Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Show Notes:
Marianne Nicholson, MBE, Director of the Shingles Support Society, joins Catriona to discuss shingles, the reactivation of chickenpox virus, and the lasting nerve pain it can cause.
Key takeaways:
1. Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, appearing in a small region on one side of the body, most commonly the ribs or face. Early nerve sensations are often mistaken for a pulled muscle or insect bite.
2. The 72-hour window to start antiviral treatment is critical. The sooner treatment begins, the less severe the outbreak and the lower the risk of lasting pain.
3. The NHS shingles vaccine (Shingrix, two doses) is available to people who turned 65 after 1st September 2023 and anyone in their 70s. After 80, it is no longer available on the NHS. People over 50 can pay privately.
4. Post-herpetic neuralgia is ongoing nerve pain after shingles has healed, sometimes lasting for life. Research has measured the pain as worse than childbirth in some cases.
5. Because shingles pain is 'ghost pain' created by disturbed nerves rather than actual tissue damage, psychological techniques like hypnotherapy and physical strategies like firm pressure bandages can help manage it safely.
Marianne Nicholson, MBE, has been Director of the Shingles Support Society for almost 30 years, helping people understand shingles, its prevention, and its aftermath.
For more information, visit shinglesupport.org.uk. If this episode could help someone you know, please share it.
Subscribe to My Health Focus so you don't miss what's next.Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
1. [02:15] Marianne explains that chickenpox sets up home in a corner of your body and can reactivate as shingles when your immune system is less efficient or has lowered its guard over time.
2. [04:30] Marianne describes the early nerve sensations of shingles: 'people think that they pull the muscle or they've been bitten by an insect or they've got perhaps an allergy to a plant in the garden because of that nettle sting feeling.'
3. [05:10] Marianne states that doctors are told that after 72 hours it's probably not worth giving the antiviral drugs, emphasising 'the sooner the better for shingles.'
4. [10:45] Marianne explains that people who have nursed series of children through chickenpox are less likely to have shingles than those who last met chickenpox virus at age 10.
5. [13:20] Marianne clarifies the NHS vaccine eligibility: people who turned 65 after 1st September 2023, anyone in their 70s, but not after 80. She also explains that people over 50 can buy it privately.
6. [15:50] Marianne describes her own decision to pay privately for Shingrix after receiving Zostavax years earlier, because Zostavax is not expected to last more than about 10 years.
7. [19:45] Marianne references research showing shingles pain measured as worse than childbirth, then adds: 'imagine being in the throes of childbirth every day for the rest of your life with never a baby to show for it.'
8. [21:30] Marianne describes her own shingles pain as 'somebody had got one of those wire brushes that you use to brush rust off cars and was sort of pushing it into my back,' and that 10 years later she still has 10% of that pain.
9. [24:10] Marianne explains that shingles pain is 'ghost pain' because 'there is nothing wrong with the area that hurts,' unlike a broken leg or burnt skin, so psychological ways of ignoring it are perfectly safe.
10. [27:00] Marianne shares the corset T-shirt tip: a man bought a heavily elasticated T-shirt, had a seamstress add hooks and eyes down the front, and the firm pressure stopped the feeling of clothing scraping his skin like sandpaper or barbed wire.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Show Notes:
Marianne Nicholson, MBE, Director of the Shingles Support Society, joins Catriona to discuss shingles, the reactivation of chickenpox virus, and the lasting nerve pain it can cause.
Key takeaways:
1. Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, appearing in a small region on one side of the body, most commonly the ribs or face. Early nerve sensations are often mistaken for a pulled muscle or insect bite.
2. The 72-hour window to start antiviral treatment is critical. The sooner treatment begins, the less severe the outbreak and the lower the risk of lasting pain.
3. The NHS shingles vaccine (Shingrix, two doses) is available to people who turned 65 after 1st September 2023 and anyone in their 70s. After 80, it is no longer available on the NHS. People over 50 can pay privately.
4. Post-herpetic neuralgia is ongoing nerve pain after shingles has healed, sometimes lasting for life. Research has measured the pain as worse than childbirth in some cases.
5. Because shingles pain is 'ghost pain' created by disturbed nerves rather than actual tissue damage, psychological techniques like hypnotherapy and physical strategies like firm pressure bandages can help manage it safely.
Marianne Nicholson, MBE, has been Director of the Shingles Support Society for almost 30 years, helping people understand shingles, its prevention, and its aftermath.
For more information, visit shinglesupport.org.uk. If this episode could help someone you know, please share it.
Subscribe to My Health Focus so you don't miss what's next.Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
1. [02:15] Marianne explains that chickenpox sets up home in a corner of your body and can reactivate as shingles when your immune system is less efficient or has lowered its guard over time.
2. [04:30] Marianne describes the early nerve sensations of shingles: 'people think that they pull the muscle or they've been bitten by an insect or they've got perhaps an allergy to a plant in the garden because of that nettle sting feeling.'
3. [05:10] Marianne states that doctors are told that after 72 hours it's probably not worth giving the antiviral drugs, emphasising 'the sooner the better for shingles.'
4. [10:45] Marianne explains that people who have nursed series of children through chickenpox are less likely to have shingles than those who last met chickenpox virus at age 10.
5. [13:20] Marianne clarifies the NHS vaccine eligibility: people who turned 65 after 1st September 2023, anyone in their 70s, but not after 80. She also explains that people over 50 can buy it privately.
6. [15:50] Marianne describes her own decision to pay privately for Shingrix after receiving Zostavax years earlier, because Zostavax is not expected to last more than about 10 years.
7. [19:45] Marianne references research showing shingles pain measured as worse than childbirth, then adds: 'imagine being in the throes of childbirth every day for the rest of your life with never a baby to show for it.'
8. [21:30] Marianne describes her own shingles pain as 'somebody had got one of those wire brushes that you use to brush rust off cars and was sort of pushing it into my back,' and that 10 years later she still has 10% of that pain.
9. [24:10] Marianne explains that shingles pain is 'ghost pain' because 'there is nothing wrong with the area that hurts,' unlike a broken leg or burnt skin, so psychological ways of ignoring it are perfectly safe.
10. [27:00] Marianne shares the corset T-shirt tip: a man bought a heavily elasticated T-shirt, had a seamstress add hooks and eyes down the front, and the firm pressure stopped the feeling of clothing scraping his skin like sandpaper or barbed wire.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Key takeaways:
1. Listen deeply to what patients say and don't say, including their body language and pauses around sensitive topics shaped by cultural, religious, or stigma-related factors.
2. Humanise people by thinking of them as your own family member, which helps you listen more compassionately to whatever is being shared.
3. Have a referral network ready before you ask about social needs, so you can move from gathering data to taking action when someone shares a nutritional, transportation, or access need.
4. Build long-term ecosystems of care that consider the whole person, their zip code, access to food and transport, and the supportive relationships around them.
5. Be present in communities before extracting information. Attend health fairs, faith gatherings, youth activities, and Little League games to build trust relationships over time.
Connie waited 30 years for a bleeding disorder diagnosis due to implicit bias, lack of clinician knowledge, and failure to consider her whole being. She founded The Rare Cares Collective to connect rare and ultra-rare communities globally, enabling communication, connection, and collaboration.
Subscribe to My Health Focus for expert interviews that centre patient voices.Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
1. [00:01:43] Ask the person how they want to be referred to and what they want to talk about, because getting their input is key to how you move forward.
2. [00:02:31] Patient engagement is simply people sharing their insights about their own lived experience with whatever condition it is they have.
3. [00:07:13] Listen to what people are not sharing, their nonverbal cues, their body language, and watch for pauses when friction factors or pain points come up.
4. [00:08:20] Humanise people by thinking about what if this was my mother, my father, my loved one, because that helps you listen more compassionately.
5. [00:09:19] Have a referrals list in place beforehand so you can actually refer them to get the services they need. That moves beyond gathering data to action.
6. [00:11:38] The fact that you validated that I've spoken and you've heard what I said goes a long way to building something I call trust.
7. [00:15:17] You can no longer come to communities and extract their information, extract and utilise their bodies for research without really building relationships and learning from the leaders and people in those communities.
8. [00:17:13] Whole person care is considering the entire ecosystem of care around that person, that zip code that person lives in, access to nutritious food, public transportation, supportive family.
