Shows
Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCancer: How New Breakthroughs Are Transforming CareIn the very first episode of the new season of Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker formerly known as What Your GP Doesn't Tell you, Liz Tucker talks to medical doctor and researcher, Dr William Li who has treated some of the toughest cancer cases imaginable.
He argues for the 21st century treatment of cancer, the solution lies not in a single silver bullet but in an integrative approach. In addition to traditional cancer therapies this also includes newer ones such as immunotherapy and takes into account factors such as the gut biome.
Published research...
2025-04-151h 02Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCancer: How New Breakthroughs Are Transforming CareIn the very first episode of the new season of Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker formerly known as What Your GP Doesn't Tell you, Liz Tucker talks to medical doctor and researcher, Dr William Li who has treated some of the toughest cancer cases imaginable.
He argues for the 21st century treatment of cancer, the solution lies not in a single silver bullet but in an integrative approach. In addition to traditional cancer therapies this also includes newer ones such as immunotherapy and takes into account factors such as the gut biome.
Published research...
2025-04-151h 02Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWho'd Be a Whistleblower?Whistleblower Dr Carl Elliott's life changed for ever, when he tried to alert his university about the running of a drug trial which had resulted in the suicide of a patient. A patient whose mother felt should never have been enrolled in a trial in the first place.
Carl’s battle came at a huge personal and emotional cost and at the end of years of campaigning and lobbying, little had really changed.
His disillusioning experience as a whistleblower has driven him to meet others who have had similar experiences. And it seems few escape wi...
2024-11-1947 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWho'd Be a Whistleblower?Whistleblower Dr Carl Elliott's life changed for ever, when he tried to alert his university about the running of a drug trial which had resulted in the suicide of a patient. A patient whose mother felt should never have been enrolled in a trial in the first place.
Carl’s battle came at a huge personal and emotional cost and at the end of years of campaigning and lobbying, little had really changed.
His disillusioning experience as a whistleblower has driven him to meet others who have had similar experiences. And it seems few escape wi...
2024-11-1947 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Dementia Be Preventable and Treatable?The idea of developing dementia is probably one of our greatest health fears. We tend to think of it as an irreversible disease that gradually robs us of our faculties.
But podcast guest, psychiatrist Dr Kat Toups is one of a group of doctors and researchers who argues that certainly in its early stages, the disease is actually reversible. The mistake - she says - is to think of dementia as an illness with a sole cause and instead we need to see it as multi-system disease, which requires a coordinated approach to work out what is i...
2024-11-051h 27Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Dementia Be Preventable and Treatable?The idea of developing dementia is probably one of our greatest health fears. We tend to think of it as an irreversible disease that gradually robs us of our faculties.
But podcast guest, psychiatrist Dr Kat Toups is one of a group of doctors and researchers who argues that certainly in its early stages, the disease is actually reversible. The mistake - she says - is to think of dementia as an illness with a sole cause and instead we need to see it as multi-system disease, which requires a coordinated approach to work out what is i...
2024-11-051h 27Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow To Reduce Your Risk of Heart DiseaseCardiologist Dr Scott Murray discusses what we can all do to reduce our risk of heart disease.
I think many of us are familiar with the idea that elevated levels of the so-called bad cholesterol - low density lipoprotein or LDL for short - have been linked to cardiovascular illness. (Although, in fact there is a group of scientists who argue that LDL levels are unconnected with heart disease.)
But Scott argues the picture is actually far more complicated than looking at just one factor and we need to be examining all the different elements t...
2024-09-0351 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow To Reduce Your Risk of Heart DiseaseCardiologist Dr Scott Murray discusses what we can all do to reduce our risk of heart disease.
I think many of us are familiar with the idea that elevated levels of the so-called bad cholesterol - low density lipoprotein or LDL for short - have been linked to cardiovascular illness. (Although, in fact there is a group of scientists who argue that LDL levels are unconnected with heart disease.)
