What Your GP Doesn't Tell You

16/09/2024

Delighted to find out this evening that my podcast What Your GP Doesn't Tell You has been selected as a finalist in the Independent Podcast awards!

04/09/2024

In my latest podcast, NHS cardiologist Dr Scott Murray discusses the risk factors for cardiovascular disease; the figures you need to understand when you get your cholesterol and triglyceride levels measured; and why you should fast before this test - something few patients are told.

When we get our cholesterol measured, we get four figures: our total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and our triglyceride level. Usually, the only figure focussed on is the amount of LDL, but Murray argues we need to look at all the data not just one figure in isolation to get an accurate idea of our risk of heart disease and how to prevent it.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Ul2SCTI5AyN3jz6wdubpD

20/08/2024

In my latest podcast, Professor Sarah Berry discusses how personalised nutrition is revolutionising our understanding of food, and revealing how different groups and individuals can have hugely varying responses to the same food.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vqcqhy8MN0xEXMxAP4WQd

08/08/2024

In my latest What Your GP Doesn't Tell You podcast, dentist Dr Victoria Sampson argues that while the gut microbiome gets a huge amount of attention and research funding, in contrast the oral microbiome is almost entirely ignored. Yet, the two are closely linked and poor oral biome health is connected to a range of chronic conditions from heart disease and Alzheimer's to arithitis and diabetes.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2QXhsPa6PlxY2AIz2b23gd

25/07/2024

My latest What Your GP Doesn't Tell You podcast with Dave Feldman discusses how early research from the Citizen Science Foundation suggests that high cholesterol levels on a keto diet may - at least for those who are slim & metabolic healthy - not be a risk.

And reveals the result of an experiment showing that Oreo cookies could substantially lower cholesterol, which hopefully, I don't need to add is not a recommended medical intervention! But what it does reveal are the big gaps in our current understanding of cholesterol and how it works in our bodies.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Zh8itLPZp5eL3RZdHklvy

09/07/2024

In my latest What Your GP Doesn't Tell You podcast, oncologist Prof Robert Thomas - who uses all the conventional cancer treatments too - explains why he believes that lifestyle and gut health can play a key role in improving 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%.

In our conversation, Robert discusses studies using several probiotic supplements. The details are available on the podcast show notes. Neither he nor I have a commercial interest in any of the products discussed.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2hsbUgM9XVHp5CEq2Q0m0M

25/06/2024

In my latest podcast with journalist Tom Mueller, he discusses his investigation into the US dialysis industry and why US kidney dialysis patients have almost twice the death rate of Europeans.

He argues what he found is a cautionary tale not just about dialysis, but about the impact on healthcare of for profit medicine in general.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4hpdikWNI8z0PJ7lmZyz4U

14/06/2024

In my latest podcast, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Michael Moss, reveals how the food industry engineer their products to be irresistible.
https://open.spotify.com/show/4t91rpNpUQMdzJixpJU79n

30/05/2024

In my latest podcast, addiction psychiatrist Dr Anna Lembke reveals how sugar and highly processed food have a similar effect on our brains to addictive drugs - which explains why some patients can become addicted to certain foodstuffs.

As our consumption of ultra processed food has increased, Lembke has seen more and more patients with food addiction.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0qEBCHXbVd6u9JwsPx15RV

14/05/2024

New series of my What Your GP Doesn't Tell You podcast starts today. Kicking off with a series of three podcasts in conjunction with the International Food Addiction Consensus Conference taking place in London on 17 May.

The first one with Dr Rob Lustig asks if people can really become addicted to food, as they do drugs or alcohol?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7IkyM0ZFxutUyqt1HMzmmG

12/04/2024

In my latest podcast about allergies with Dr Sophie Farooque, she explains why - perhaps counter initivitively - it is important to expose young children to a wide variety of foods to prevent allergy, including potentially hypoallergenic ones.

She also discusses effective treatments for hayfever, and why if you are allergic to one cat, you're likely to be allergic to them all, but that's not necessarily the case for dogs.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/allergies-what-you-need-to-know/id1640338805?i=1000651164792

05/04/2024

In my latest podcast, I talk to NHS consultant allergist Dr Sophie Farooque about why allergy rates across the world are higher than ever before and what we can do about this.