9. [00:18:05] It took me 30 years to get a diagnosis. The entire being of who I am was not considered, whether it was overt discrimination and implicit bias or lack of knowledge on the part of healthcare practitioners.
10. [00:21:27] The Rare Cares Collective is going to be one of the first organisations that will bring people together locally, nationally, and globally who may be in that same diagnosis state.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Key takeaways:
1. Listen deeply to what patients say and don't say, including their body language and pauses around sensitive topics shaped by cultural, religious, or stigma-related factors.
2. Humanise people by thinking of them as your own family member, which helps you listen more compassionately to whatever is being shared.
3. Have a referral network ready before you ask about social needs, so you can move from gathering data to taking action when someone shares a nutritional, transportation, or access need.
4. Build long-term ecosystems of care that consider the whole person, their zip code, access to food and transport, and the supportive relationships around them.
5. Be present in communities before extracting information. Attend health fairs, faith gatherings, youth activities, and Little League games to build trust relationships over time.
Connie waited 30 years for a bleeding disorder diagnosis due to implicit bias, lack of clinician knowledge, and failure to consider her whole being. She founded The Rare Cares Collective to connect rare and ultra-rare communities globally, enabling communication, connection, and collaboration.
Subscribe to My Health Focus for expert interviews that centre patient voices.Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
1. [00:01:43] Ask the person how they want to be referred to and what they want to talk about, because getting their input is key to how you move forward.
2. [00:02:31] Patient engagement is simply people sharing their insights about their own lived experience with whatever condition it is they have.
3. [00:07:13] Listen to what people are not sharing, their nonverbal cues, their body language, and watch for pauses when friction factors or pain points come up.
4. [00:08:20] Humanise people by thinking about what if this was my mother, my father, my loved one, because that helps you listen more compassionately.
5. [00:09:19] Have a referrals list in place beforehand so you can actually refer them to get the services they need. That moves beyond gathering data to action.
6. [00:11:38] The fact that you validated that I've spoken and you've heard what I said goes a long way to building something I call trust.
7. [00:15:17] You can no longer come to communities and extract their information, extract and utilise their bodies for research without really building relationships and learning from the leaders and people in those communities.
8. [00:17:13] Whole person care is considering the entire ecosystem of care around that person, that zip code that person lives in, access to nutritious food, public transportation, supportive family.
9. [00:18:05] It took me 30 years to get a diagnosis. The entire being of who I am was not considered, whether it was overt discrimination and implicit bias or lack of knowledge on the part of healthcare practitioners.
10. [00:21:27] The Rare Cares Collective is going to be one of the first organisations that will bring people together locally, nationally, and globally who may be in that same diagnosis state.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>5 Key Takeaways:
1. Over 3.5 million people in the UK live with a rare condition, 80% of which are genetic, spanning the entire lifespan from babies to older adults.
2. Gene People's helpline offers flexible support at all stages, from pre-diagnosis through to family planning, with some conversations lasting months or even years.
3. The charity supports people with ultra-rare conditions where no condition-specific group exists, as well as those with slightly less rare diagnoses who need additional guidance.
4. Their partnership network connects rare disease organisations, from Facebook peer support groups to registered charities, offering free membership, symposiums, and discounts on essential services.
5. Many rare condition charities are family-run, born from families who don't want others to face the same struggles, and Gene People helps them navigate compliance, governance, and fundraising.
Samantha Barber is CEO of Gene People, bringing nearly 30 years of voluntary sector experience. Emily Clark is a registered genetic counsellor who runs the charity's genetic conditions helpline.
If you or someone you know is affected by a genetic condition, visit genepeople.org.uk or call their helpline for support.
1. [[00:05:52.980]] Emily explains that some conditions are so rare there might only be a handful of people diagnosed with that condition in the world, so they may not have a condition-specific support group to turn to.
2. [[00:06:39.679]] Emily points out that although the condition may be different, many questions families have are similar across conditions, allowing her to work with families on inheritance, family planning, and genetic testing regardless of diagnosis.
3. [[00:08:04.010]] Emily describes the diagnostic odyssey, saying it can take a really long time to get a diagnosis and to get the right diagnosis, with some families experiencing symptoms that remain undiagnosed over quite a long period of time.
4. [[00:10:34.640]] Emily explains that a few people maintain ongoing contact intermittently over a much more extended period of time, like a couple of years, such as those in the 100,000 Genomes Project.
5. [[00:14:08.000]] Sam says that not being focused on one condition gives us a range of perspectives and experiences that we hear about, which helps inform the other parts of our work.
6. [[00:17:54.340]] Sam explains that whether you are a 10,000 pound charity or a 10 million pound charity, the same level of compliance and governance are needed, but it just gets harder to fund for smaller organisations.
7. [[00:20:30.660]] Sam recounts families saying, 'I couldn't let anyone else go through what we went through,' explaining the altruism that drives family-run rare condition organisations.
8. [[00:22:49.780]] Emily says we know it is isolating for so many families out there with rare conditions and it's hard to pick up the phone or send off that email sometimes initially because you don't know really where it's going.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>5 Key Takeaways:
1. Over 3.5 million people in the UK live with a rare condition, 80% of which are genetic, spanning the entire lifespan from babies to older adults.
2. Gene People's helpline offers flexible support at all stages, from pre-diagnosis through to family planning, with some conversations lasting months or even years.
3. The charity supports people with ultra-rare conditions where no condition-specific group exists, as well as those with slightly less rare diagnoses who need additional guidance.
4. Their partnership network connects rare disease organisations, from Facebook peer support groups to registered charities, offering free membership, symposiums, and discounts on essential services.
5. Many rare condition charities are family-run, born from families who don't want others to face the same struggles, and Gene People helps them navigate compliance, governance, and fundraising.
Samantha Barber is CEO of Gene People, bringing nearly 30 years of voluntary sector experience. Emily Clark is a registered genetic counsellor who runs the charity's genetic conditions helpline.
If you or someone you know is affected by a genetic condition, visit genepeople.org.uk or call their helpline for support.
1. [[00:05:52.980]] Emily explains that some conditions are so rare there might only be a handful of people diagnosed with that condition in the world, so they may not have a condition-specific support group to turn to.
2. [[00:06:39.679]] Emily points out that although the condition may be different, many questions families have are similar across conditions, allowing her to work with families on inheritance, family planning, and genetic testing regardless of diagnosis.
3. [[00:08:04.010]] Emily describes the diagnostic odyssey, saying it can take a really long time to get a diagnosis and to get the right diagnosis, with some families experiencing symptoms that remain undiagnosed over quite a long period of time.
4. [[00:10:34.640]] Emily explains that a few people maintain ongoing contact intermittently over a much more extended period of time, like a couple of years, such as those in the 100,000 Genomes Project.
5. [[00:14:08.000]] Sam says that not being focused on one condition gives us a range of perspectives and experiences that we hear about, which helps inform the other parts of our work.
6. [[00:17:54.340]] Sam explains that whether you are a 10,000 pound charity or a 10 million pound charity, the same level of compliance and governance are needed, but it just gets harder to fund for smaller organisations.
7. [[00:20:30.660]] Sam recounts families saying, 'I couldn't let anyone else go through what we went through,' explaining the altruism that drives family-run rare condition organisations.
8. [[00:22:49.780]] Emily says we know it is isolating for so many families out there with rare conditions and it's hard to pick up the phone or send off that email sometimes initially because you don't know really where it's going.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Key takeaways:
1. AI in healthcare refers to technologies that analyse information, identify patterns, and support clinical decision-making, not replace doctors or nurses.
2. AI is already in use across parts of the NHS, from ambient voice technology recording GP consultations to stroke imaging tools and one of the world's largest breast cancer screening trials involving 700,000 women.
3. More than 12,000 people contributed to the National Commission's research, and the message was clear: patients want AI in their care, but support is conditional on safety, transparency, and clear accountability.
4. The Commission recommends evolving the regulatory framework to reflect AI's unique characteristics, including ongoing monitoring, proportionate risk-based requirements, and clearer controls around updates after deployment.
5. If something goes wrong, responsibility depends on the facts of each case, but manufacturers, healthcare providers, prescribers, and regulators all have distinct roles, and the system needs greater clarity on who is accountable for what.
