More and more parents are using melatonin to help their children sleep - but there is little research on the long-term effects. So, what do we know about the risks and is it ok to give it to children as an aid to help sleep?James chats to Paul Gringras, professor of children’s sleep medicine and neurodisability at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Vicki Beevers, chief executive of The Sleep Charity. Also this week, resident GP Margaret McCartney on the potential promise - and peril - of doctors using AI in the NHS, and should you eat your placenta? We hear from a dietician on whether there’s any evidence it’s good for you.Presenter: James Gallagher
Producers: Tom Bonnett, Debbie Kilbride & Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Ishmael SorianoThis episode was produced in partnership with The Open University.
Gesundheit, Wellness & Beauty
Inside Health Folgen
Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.
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Folge vom 19.08.2025Is it safe to give kids melatonin?
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Folge vom 12.08.2025Can we reverse rising drug deaths?Drug-related deaths are at their highest levels in England and Wales since records began 30 years ago.Scotland has had the highest number of drug deaths in Europe for at least seven years. And the UK has even seen opioid-related deaths surpass the number of people dying in road traffic accidents.So today on Inside Health we’re asking, what's the real story behind these numbers? Who is dying of a drug overdose and why - and how can we tackle this issue?James Gallagher is joined by an expert panel, including:- Professor Catriona Matheson, Professor in Substance Use at the University of Stirling and former chair of Scotland’s drug deaths taskforce - Dr Caroline Copeland, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology at King’s College London and Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality - Dr Michael Blackmore, a GP in Grangemouth, central Scotland, who has a special interest in addictions and is himself a former drug addict, now 16 years in recoveryWe also visit Professor Sir John Strang at the National Institute for Health and Care Research King’s Clinical Research Facility to see how he is experimenting with new ways of tackling rising deaths. Professor Strang is based at the National Addictions Centre, King's College London, and monitors heroin users in the lab to see if this could in future bring about a wearable overdose detection device to save lives.Presenter: James Gallagher Producer Gerry Holt Researcher: Minnie Harrop Editor: Ilan Goodman Production coordinator: Ishmael SorianoIf you’ve been affected by addiction, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.This episode was produced in partnership with The Open University.
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Folge vom 05.08.2025Exosomes: Is cosmetics' biggest trend a health risk?Exosomes are tiny balls of fat that allow cells to communicate with each other in our bodies. They're being actively researched as an experimental new type of medicine, and they're also being used in the cosmetics industry in serums, as well as being injected into people's skin. Researchers have raised concerns about the safety of this hot new trend in beauty.Presenter James Gallagher meets Dr James Edgar from the University of Cambridge who studies exosomes in his lab, he's also joined by consultant Kamal Kaur who advises the cosmetics industry on regulation around products containing exosomes, and we head to one of the UK's hot spots for beauty clinics and dermatology - the Marlyebone area of London - to meet consultant dermatologist in the NHS and One Wellbeck, Dr Ellie Rashid. Also in the programme, a new physio app is being trialled by the NHS. It's been rolled out to patients in Lothian in Scotland and we meet the people who have been using it, the real-life physio behind it and hear whether apps could be the way many people access physio in the future. Producer: Tom Bonnett with Debbie Kilbride Assistant Producer: Minnie Harrop Editor: Ilan Goodman
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Folge vom 29.07.2025Health risks of bin strikes, measles warning and ethicsWith bin strikes in Birmingham having gone on for months, James Gallagher heads to the Small Heath area of the city to ask what the health risks could be from rubbish left on the streets. He meets campaigners Shafaq, Ashid and Danni from End the Bin Strikes who tell him what residents are worried about. To discuss what diseases could be brewing and how they might spread, he's also joined by Professor Malcolm Bennett from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham and Martin Goldberg, Lecturer in Microbiology from Birmingham City University.Following news that a child who contracted measles has died at a hospital in Liverpool, James also talks to Professor of Children's Health Helen Bedford from University College London about the risk of measles in the UK. And, over the past week James has been reporting on the news that children have born using a technique which uses two women’s eggs and a man’s sperm to prevent mitochondrial disease being passed from mother to child. The babies inherit around 0.1% of their overall genetic code from the donor woman. The UK became the first country in the world to make it legal back in 2015 after a big ethical debate about what should and shouldn’t be allowed. These kinds of ethical issues are becoming more and more pressing as technology is revolutionising fertility science. To discuss what questions we could be asking next, James speaks to Dr John Appleby, Co-Director for Medical Ethics and Law at Lancaster University. Presenter: James Gallagher Production: Tom Bonnett with Debbie Kilbride and Minnie Harrop Made in collaboration with the Open University