance of managing their medication when they do get pregnant.And what sort of thermometer should you use when monitoring your child's temperature?

Dr Mark Porter puts the Pharmaceutical Industry in the spotlight as some clinical trials are criticised for testing new drugs against a weaker rival so that the results appear much better than they really are. Kamran Abbasi takes on Dr Bina Rawal from the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry to discuss if the hurdles are being set too low, so that a new therapy comes out on top.And what if sustained periods of adversity in childhood are associated with permanent structural changes in brain development? So suggests new research into adolescents with Conduct Disorder - a controversial diagnosis given to 1 in 20 teenagers in the UK with aggressive or anti-social behaviour. Many of these children will have been exposed to severe abuse, but do these findings have implications for common family discord that lasts months or years? Mark Porter investigates.

Is it safe to drink urine, or even sea water in a survival situation? Mark Porter examines calls to withdraw one of the most widely used anti inflammatory drugs, diclofenac, because it increases the risk of heart attacks. And what kinds of health problems can result from living with a parrot, cockatiel or a loft full of pigeons? As guidelines to improve hospital meals are introduced, how will the idea of food as medicine improve patients' experience?

Dr Mark Porter investigates a new shingles vaccine for the over 70s. Is a chicken pox vaccine for children an alternative? And contraception for the over 35s: can you take the pill until the menopause? Mark Porter finds out why we're so poor at First Aid. And if you're switching to cheaper drugs, does the size and colour influence how you take your medicine. Could changing to a cheaper brand have a hidden cost? And early clues to Parkinson's disease.

Why the reporting of drug side effects has dropped by a third in a decade - it's the responsibility of GP's and the general public to notifiy through the yellow card system - but it's on the wane - does that mean drug safety is slipping through the net?Mark Porter finds out how the medical technology that identified why King Richard 111 died could be used to help the rest of us.And answers a listener's question about so called 'chemo brain'. Does chemotherapy really effect memory and the ability to concentrate? Plus a family history of cancer - is it always as worrying as it sounds?

Following the latest figures on deaths from alcohol, Dr Mark Porter talks to liver transplant expert Dr Varuna Aluvihare from King's College London, the largest liver transplant centre in Europe.Targeted cancer therapies - thousands of people with cancer are to have their genes mapped as part of a new drive towards treatment tailored to the individual. But what's in it for the patient? Mark discusses with Prof Peter Johnson, chief clinician for Cancer Research UK.Mark talks to Dr Paul Farrant about caffeine - is there a benefit to having it in your shampoo?Halitophobia - fear of bad breath and what can be done to help. Tim Hodgson and Claire Daniel from the Eastman Dental Hospital in London explain.

New research suggesting that the ban on smoking in public places has led to a sharp fall in the number of children admitted to hospital with asthma.Sunbeds and cancer Dr Mark Porter examines claims by some tanning salons that their machines do not increase the risk of developing skin cancer despite UV tanning devices being classified as carcinogenic to humans.Plus we visit a leading expert to answer a listener's query about why she is waking up with a very dry mouth.And why your body mass index may not be the best way to work out if you are overweight.

Dr Mark Porter goes on a weekly quest to demystify the health issues that perplex us.

Dr Mark Porter explores Dementia Challenge - the Department of Health's much publicised campaign to improve dementia care, including a new scheme to test everyone over 75 who's admitted to hospital for signs of the condition. Will this lead to overdiagnosis or will it get people treated early? And prescribing sleeping tablets for those unable to rest on a noisy hospital ward may seem like a quick fix but there is strong evidence that they are linked to side effects including an increase in falls. Mark Porter investigates and finds some simple solutions to getting a good night's kip in hospital. Plus a leading expert on the thyroid gland answers a listener's concerns about the use of the hormone thyroxine.

Dr Mark Porter discovers that three quarters of people with diabetes who are likely to benefit from an insulin pump are not on one. He talks about the cancer that no one talks about - cancer of the penis. And he learns why you shouldn't wake your child during a night terror. GP and regular contributor Margaret McCartney investigates the growing incidence of self harming amongst the young as a new report on it is published.

Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking freefall from the edge of space was witnessed online by 8 million people around the world this week. The jump was well-planned and included equipment to enable him to breathe at high altitude and low pressure. Dr Kevin Fong is the Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellow, and Associate Director of the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine at University College London. He says that a pressurised suit would prevent his blood from "boiling" at the so-called Armstrong line - where pressure in the atmosphere means that boiling point of water is the same as body temperature. A previous attempt in the 1960s almost failed - when the pressurised suit leaked, causing swelling in one hand. The chances of surviving a common type of emergency abdominal surgery are lower if you have the operation at night or over the weekend. The first report produced by the UK Emergency Laparotomy Network shows that the odds of survival vary tremendously between hospitals too - from