Gabriela Commatteo leads AI regulation policy and projects at the MHRA and was closely involved in the National Commission process.
Subscribe to My Health Focus for expert interviews that answer the questions patients and professionals are actually asking.
02:45
"AI in healthcare refers to technologies that analyse information, identify patterns, make predictions or recommendations, and in the context of healthcare that means using technology to help support health and care delivery."
04:30
"Some GPs are using ambient voice technology to record consultations and produce draft notes, which frees up clinicians to focus more fully on patients rather than taking notes during the appointment, bringing back that human aspect to the clinician-patient relationship."
05:20
"The NHS has launched one of the world's largest trials of AI in breast cancer screening, involving around 700,000 women, to understand whether AI can help identify signs of cancer and support radiologists in reviewing scans more efficiently."
08:15
"More than 12,000 people gave their views, including through public polling, a call for evidence, sector roundtables, and patient and public engagement through partner organisations, and engagement especially included seldom heard groups and underserved, underrepresented groups."
10:40
"Unlike many traditional medical devices, because it can be updated more often and may perform differently across services, patient groups, and clinical settings, the Commission recommends putting more emphasis on ongoing monitoring and clear controls around updates rather than relying only on a single approval point before a product reaches the market."
14:50
"The key message is that patients actually want AI, they want to see AI technologies used in their healthcare, they recognise their benefits, but that support is not automatic, it's conditional. They want to know that it is safe, how it is going to be used, they want meaningful human oversight, and they want to understand what happens if something doesn't go as planned and where the responsibility lies."
not anti-AI, but they have non-negotiable expectations about transparency and accountability.
17:20
"There is no simple answer to that question because questions about liability depend on the facts of a specific incident, but what I would like to stress is one clear message from the Commission, which is that the system needs greater clarity about who is responsible for what."
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Key takeaways:
1. AI in healthcare refers to technologies that analyse information, identify patterns, and support clinical decision-making, not replace doctors or nurses.
2. AI is already in use across parts of the NHS, from ambient voice technology recording GP consultations to stroke imaging tools and one of the world's largest breast cancer screening trials involving 700,000 women.
3. More than 12,000 people contributed to the National Commission's research, and the message was clear: patients want AI in their care, but support is conditional on safety, transparency, and clear accountability.
4. The Commission recommends evolving the regulatory framework to reflect AI's unique characteristics, including ongoing monitoring, proportionate risk-based requirements, and clearer controls around updates after deployment.
5. If something goes wrong, responsibility depends on the facts of each case, but manufacturers, healthcare providers, prescribers, and regulators all have distinct roles, and the system needs greater clarity on who is accountable for what.
Gabriela Commatteo leads AI regulation policy and projects at the MHRA and was closely involved in the National Commission process.
Subscribe to My Health Focus for expert interviews that answer the questions patients and professionals are actually asking.
02:45
"AI in healthcare refers to technologies that analyse information, identify patterns, make predictions or recommendations, and in the context of healthcare that means using technology to help support health and care delivery."
04:30
"Some GPs are using ambient voice technology to record consultations and produce draft notes, which frees up clinicians to focus more fully on patients rather than taking notes during the appointment, bringing back that human aspect to the clinician-patient relationship."
05:20
"The NHS has launched one of the world's largest trials of AI in breast cancer screening, involving around 700,000 women, to understand whether AI can help identify signs of cancer and support radiologists in reviewing scans more efficiently."
08:15
"More than 12,000 people gave their views, including through public polling, a call for evidence, sector roundtables, and patient and public engagement through partner organisations, and engagement especially included seldom heard groups and underserved, underrepresented groups."
10:40
"Unlike many traditional medical devices, because it can be updated more often and may perform differently across services, patient groups, and clinical settings, the Commission recommends putting more emphasis on ongoing monitoring and clear controls around updates rather than relying only on a single approval point before a product reaches the market."
14:50
"The key message is that patients actually want AI, they want to see AI technologies used in their healthcare, they recognise their benefits, but that support is not automatic, it's conditional. They want to know that it is safe, how it is going to be used, they want meaningful human oversight, and they want to understand what happens if something doesn't go as planned and where the responsibility lies."
not anti-AI, but they have non-negotiable expectations about transparency and accountability.
17:20
"There is no simple answer to that question because questions about liability depend on the facts of a specific incident, but what I would like to stress is one clear message from the Commission, which is that the system needs greater clarity about who is responsible for what."
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this first episode, Catriona Williams talks to Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the MHRA.
Lawrence opens up about his mother's cancer diagnosis when he was a teenager, and how a clinical trial at Addenbrooke's gave her 12 more years than doctors expected.
We also cover the new weight-loss pill and why the UK approved it first, what really happened to clinical trial approval times after Brexit, and why women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are still underrepresented in clinical trials.
This is the first of several conversations with the MHRA team. Follow the show for the rest of the series.
Timings:
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this first episode, Catriona Williams talks to Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the MHRA.
Lawrence opens up about his mother's cancer diagnosis when he was a teenager, and how a clinical trial at Addenbrooke's gave her 12 more years than doctors expected.
We also cover the new weight-loss pill and why the UK approved it first, what really happened to clinical trial approval times after Brexit, and why women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are still underrepresented in clinical trials.
This is the first of several conversations with the MHRA team. Follow the show for the rest of the series.
Timings:
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Five key takeaways:
1. Precautionary labelling on food packaging is not regulated, so families must assess risk case by case with their allergist.
2. The science does not support airborne peanut reactions on planes, but the psychological response to proximity to an allergen is real and valid.
3. Oral immunotherapy teaches the body to tolerate an allergen by introducing very small, controlled amounts over time, but tolerance must be maintained through regular exposure.
4. Early introduction of allergens, starting as early as four months, prevents allergies from developing, it does not test whether an allergy already exists.
5. Transitioning allergy management tasks to children should start early, with age-appropriate responsibilities building over time so they are independent by adulthood.
Dr Alice Hoyt is a board-certified allergist and the author of Navigating Food Allergies: A Parent's Guide to Care, Coverage and Confidence. She helps families make evidence-based decisions about food allergy diagnosis, management and treatment.
For more expert interviews on allergies, chronic conditions and evidence-based health information, subscribe to My Health Focus on YouTube, follow the podcast or sing up to out weekly newsletter on: https://myhealthfocus.com/
1. [03:45] Precautionary labelling is not regulated. There is no standardised definition of what may contain means, so families must assess risk with their allergist case by case.
2. [06:30] The science does not support that someone three rows back eating peanut will cause anaphylaxis. Peanut is heavy, it floats down to the tray table, it does not become aerosolised unless in a lab.
3. [08:15] I can see the look on my husband's face when he sits next to someone eating something that could kill him with one bite. He is a physician, he is evidence-based, but that response is real.
4. [12:00] One part of the book that stands out is the roadmap for transitioning responsibilities of managing a food allergy over to your child, starting young with age-appropriate tasks.
5. [17:20] Oral immunotherapy takes very small amounts of allergen, like five milligrams of peanut when one peanut has 300 milligrams, and teaches the body to tolerate it over time.
6. [19:45] The sooner we start oral immunotherapy, the more likely the child will freely eat the allergen. I see kids started under two eating PB&J sandwiches by kindergarten.
7. [21:30] We never want to say something is a cure. A cure means you apply it, the condition goes away, you remove the cure, and it does not come back. With OIT, if you stop, the allergy may return.
8. [25:00] Early introduction is not testing whether they are allergic. We know at four months it is highly unlikely they are allergic, so we feed the food to grow tolerance and prevent the allergy.
9. [28:10] The allergen that really makes allergists uncomfortable is cashew. We are finding more and more kids with cashew allergies, and very small amounts can cause robust reactions.
10. [30:45] The sensationalisation of food allergy, the fear-mongering, the over-promising and under-delivering, those are the things on social media that really bother me.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Five key takeaways:
1. Precautionary labelling on food packaging is not regulated, so families must assess risk case by case with their allergist.
2. The science does not support airborne peanut reactions on planes, but the psychological response to proximity to an allergen is real and valid.
3. Oral immunotherapy teaches the body to tolerate an allergen by introducing very small, controlled amounts over time, but tolerance must be maintained through regular exposure.