In hay fever season, she says we shouldn't take a nasal decongestant, as this actually cause rebound symptoms, and ends up making the condition worse. And she recommends avoiding the hay fever (steroid) injection - a drug known as Kenalog - which can cause serious side effects.

In fact, the NHS also advises against its use. However, Kenalog is available from private clinics and pharmacies. Although it can be prescribed privately, there is an enforcement notice from the UK drug regulator, the MHRA, and the Advertising Standards Authority, which doesn't allow the advertising of the drug for hay fever on websites and social media. Despite this, when I looked yesterday, a number of places appeared to be advertising it.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/allergies-what-you-need-to-know/id1640338805?i=1000651164792

28/03/2024

Why do so many diets fail?

According to my latest podcast guest, Dr Jason Fung, a nephrologist, it's because we all have a sort of fat thermostat which tries to keep our body within a particular weight range. And studies have shown if we drop below this weight, our bodies will produce hormones to make us feel hungrier than we did before the diet. In addition our metabolism will slow down and research suggests evidence of this slowed metabolism can be seen even a year after the diet. So that we are actually able to eat less than we did before.

So the question is how can we reset our fat thermostat to prevent this? And it's all about the food you choose to include in your diet and when you eat it.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/why-hormones-not-calorie-counting-may-be-key-in-obesity/id1640338805?i=1000649689414

21/03/2024

My latest podcast is with Dr Jason Fung who argues that much of what we think we know about weight loss is simply wrong and that dieting may actually make the problem worse not better.

Jason argues that calorie counting is an overly simplistic approach and the critical factor in losing weight is hormones not calories.

He says that we all have what is effectively a fat thermostat in our bodies that tries to keep our body within a particular weight range, so if we try to lose weight and drop below this, our metabolism will do its very best to sabotage our diet, so that it’s harder for us to lose the weight and easier for us to regain it.

But all is not lost because there is a solution, changing what and when we eat, which can reset our fat thermostat.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2f4toL1SlVmseHMTBGNRtX

12/03/2024

The media's reporting on the weight loss drugs has been so poor. Several recent articles in The Times illustrate the problem. The paper has reported that Wegovy reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%. But actually what the trial showed was in the placebo group, there was about an 8% chance of cardiovascular disease. But if you took Wegovy this reduced the risk to 6½%. So the absolute risk reduction was 1.5%. (The relative risk was as The Times reported 20%.)

For any drug the absolute risk reduction is the figure you need, but too often the relative risk is reported because it sounds more impressive. For anyone interested in further info, I've gone into further details about difference between relative and absolute risk in the comments.

And the key fact The Times omits to mention at all, is that the trial was funded by the manufacturer and study after study has shown that manufacturer funded trials are more likely to reported positive results.

Kasim Kutay recalls when he realised that the drug, which transformed his company Novo Nordisk into the biggest in Europe, was a real breakthrough

08/03/2024

In my latest podcast, I talk to nutritionist Beth Kania-Zupec who has spent the last thirty years developing very low carb - or ketogenic - diets to treat a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, and she has worked with many of the leading neurologists and psychiatrists in the field. There is increasing evidence that this dietary approach can actually be more successful than drug therapies. And even works for epilepsy which can't be successful treated with medication.

She reveals her tips for successful transitioning to a keto diet and maintaining that lifestyle.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-secrets-to-a-successful-keto-diet/id1640338805?i=1000648054112

27/02/2024

Staggering post on Reddit "Ask Psychiatry" Group:
"I am a psychologist working with a 6 year old who has a diagnosis of ADHD and Autism. He is taking eight medications including Quillivant, Ritalin, Intuniv, Seroquel, Lamictal, Clobazam, and Mirtazapine.

Less than a year ago he was only taking Ritalin. His mood was stable and the data provided by the school indicated there were no major concerns beyond attention and social skills.

His mother updates me on dosage changes monthly. It seems they are changing his medication every time I talk to her.

In the past six months since adding all these medications, this child has started having these new symptoms -Homicidal ideation -Suicidal ideation -Dizziness -Sleepiness, throughout the day, sleeping for up to 5 hrs at school -Diarrhea -Taken to ER at recommendation of school nurse due to heart rate

I do not want to question the psychiatrist as I am not the professional on this topic. But I am curious. Does it seem appropriate for a small child who had no previous ED concerns to be taking so many medications and have them change so frequently".