But Scott argues the picture is actually far more complicated than looking at just one factor and we need to be examining all the different elements t...
2024-09-0351 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerPersonalised Nutrition: How It Is Transforming Our Understanding of FoodProfessor Sarah Berry discusses her research in personalised nutrition, which is uncovering the hugely varied effects different foods may have on one particular group or individual compared to others. This variability can be due to our genetics, metabolism or a number of other factors.
This may well have important implications for what, when and how we should eat.
For example, research is revealing that as we age, many of us have a worse tolerance for eating carbohydrates in the evening compared to earlier in the day. And while some blood markers have a strong genetic ef...
2024-08-201h 06Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerPersonalised Nutrition: How It Is Transforming Our Understanding of FoodProfessor Sarah Berry discusses her research in personalised nutrition, which is uncovering the hugely varied effects different foods may have on one particular group or individual compared to others. This variability can be due to our genetics, metabolism or a number of other factors.
This may well have important implications for what, when and how we should eat.
For example, research is revealing that as we age, many of us have a worse tolerance for eating carbohydrates in the evening compared to earlier in the day. And while some blood markers have a strong genetic ef...
2024-08-201h 06Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Your Oral Microbiome Is Critical For Good HealthDentist Dr Victoria Sampson argues that while the gut microbiome gets a huge amount of attention, funding and publicity, the oral microbiome gets almost entirely overlooked, yet it is essential to our health.
As she explains in this podcast, it has a close symbiotic relationship with our gut biome, so changing the composition of one affects the other. And perhaps most importantly of all, poor oral biome health is linked to a range of illnesses from heart disease and Alzheimer's to diabetes and arithitis.
Remarkably even our fertility can be affected by the health of o...
2024-08-0647 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Your Oral Microbiome Is Critical For Good HealthDentist Dr Victoria Sampson argues that while the gut microbiome gets a huge amount of attention, funding and publicity, the oral microbiome gets almost entirely overlooked, yet it is essential to our health.
As she explains in this podcast, it has a close symbiotic relationship with our gut biome, so changing the composition of one affects the other. And perhaps most importantly of all, poor oral biome health is linked to a range of illnesses from heart disease and Alzheimer's to diabetes and arithitis.
Remarkably even our fertility can be affected by the health of o...
2024-08-0647 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerAre High Cholesterol Levels Dangerous On A Keto Diet?This week's guest is Dave Feldman, who unusually for this podcast is not a doctor or a medical researcher, but actually a software engineer.
For a long time, there has been concern that those on a very low carb or ketogenic diet are pushing their cholesterol to very high levels. This is something that Dave experienced personally, when he noticed the amount of his so called bad cholesterol - the low density lipoprotein, known as LDL - shoot up on a keto diet.
And when he found others reporting similar findings, he decided to set u...
2024-07-2350 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerAre High Cholesterol Levels Dangerous On A Keto Diet?This week's guest is Dave Feldman, who unusually for this podcast is not a doctor or a medical researcher, but actually a software engineer.
For a long time, there has been concern that those on a very low carb or ketogenic diet are pushing their cholesterol to very high levels. This is something that Dave experienced personally, when he noticed the amount of his so called bad cholesterol - the low density lipoprotein, known as LDL - shoot up on a keto diet.
And when he found others reporting similar findings, he decided to set u...
2024-07-2350 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow Diet Can Help In The Prevention and Treatment of CancerOncologist Professor Robert Thomas, argues along with standard conventional cancer treatments - all of which he uses - that exercise and diet can play a pivotal role in improving cancer outcomes.
Robert says for the newer biological therapies which require a patient to have robust immunity, research is revealing that a healthier lifestyle and gut health, can improve the chances of responding well to these biological agents by 30-40%.
He discusses his research using supplements which have shown significant benefit in the treatment of cancer patients.. One of which has also been shown to help t...