4. Early introduction of allergens, starting as early as four months, prevents allergies from developing, it does not test whether an allergy already exists.
5. Transitioning allergy management tasks to children should start early, with age-appropriate responsibilities building over time so they are independent by adulthood.
Dr Alice Hoyt is a board-certified allergist and the author of Navigating Food Allergies: A Parent's Guide to Care, Coverage and Confidence. She helps families make evidence-based decisions about food allergy diagnosis, management and treatment.
For more expert interviews on allergies, chronic conditions and evidence-based health information, subscribe to My Health Focus on YouTube, follow the podcast or sing up to out weekly newsletter on: https://myhealthfocus.com/
1. [03:45] Precautionary labelling is not regulated. There is no standardised definition of what may contain means, so families must assess risk with their allergist case by case.
2. [06:30] The science does not support that someone three rows back eating peanut will cause anaphylaxis. Peanut is heavy, it floats down to the tray table, it does not become aerosolised unless in a lab.
3. [08:15] I can see the look on my husband's face when he sits next to someone eating something that could kill him with one bite. He is a physician, he is evidence-based, but that response is real.
4. [12:00] One part of the book that stands out is the roadmap for transitioning responsibilities of managing a food allergy over to your child, starting young with age-appropriate tasks.
5. [17:20] Oral immunotherapy takes very small amounts of allergen, like five milligrams of peanut when one peanut has 300 milligrams, and teaches the body to tolerate it over time.
6. [19:45] The sooner we start oral immunotherapy, the more likely the child will freely eat the allergen. I see kids started under two eating PB&J sandwiches by kindergarten.
7. [21:30] We never want to say something is a cure. A cure means you apply it, the condition goes away, you remove the cure, and it does not come back. With OIT, if you stop, the allergy may return.
8. [25:00] Early introduction is not testing whether they are allergic. We know at four months it is highly unlikely they are allergic, so we feed the food to grow tolerance and prevent the allergy.
9. [28:10] The allergen that really makes allergists uncomfortable is cashew. We are finding more and more kids with cashew allergies, and very small amounts can cause robust reactions.
10. [30:45] The sensationalisation of food allergy, the fear-mongering, the over-promising and under-delivering, those are the things on social media that really bother me.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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]]>Sally and Catriona talk through why toxic positivity is exhausting rather than helpful, the "game show noise" technique for interrupting anxious rumination, breathing as an early signal of overwhelm, and the havening technique for calming the nervous system.
They also cover emetophobia, the fear of vomiting, and how it can shape a life long before anyone names it.
1. [02:30] Resilience is not about being massively positive all the time, it is exhausting being positive when you are feeling fearful, anxious and not very well
→ Sally challenges the common misconception that resilience means forced positivity, which is a relief for anyone struggling with chronic health anxiety
2. [04:15] All of the overthinking is like a vine in your hand, the more attention you pay the seed of these worrying thoughts, it gives it energy, as if you are growing a seed with water and sunlight so that eventually your thoughts become completely overwhelming
→ This is Sally's signature metaphor for how rumination spirals, and it helps people understand why their anxiety keeps growing
3. [05:20] The game show noise technique: when you find yourself ruminating about your health, say the game show noise, it goes uhhhh, that's an unhelpful thought, and break it, break the thought pattern
→ Sally gives a concrete, memorable tool that clients and their families can use immediately to interrupt health anxiety spirals
4. [10:45] Resilience is developed in the crucible of the family, if you are raised in an environment where you are loved, honoured and adored, you will develop natural resilience, but what is great about resilience is that you can learn it as an adult later in life
→ Sally explains the origins of resilience but emphasises hope, this is not a life sentence, adults can build resilience even if they did not develop it as children
5. [13:30] Health anxiety becomes a problem when it interrupts you living your life as best as you are able to, poor health can already make our life small, but then anxiety on top of that means we are spending all our time and energy ruminating
→ Sally defines the tipping point clearly, this helps listeners recognise when health anxiety has become a genuine problem rather than a normal worry
6. [14:50] The period of waiting for a diagnosis is almost harder than being given the most terrible news, because even when the waiting is endless, it is an abstract, no one knows what is going to happen, and as soon as you have had the news, there is a palpable release, at least now I know what I am facing
→ Sally validates the experience of waiting for results, which many listeners will find deeply relatable and reassuring
7. [16:30] The music box metaphor: when you are winding yourself up with anxiety and ruminating, you are in effect winding up the music box, and when the music box is completely wound up, it can only play one tune and it can only do one dance
→ Sally uses a physical prop to demonstrate how rumination locks you into a single pattern, making the abstract concept tangible
8. [19:00] Havening is a great technique, you start with your hands on the top of your shoulders and you slowly stroke down, what you are doing is you are calming your parasympathetic system
→ Sally introduces a self-soothing technique that listeners can practise immediately, with clear physical instructions
9. [26:15] Emetophobia, the fear of vomit, is the queen or king of all phobias because the threads of it impact on so many different aspects of life, it can stop someone going to university, make people agoraphobic, lead to orthorexia and even anorexia
→ Sally explains a less well-known phobia that affects mostly women and girls, showing how health anxiety can infiltrate every area of life
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Sally and Catriona talk through why toxic positivity is exhausting rather than helpful, the "game show noise" technique for interrupting anxious rumination, breathing as an early signal of overwhelm, and the havening technique for calming the nervous system.
They also cover emetophobia, the fear of vomiting, and how it can shape a life long before anyone names it.
1. [02:30] Resilience is not about being massively positive all the time, it is exhausting being positive when you are feeling fearful, anxious and not very well
→ Sally challenges the common misconception that resilience means forced positivity, which is a relief for anyone struggling with chronic health anxiety
2. [04:15] All of the overthinking is like a vine in your hand, the more attention you pay the seed of these worrying thoughts, it gives it energy, as if you are growing a seed with water and sunlight so that eventually your thoughts become completely overwhelming
→ This is Sally's signature metaphor for how rumination spirals, and it helps people understand why their anxiety keeps growing
3. [05:20] The game show noise technique: when you find yourself ruminating about your health, say the game show noise, it goes uhhhh, that's an unhelpful thought, and break it, break the thought pattern
→ Sally gives a concrete, memorable tool that clients and their families can use immediately to interrupt health anxiety spirals
4. [10:45] Resilience is developed in the crucible of the family, if you are raised in an environment where you are loved, honoured and adored, you will develop natural resilience, but what is great about resilience is that you can learn it as an adult later in life
→ Sally explains the origins of resilience but emphasises hope, this is not a life sentence, adults can build resilience even if they did not develop it as children
5. [13:30] Health anxiety becomes a problem when it interrupts you living your life as best as you are able to, poor health can already make our life small, but then anxiety on top of that means we are spending all our time and energy ruminating
→ Sally defines the tipping point clearly, this helps listeners recognise when health anxiety has become a genuine problem rather than a normal worry
6. [14:50] The period of waiting for a diagnosis is almost harder than being given the most terrible news, because even when the waiting is endless, it is an abstract, no one knows what is going to happen, and as soon as you have had the news, there is a palpable release, at least now I know what I am facing
→ Sally validates the experience of waiting for results, which many listeners will find deeply relatable and reassuring
7. [16:30] The music box metaphor: when you are winding yourself up with anxiety and ruminating, you are in effect winding up the music box, and when the music box is completely wound up, it can only play one tune and it can only do one dance
→ Sally uses a physical prop to demonstrate how rumination locks you into a single pattern, making the abstract concept tangible
8. [19:00] Havening is a great technique, you start with your hands on the top of your shoulders and you slowly stroke down, what you are doing is you are calming your parasympathetic system
→ Sally introduces a self-soothing technique that listeners can practise immediately, with clear physical instructions
9. [26:15] Emetophobia, the fear of vomit, is the queen or king of all phobias because the threads of it impact on so many different aspects of life, it can stop someone going to university, make people agoraphobic, lead to orthorexia and even anorexia
→ Sally explains a less well-known phobia that affects mostly women and girls, showing how health anxiety can infiltrate every area of life
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>5 Key Takeaways:
1. Pharma still talks about patient engagement but rarely follows through because there's no short-term ROI and the driver is stockholder returns, not patient experience.
2. Patient insights panels fail when commercial colleagues aren't involved from the start and when the work is treated as a project rather than business as usual.
3. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can cause crushing fatigue, loss of body hair, and profound changes to self-image that aren't adequately supported.
4. Geoff received just 43 minutes of clinical input over six months, highlighting the gap between keeping patients alive and supporting their quality of life.
5. Real patient-centricity means changing what marketers and commercial teams do in response to patient insights, not just collecting data.
Geoff Rollason is a patient advocate and former Associate Director of Primary Integrated Care in the NHS. He later led patient experience for Pfizer UK Oncology before retiring and being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and patient education content.
Sign up to my newsletter here: https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>5 Key Takeaways:
1. Pharma still talks about patient engagement but rarely follows through because there's no short-term ROI and the driver is stockholder returns, not patient experience.
2. Patient insights panels fail when commercial colleagues aren't involved from the start and when the work is treated as a project rather than business as usual.
3. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can cause crushing fatigue, loss of body hair, and profound changes to self-image that aren't adequately supported.
4. Geoff received just 43 minutes of clinical input over six months, highlighting the gap between keeping patients alive and supporting their quality of life.
5. Real patient-centricity means changing what marketers and commercial teams do in response to patient insights, not just collecting data.
Geoff Rollason is a patient advocate and former Associate Director of Primary Integrated Care in the NHS. He later led patient experience for Pfizer UK Oncology before retiring and being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and patient education content.
Sign up to my newsletter here: https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Marianne Nicholson from the Herpes Virus Association and Shingles Support Society returns to tackle the stigma surrounding genital herpes and explain why most people who carry the virus never know they have it. She shares that by age 25, seven in ten people in the UK carry herpes simplex, yet only one in three ever develops symptoms severe enough for diagnosis. This means most transmission occurs from people who are completely unaware they are infected.
Key takeaways:
1. Transmission most often occurs from people who do not know they have herpes, not from those who are diagnosed and aware
2. After two years without frequent recurrences, asymptomatic shedding is no longer a concern according to BASH guidelines
3. Women who already have herpes before pregnancy can have normal delivery, even with a recurrence at birth, because baby acquires protective antibodies
4. Commercial herpes blood tests give one false positive in ten and one false negative in three, making them unreliable
5. Herpes cannot be transmitted through towels, toilet seats, swimming pools, or any object, only direct skin-to-skin contact with friction
Marianne Nicholson has personal experience with herpes simplex and now supports others through the Herpes Viruses Association helpline, where all volunteers also have the condition and have come out the other side.
For support, contact the Herpes Viruses Association on 0345 123 2305.
1. Peronal. I don't mind having it myself, I just dread passing it on. Now, no one is going to say, I don't mind having cancer myself, I just don't want anyone else to have cancer. It doesn't work like that for anything else, which means that actually it's not the condition that people are worried about, it's the word.
2. Diagnosis]. Only one in three is ever going to get symptoms that are bad enough to get a diagnosis. Others will have little symptoms which they identify as say an infected hair follicle or a little cut or little sore patch, so they never know that their little itchy patch is actually a herpes simplex infection until much later when they've infected somebody.
3. Asymptomatic shedding.The expert doctors of BASH say very clearly that after two years, unless you are getting frequent recurrences, and they define that as six or more per year, you're allowed to forget about asymptomatic shedding. It's just not a thing.
4. Pregnancy.Since babies were first invented, women with cold sores have kissed their new babies 24 times a day. And there is no common knowledge that ladies with cold sores kill their babies. The reason why this is fine is that during pregnancy, baby acquires antibodies for all the things you've got antibodies to.
5. Condom effectiveness .When a man has got it, using a condom is 95% protective. Even when a woman has got it, using a condom is 65% protective to the man. Women are one sixth as likely to infect men as the other way around.
6. Blood tests.The blood tests that are available commercially are going to give you one false positive in 10. Would you buy a pregnancy test that was going to tell you you're pregnant when you weren't one time in 10? And they're going to give you a false negative one time in three.
7. Statistics .By the age of 25, 7 out of 10 people in the UK carry this virus. By the age of 35, one in five has got type two. And 85% of women, 77% of men have got type one, which is often genital.
8. [ransmission source. Transmission most often occurs from the people who are not diagnosed. That is a quote from one of the world's top herpes doctors, Dr. Lawrence Corey. The people who are diagnosed are less likely to be passing it on.
9. Myths. The expert doctors categorically say it will not be passed on through any object at all, towels, dirty underwear, anything you can imagine. It can only be passed on by direct skin to skin contact with the affected part when the virus is active with friction.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Marianne Nicholson from the Herpes Virus Association and Shingles Support Society returns to tackle the stigma surrounding genital herpes and explain why most people who carry the virus never know they have it. She shares that by age 25, seven in ten people in the UK carry herpes simplex, yet only one in three ever develops symptoms severe enough for diagnosis. This means most transmission occurs from people who are completely unaware they are infected.
Key takeaways:
1. Transmission most often occurs from people who do not know they have herpes, not from those who are diagnosed and aware
2. After two years without frequent recurrences, asymptomatic shedding is no longer a concern according to BASH guidelines
3. Women who already have herpes before pregnancy can have normal delivery, even with a recurrence at birth, because baby acquires protective antibodies
4. Commercial herpes blood tests give one false positive in ten and one false negative in three, making them unreliable
5. Herpes cannot be transmitted through towels, toilet seats, swimming pools, or any object, only direct skin-to-skin contact with friction
Marianne Nicholson has personal experience with herpes simplex and now supports others through the Herpes Viruses Association helpline, where all volunteers also have the condition and have come out the other side.
For support, contact the Herpes Viruses Association on 0345 123 2305.
1. Peronal. I don't mind having it myself, I just dread passing it on. Now, no one is going to say, I don't mind having cancer myself, I just don't want anyone else to have cancer. It doesn't work like that for anything else, which means that actually it's not the condition that people are worried about, it's the word.
2. Diagnosis]. Only one in three is ever going to get symptoms that are bad enough to get a diagnosis. Others will have little symptoms which they identify as say an infected hair follicle or a little cut or little sore patch, so they never know that their little itchy patch is actually a herpes simplex infection until much later when they've infected somebody.
3. Asymptomatic shedding.The expert doctors of BASH say very clearly that after two years, unless you are getting frequent recurrences, and they define that as six or more per year, you're allowed to forget about asymptomatic shedding. It's just not a thing.
4. Pregnancy.Since babies were first invented, women with cold sores have kissed their new babies 24 times a day. And there is no common knowledge that ladies with cold sores kill their babies. The reason why this is fine is that during pregnancy, baby acquires antibodies for all the things you've got antibodies to.
5. Condom effectiveness .When a man has got it, using a condom is 95% protective. Even when a woman has got it, using a condom is 65% protective to the man. Women are one sixth as likely to infect men as the other way around.
6. Blood tests.The blood tests that are available commercially are going to give you one false positive in 10. Would you buy a pregnancy test that was going to tell you you're pregnant when you weren't one time in 10? And they're going to give you a false negative one time in three.
7. Statistics .By the age of 25, 7 out of 10 people in the UK carry this virus. By the age of 35, one in five has got type two. And 85% of women, 77% of men have got type one, which is often genital.
8. [ransmission source. Transmission most often occurs from the people who are not diagnosed. That is a quote from one of the world's top herpes doctors, Dr. Lawrence Corey. The people who are diagnosed are less likely to be passing it on.
9. Myths. The expert doctors categorically say it will not be passed on through any object at all, towels, dirty underwear, anything you can imagine. It can only be passed on by direct skin to skin contact with the affected part when the virus is active with friction.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Five key takeaways:
1. Only three over-the-counter ingredients have stood the test of time: petroleum jelly, retinol, and sunscreen
2. Temporary swelling agents create Cinderella effects that vanish by the time you get home after purchase
3. Fairy dusting means premium-priced products often contain only trace amounts of their advertised star ingredients
4. Most anti-aging products contain no active ingredients because no over-the-counter ingredient truly changes skin structure long-term
5. Rosacea is often misdiagnosed as acne, and using acne products on rosacea makes it worse
Dr Erum Ilyas is a board-certified dermatologist with over two decades of clinical experience treating every age and stage of skin health, and author of The No-Nonsense Skincare.
Explore more expert health content at My Health Focus.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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]]>Five key takeaways:
1. Only three over-the-counter ingredients have stood the test of time: petroleum jelly, retinol, and sunscreen
2. Temporary swelling agents create Cinderella effects that vanish by the time you get home after purchase
3. Fairy dusting means premium-priced products often contain only trace amounts of their advertised star ingredients
4. Most anti-aging products contain no active ingredients because no over-the-counter ingredient truly changes skin structure long-term
5. Rosacea is often misdiagnosed as acne, and using acne products on rosacea makes it worse
Dr Erum Ilyas is a board-certified dermatologist with over two decades of clinical experience treating every age and stage of skin health, and author of The No-Nonsense Skincare.
Explore more expert health content at My Health Focus.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Dr Adam Barsouk, oncology fellow at Johns Hopkins University and author of Outsmarting Cancer: Risk Reduction and the Power of Prevention, joins Catriona Williams to discuss why half of all cancer diagnoses could be prevented and why modern medicine has focused on treatment rather than prevention.
Key takeaways:
1. Obesity is the second leading cause of cancer globally after smoking, contributing to nearly every cancer type through chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction
2. Cancer rates in adults under 50 have more than doubled in the last 30 years, driven by obesity, ultra-processed foods, microplastics, and environmental exposures
3. The HPV vaccine can prevent 98-99% of cancers caused by human papillomavirus, including cervical, anal, and head and neck cancers, yet vaccine hesitancy limits its impact
4. Lung and liver cancers receive less research funding due to stigma, even though many lung cancer patients are non-smokers and addiction is a medical disease, not a lifestyle choice
5. Only 5% of healthcare expenditure goes to prevention despite evidence that prevention could eliminate half of all cancer cases, largely because there is no short-term financial incentive for industry or policymakers
Dr Adam Barsouk is an oncology fellow and researcher at Johns Hopkins University and has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications on cancer epidemiology and treatment.
For more expert health insights, visit My Health Focus.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
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]]>Dr Adam Barsouk, oncology fellow at Johns Hopkins University and author of Outsmarting Cancer: Risk Reduction and the Power of Prevention, joins Catriona Williams to discuss why half of all cancer diagnoses could be prevented and why modern medicine has focused on treatment rather than prevention.
Key takeaways:
1. Obesity is the second leading cause of cancer globally after smoking, contributing to nearly every cancer type through chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction
2. Cancer rates in adults under 50 have more than doubled in the last 30 years, driven by obesity, ultra-processed foods, microplastics, and environmental exposures
3. The HPV vaccine can prevent 98-99% of cancers caused by human papillomavirus, including cervical, anal, and head and neck cancers, yet vaccine hesitancy limits its impact
4. Lung and liver cancers receive less research funding due to stigma, even though many lung cancer patients are non-smokers and addiction is a medical disease, not a lifestyle choice
5. Only 5% of healthcare expenditure goes to prevention despite evidence that prevention could eliminate half of all cancer cases, largely because there is no short-term financial incentive for industry or policymakers
Dr Adam Barsouk is an oncology fellow and researcher at Johns Hopkins University and has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications on cancer epidemiology and treatment.
For more expert health insights, visit My Health Focus.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this episode, Catriona is joined by Kate Dodd, Recruitment and Engagement Manager at Liverpool's Clinical Research Facility, and Dr Lauren Walker, Deputy Director of the NIHR-funded CRF at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Together they discuss a research paper exploring the clinically significant findings identified during trial screening, and why that changes the conversation around participation.
They cover:
Whether you've ever considered joining a clinical trial or simply want to understand more about how medicines are developed and tested, this conversation offers a perspective that's rarely heard outside research circles.
Guests:
Kate Dodd, Recruitment and Engagement Manager, NIHR Liverpool Clinical Research Facility
Dr Lauren Walker, Deputy Director, NIHR Liverpool Clinical Research Facility
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this episode, Catriona is joined by Kate Dodd, Recruitment and Engagement Manager at Liverpool's Clinical Research Facility, and Dr Lauren Walker, Deputy Director of the NIHR-funded CRF at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Together they discuss a research paper exploring the clinically significant findings identified during trial screening, and why that changes the conversation around participation.
They cover:
Whether you've ever considered joining a clinical trial or simply want to understand more about how medicines are developed and tested, this conversation offers a perspective that's rarely heard outside research circles.
Guests:
Kate Dodd, Recruitment and Engagement Manager, NIHR Liverpool Clinical Research Facility
Dr Lauren Walker, Deputy Director, NIHR Liverpool Clinical Research Facility
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Bridget is the founder of Sweet Life, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and a published author. In this episode, Catriona talks to her about why that sense of isolation at diagnosis is so universal, what people with chronic conditions actually need from a community, and why managing diabetes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year is exhausting in a way that's almost impossible to explain to people who don't live it.
They also discuss the divide between public and private healthcare in South Africa, why type 2 diabetes carries a stigma that type 1 doesn't, the relief of talking to people who just get it without needing everything explained, and why the language healthcare professionals use around diabetes needs to change.
Connect with Sweet Life: sweetlife.org.za South Africans with Diabetes on Facebook @sweetlife.org.za on Instagram
Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and patient education content.
Article:
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https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Bridget is the founder of Sweet Life, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and a published author. In this episode, Catriona talks to her about why that sense of isolation at diagnosis is so universal, what people with chronic conditions actually need from a community, and why managing diabetes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year is exhausting in a way that's almost impossible to explain to people who don't live it.
They also discuss the divide between public and private healthcare in South Africa, why type 2 diabetes carries a stigma that type 1 doesn't, the relief of talking to people who just get it without needing everything explained, and why the language healthcare professionals use around diabetes needs to change.
Connect with Sweet Life: sweetlife.org.za South Africans with Diabetes on Facebook @sweetlife.org.za on Instagram
Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and patient education content.
Article:
Sign up to my newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Key takeaways:
1. Testosterone levels have been declining across generations since the 1980s, with each decade showing lower average levels than the previous one
2. Low testosterone symptoms include low energy, brain fog, reduced motivation, mood changes, and reduced resilience to stress
3. Proper testing requires checking both total and free testosterone levels, not just total testosterone alone
4. Lifestyle factors including sleep, exercise, diet, stress management, and body composition should be optimised before considering testosterone replacement therapy
5. Testosterone replacement therapy can complicate fertility and requires careful consideration, particularly for younger men who haven't completed their families
Dr Max Draper is a medical doctor, author, and specialist in testosterone and men's health, bringing both professional expertise and personal experience to this crucial health topic.
Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and evidence-based patient education.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Key takeaways:
1. Testosterone levels have been declining across generations since the 1980s, with each decade showing lower average levels than the previous one
2. Low testosterone symptoms include low energy, brain fog, reduced motivation, mood changes, and reduced resilience to stress
3. Proper testing requires checking both total and free testosterone levels, not just total testosterone alone
4. Lifestyle factors including sleep, exercise, diet, stress management, and body composition should be optimised before considering testosterone replacement therapy
5. Testosterone replacement therapy can complicate fertility and requires careful consideration, particularly for younger men who haven't completed their families
Dr Max Draper is a medical doctor, author, and specialist in testosterone and men's health, bringing both professional expertise and personal experience to this crucial health topic.
Follow My Health Focus for more expert health interviews and evidence-based patient education.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>When Juliet Sullivan collapsed in agony on a pavement in England, she had no idea what was happening to her.
The diagnosis was gallstones, and along with it came instructions to follow a low-fat diet for several months until her gallbladder could be removed. What she could not find anywhere was a practical, accessible book to help her through it. So she wrote one.
In this episode, Juliet joins Catriona Williams to talk through her experience from first attack to full recovery, and shares the dietary wisdom she gathered along the way.
5 Key Takeaways
1. Gallstone attacks are frequently misdiagnosed at first because the pain, though felt in the upper abdomen, can mimic other conditions including appendicitis or cardiac events.
2. A low-fat or very low-fat diet is typically recommended to reduce the risk of triggering further attacks while awaiting surgery, but it is not a long-term solution and healthy fats remain important for overall wellbeing.
3. Keeping a food diary after diagnosis can help identify personal trigger foods, which vary between individuals. Common culprits include oils, butter, avocado, and rich restaurant or ready-made meals.
4. Gallbladder removal is a common procedure, but recovery is a genuine physical experience that deserves honest preparation rather than being minimised by healthcare teams.
5. After surgery, most people can gradually reintroduce a full and healthy diet, though many find their eating habits and awareness of fat content change permanently for the better.
Juliet Sullivan is the author of The Gallstone Friendly Diet, a practical and warmly written guide for anyone navigating life with gallstones before and after surgery.
Find the book online and follow My Health Focus for more conversations on everyday health.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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]]>When Juliet Sullivan collapsed in agony on a pavement in England, she had no idea what was happening to her.
The diagnosis was gallstones, and along with it came instructions to follow a low-fat diet for several months until her gallbladder could be removed. What she could not find anywhere was a practical, accessible book to help her through it. So she wrote one.
In this episode, Juliet joins Catriona Williams to talk through her experience from first attack to full recovery, and shares the dietary wisdom she gathered along the way.
5 Key Takeaways
1. Gallstone attacks are frequently misdiagnosed at first because the pain, though felt in the upper abdomen, can mimic other conditions including appendicitis or cardiac events.
2. A low-fat or very low-fat diet is typically recommended to reduce the risk of triggering further attacks while awaiting surgery, but it is not a long-term solution and healthy fats remain important for overall wellbeing.
3. Keeping a food diary after diagnosis can help identify personal trigger foods, which vary between individuals. Common culprits include oils, butter, avocado, and rich restaurant or ready-made meals.
4. Gallbladder removal is a common procedure, but recovery is a genuine physical experience that deserves honest preparation rather than being minimised by healthcare teams.
5. After surgery, most people can gradually reintroduce a full and healthy diet, though many find their eating habits and awareness of fat content change permanently for the better.
Juliet Sullivan is the author of The Gallstone Friendly Diet, a practical and warmly written guide for anyone navigating life with gallstones before and after surgery.
Find the book online and follow My Health Focus for more conversations on everyday health.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>From the outside, it can look like success: long hours, professional drive, financial achievement, responsibility.
But beneath the surface can sit exhaustion, trauma, stress and emotional disconnection.
Oliver shares his own experience of burnout, the moment he realised something had to change, and what recovery actually involves. We discuss:
• The link between trauma and addictive behaviours
• Why overworking can become socially acceptable avoidance
• The difference between stress and true burnout
• The stigma around the word “addiction”
• The importance of awareness and early intervention
• Why relapse is part of the journey — not failure
This is not a conversation about extremes.
It’s about recognising the quieter patterns many high achievers live with — and understanding that support is available long before crisis point.
If you’ve ever felt you were running on empty, this episode may resonate.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>From the outside, it can look like success: long hours, professional drive, financial achievement, responsibility.
But beneath the surface can sit exhaustion, trauma, stress and emotional disconnection.
Oliver shares his own experience of burnout, the moment he realised something had to change, and what recovery actually involves. We discuss:
• The link between trauma and addictive behaviours
• Why overworking can become socially acceptable avoidance
• The difference between stress and true burnout
• The stigma around the word “addiction”
• The importance of awareness and early intervention
• Why relapse is part of the journey — not failure
This is not a conversation about extremes.
It’s about recognising the quieter patterns many high achievers live with — and understanding that support is available long before crisis point.
If you’ve ever felt you were running on empty, this episode may resonate.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this Medmin episode, Catriona Williams is joined by Javeria Iqbal, Consultant Breast Surgeon, to discuss common breast symptoms and what to expect when attending a breast clinic.
The conversation focuses on reassurance, early assessment and helping people understand which changes should be checked and how clinics work.
Discussion includes:
•Common breast symptoms and changes
•What is considered normal and what needs checking
•Breast self-examination and when to seek help
•The triple assessment process
•NHS breast screening and self-referral
This episode is for information and education only and does not replace medical advice.
Sign up to the My Health Focus newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this Medmin episode, Catriona Williams is joined by Javeria Iqbal, Consultant Breast Surgeon, to discuss common breast symptoms and what to expect when attending a breast clinic.
The conversation focuses on reassurance, early assessment and helping people understand which changes should be checked and how clinics work.
Discussion includes:
•Common breast symptoms and changes
•What is considered normal and what needs checking
•Breast self-examination and when to seek help
•The triple assessment process
•NHS breast screening and self-referral
This episode is for information and education only and does not replace medical advice.
Sign up to the My Health Focus newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>They explore the importance of support, self-awareness and monitoring both emotional and physical changes throughout the process.
Discussion includes:
•Mental wellbeing during weight loss
•Physical health and muscle maintenance
•Side effects and seeking professional support
•Social changes and food relationships
•The value of journalling and reflection
This episode is educational and does not provide medical advice.
Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>They explore the importance of support, self-awareness and monitoring both emotional and physical changes throughout the process.
Discussion includes:
•Mental wellbeing during weight loss
•Physical health and muscle maintenance
•Side effects and seeking professional support
•Social changes and food relationships
•The value of journalling and reflection
This episode is educational and does not provide medical advice.
Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Karen shares both professional insight and lived experience following her MS diagnosis.
Discussion includes:
•Understanding autoimmune conditions
•Gut health and inflammation
•Fibre, microbiome and immune balance
•Practical food changes and sustainability
•Enjoying food while supporting health
This episode is educational and not intended as medical advice.
Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Karen shares both professional insight and lived experience following her MS diagnosis.
Discussion includes:
•Understanding autoimmune conditions
•Gut health and inflammation
•Fibre, microbiome and immune balance
•Practical food changes and sustainability
•Enjoying food while supporting health
This episode is educational and not intended as medical advice.
Sign up to our newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Together, they discuss commonly reported reactions such as nausea, reduced appetite, digestive changes, fatigue, and brain fog, while emphasising that experiences can vary widely between individuals. Becky explains why structured eating, hydration, and sufficient protein intake remain important — even when hunger cues are reduced — and why strength training can play a key role in protecting muscle mass during weight loss.
The conversation also explores hormonal considerations, including potential menstrual changes, and the importance of distinguishing GLP-1 side effects from symptoms linked to perimenopause, menopause, or other health conditions. Throughout the discussion, both stress the importance of medical supervision, monitoring symptoms, and seeking professional advice if anything feels unusual or unmanageable.
This episode aims to inform and reassure, helping listeners better understand what may be normal, what to monitor, and how to approach a GLP-1 journey safely.
This content is for information only and does not replace advice from a GP or prescribing clinician.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Together, they discuss commonly reported reactions such as nausea, reduced appetite, digestive changes, fatigue, and brain fog, while emphasising that experiences can vary widely between individuals. Becky explains why structured eating, hydration, and sufficient protein intake remain important — even when hunger cues are reduced — and why strength training can play a key role in protecting muscle mass during weight loss.
The conversation also explores hormonal considerations, including potential menstrual changes, and the importance of distinguishing GLP-1 side effects from symptoms linked to perimenopause, menopause, or other health conditions. Throughout the discussion, both stress the importance of medical supervision, monitoring symptoms, and seeking professional advice if anything feels unusual or unmanageable.
This episode aims to inform and reassure, helping listeners better understand what may be normal, what to monitor, and how to approach a GLP-1 journey safely.
This content is for information only and does not replace advice from a GP or prescribing clinician.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>They explore why many women seek HRT, why some cannot take it for medical reasons, and why others prefer not to use hormones. The conversation looks at how menopause symptoms can overlap with long-term and chronic health conditions, sometimes making symptoms harder to identify.
Dr Radley also outlines non-hormonal options that may help with symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep problems, and mood changes, alongside the role of lifestyle changes in supporting long-term health after menopause.
Key themes include:
This episode is for information and education only and does not provide medical advice.
Links
Sign up to my newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>They explore why many women seek HRT, why some cannot take it for medical reasons, and why others prefer not to use hormones. The conversation looks at how menopause symptoms can overlap with long-term and chronic health conditions, sometimes making symptoms harder to identify.
Dr Radley also outlines non-hormonal options that may help with symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep problems, and mood changes, alongside the role of lifestyle changes in supporting long-term health after menopause.
Key themes include:
This episode is for information and education only and does not provide medical advice.
Links
Sign up to my newsletter here:
https://bit.ly/3NA40IQ
Website:
https://myhealthfocus.com
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Building on the previous conversation with Sally, this episode explores what food noise means, how people experience it, and why it is such a significant part of the GLP-1 journey. Becky shares insights from working with clients who are using GLP-1 medications and reflects on both the positive and challenging effects of reduced food noise.
This episode covers:
This episode is for education and awareness only and does not provide medical advice.
Sign up to my newsletter here:
Website:
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Building on the previous conversation with Sally, this episode explores what food noise means, how people experience it, and why it is such a significant part of the GLP-1 journey. Becky shares insights from working with clients who are using GLP-1 medications and reflects on both the positive and challenging effects of reduced food noise.
This episode covers:
This episode is for education and awareness only and does not provide medical advice.
Sign up to my newsletter here:
Website:
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>They discuss how lifestyle factors such as weight, alcohol and smoking influence breast cancer risk, and why prevention plays a larger role than many people realise. Mr Vatish explains how risk changes with age, particularly after the menopause, and clarifies the current evidence around hormone replacement therapy, including duration, formulation and individual risk factors.
The conversation also covers breast screening in the UK, why invitations are offered every three years, and how self-examination helps detect breast cancer at its earliest and most treatable stages. Importantly, Mr Vatish explains why early diagnosis is associated with excellent outcomes and increasingly well-tolerated treatments.
This episode aims to provide reassurance, clarity and practical guidance for women at every stage of life.
This content is for information only.
• How lifestyle affects breast cancer risk
• Weight, menopause and oestrogen explained
• HRT: benefits, risks and duration
• Breast screening in the UK
• How and when to self-examine
• Why early detection matters
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>They discuss how lifestyle factors such as weight, alcohol and smoking influence breast cancer risk, and why prevention plays a larger role than many people realise. Mr Vatish explains how risk changes with age, particularly after the menopause, and clarifies the current evidence around hormone replacement therapy, including duration, formulation and individual risk factors.
The conversation also covers breast screening in the UK, why invitations are offered every three years, and how self-examination helps detect breast cancer at its earliest and most treatable stages. Importantly, Mr Vatish explains why early diagnosis is associated with excellent outcomes and increasingly well-tolerated treatments.
This episode aims to provide reassurance, clarity and practical guidance for women at every stage of life.
This content is for information only.
• How lifestyle affects breast cancer risk
• Weight, menopause and oestrogen explained
• HRT: benefits, risks and duration
• Breast screening in the UK
• How and when to self-examine
• Why early detection matters
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this episode, Catriona Williams speaks with Consultant Hepatopancreatobiliary and Liver Transplant Surgeon Mr Nikolaos Chatzizacharias about gallbladder health. He explains the role of the gallbladder in digestion, how gallstones develop, and why symptoms often appear after eating, particularly fatty meals.
They also discuss the increasing use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications such as Mounjaro, and how both rapid weight loss and reduced gallbladder contraction may increase the risk of gallstones in some individuals.
The episode covers common symptoms, how gallstones are diagnosed, potential complications including infection and pancreatitis, and when gallbladder removal is advised. Mr Chatzizacharias also explains recovery after surgery and what life is like without a gallbladder.
This content is for information only.
• What the gallbladder does and why we need it
• How and why gallstones form
• Typical symptoms and warning signs
• GLP-1 medications and gallstone risk
• When gallstones become serious
• Treatment options and recovery after surgery
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this episode, Catriona Williams speaks with Consultant Hepatopancreatobiliary and Liver Transplant Surgeon Mr Nikolaos Chatzizacharias about gallbladder health. He explains the role of the gallbladder in digestion, how gallstones develop, and why symptoms often appear after eating, particularly fatty meals.
They also discuss the increasing use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications such as Mounjaro, and how both rapid weight loss and reduced gallbladder contraction may increase the risk of gallstones in some individuals.
The episode covers common symptoms, how gallstones are diagnosed, potential complications including infection and pancreatitis, and when gallbladder removal is advised. Mr Chatzizacharias also explains recovery after surgery and what life is like without a gallbladder.
This content is for information only.
• What the gallbladder does and why we need it
• How and why gallstones form
• Typical symptoms and warning signs
• GLP-1 medications and gallstone risk
• When gallstones become serious
• Treatment options and recovery after surgery
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Sally, who lives with type 1 diabetes, shares her experience of being prescribed a GLP-1 medication off-licence through her NHS diabetes team. She explains why it was offered, how it affected appetite and food noise, and the challenges of navigating side effects and limited clinical guidance.
Personal trainer Becky Lever joins the discussion to explore why resistance training is particularly important for people using GLP-1 medications, especially women in perimenopause. Together, they talk about muscle loss, confidence in the gym, and shifting the focus away from weight alone towards strength, function, and long-term wellbeing.
This episode is not about promoting medication, but about understanding real-world experiences and the importance of support when making health decisions.
This content is for information only and does not replace advice from a GP or prescribing clinician.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>Sally, who lives with type 1 diabetes, shares her experience of being prescribed a GLP-1 medication off-licence through her NHS diabetes team. She explains why it was offered, how it affected appetite and food noise, and the challenges of navigating side effects and limited clinical guidance.
Personal trainer Becky Lever joins the discussion to explore why resistance training is particularly important for people using GLP-1 medications, especially women in perimenopause. Together, they talk about muscle loss, confidence in the gym, and shifting the focus away from weight alone towards strength, function, and long-term wellbeing.
This episode is not about promoting medication, but about understanding real-world experiences and the importance of support when making health decisions.
This content is for information only and does not replace advice from a GP or prescribing clinician.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Jacqueline Radley, GP and British Menopause Society–accredited menopause specialist and founder of The Birmingham Menopause Clinic, for an open and reassuring conversation about vaginal atrophy, also known as genitourinary syndrome of the menopause (GSM).
Dr Radley explains what vaginal atrophy is, why it happens, when symptoms can begin, and why so many women feel embarrassed or unsure about seeking help. We discuss common symptoms including dryness, soreness, pain during sex and urinary problems — and, importantly, the treatments that can be genuinely life-changing.
This episode aims to reduce stigma, provide clear medical information, and reassure listeners that vaginal atrophy is common, treatable, and nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t need to suffer in silence.
This episode is sponsored by MEDMIN
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Jacqueline Radley, GP and British Menopause Society–accredited menopause specialist and founder of The Birmingham Menopause Clinic, for an open and reassuring conversation about vaginal atrophy, also known as genitourinary syndrome of the menopause (GSM).
Dr Radley explains what vaginal atrophy is, why it happens, when symptoms can begin, and why so many women feel embarrassed or unsure about seeking help. We discuss common symptoms including dryness, soreness, pain during sex and urinary problems — and, importantly, the treatments that can be genuinely life-changing.
This episode aims to reduce stigma, provide clear medical information, and reassure listeners that vaginal atrophy is common, treatable, and nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t need to suffer in silence.
This episode is sponsored by MEDMIN
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>GLP-1 medications are increasingly used for weight loss, yet many people feel uncertain about how they work, their side effects, and how to manage the physical and psychological changes that come with them.
In this first episode of a new series, we’re joined by personal trainer Becky Lever to explore what GLP-1s are, why they were developed, and why support — particularly around nutrition, resistance training and muscle preservation — is essential. We discuss appetite suppression, “food noise”, side effects, the social impact of weight loss drugs, and the risks of losing muscle mass without proper guidance.
This episode is informational and experience-based. We are not healthcare professionals, and anyone considering or using GLP-1 medication should speak to their GP or prescribing clinician.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>GLP-1 medications are increasingly used for weight loss, yet many people feel uncertain about how they work, their side effects, and how to manage the physical and psychological changes that come with them.
In this first episode of a new series, we’re joined by personal trainer Becky Lever to explore what GLP-1s are, why they were developed, and why support — particularly around nutrition, resistance training and muscle preservation — is essential. We discuss appetite suppression, “food noise”, side effects, the social impact of weight loss drugs, and the risks of losing muscle mass without proper guidance.
This episode is informational and experience-based. We are not healthcare professionals, and anyone considering or using GLP-1 medication should speak to their GP or prescribing clinician.
My Health Focus is not a medical service. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
JOIN THE MY HEALTH FOCUS COMMUNITY AND SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
]]>