2024-07-0947 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow Diet Can Help In The Prevention and Treatment of CancerOncologist Professor Robert Thomas, argues along with standard conventional cancer treatments - all of which he uses - that exercise and diet can play a pivotal role in improving cancer outcomes.
Robert says for the newer biological therapies which require a patient to have robust immunity, research is revealing that a healthier lifestyle and gut health, can improve the chances of responding well to these biological agents by 30-40%.
He discusses his research using supplements which have shown significant benefit in the treatment of cancer patients.. One of which has also been shown to help t...
2024-07-0947 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy is the Death Rate Higher for US Dialysis Patients Than Europeans?Author and journalist Tom Mueller, after meeting whistleblowers working in the US dialysis industry seven years ago, decided to investigate further. Tom argues what he found is a cautionary tale not just about dialysis, but about the impact on healthcare of for profit medicine in general.
His book How to Make A Killing: Death, Dollars and the Business of Blood, contains one statistic that I found extraordinary. Although the US has one of the most sophisticated health care systems in the world, around 22% of US dialysis patients die each year, yet in Europe the figure is only 9...
2024-06-2549 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy is the Death Rate Higher for US Dialysis Patients Than Europeans?Author and journalist Tom Mueller, after meeting whistleblowers working in the US dialysis industry seven years ago, decided to investigate further. Tom argues what he found is a cautionary tale not just about dialysis, but about the impact on healthcare of for profit medicine in general.
His book How to Make A Killing: Death, Dollars and the Business of Blood, contains one statistic that I found extraordinary. Although the US has one of the most sophisticated health care systems in the world, around 22% of US dialysis patients die each year, yet in Europe the figure is only 9...
2024-06-2549 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow Processed Food Is Engineered To Be IrresistibleInvestigative reporter Michael Moss has spent many years uncovering just what it is about processed and fast food that makes it so hard for many of us to resist.
This is the final podcast of three that I am doing in conjunction with the International Food addiction Consensus conference held on 17th May.
Michael says he now believes from his decades of research, that particular combinations of flavour, texture, fat, protein and carbohydrates can create food that has the potential to be addictive.
He argues the evidence is clear and believes the food in...
2024-06-1151 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow Processed Food Is Engineered To Be IrresistibleInvestigative reporter Michael Moss has spent many years uncovering just what it is about processed and fast food that makes it so hard for many of us to resist.
This is the final podcast of three that I am doing in conjunction with the International Food addiction Consensus conference held on 17th May.
Michael says he now believes from his decades of research, that particular combinations of flavour, texture, fat, protein and carbohydrates can create food that has the potential to be addictive.
He argues the evidence is clear and believes the food in...
2024-06-1151 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow Sugar - Like Drugs & Alcohol - Impacts Our Dopamine LevelsPsychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke discusses how addictive substances like alcohol and drugs cause our dopamine levels to rocket, and reveals - perhaps surprisngly - that highly processed, high sugar food can also have a similar effect on our brains. This is the second podcast of three that I'm doing in conjunction with the International Food Addiction Consensus conference held in London on 17th May.
Anna argues we've transformed our world into a place of overwhelming abundance, where we're constantly bombarded by triggers - whether that's food, drugs, social media or other addictive substances that continually stimulate high do...
2024-05-2846 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow Sugar - Like Drugs & Alcohol - Impacts Our Dopamine LevelsPsychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke discusses how addictive substances like alcohol and drugs cause our dopamine levels to rocket, and reveals - perhaps surprisngly - that highly processed, high sugar food can also have a similar effect on our brains. This is the second podcast of three that I'm doing in conjunction with the International Food Addiction Consensus conference held in London on 17th May.
Anna argues we've transformed our world into a place of overwhelming abundance, where we're constantly bombarded by triggers - whether that's food, drugs, social media or other addictive substances that continually stimulate high do...
2024-05-2846 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerIs Food Addiction Real?Dr Rob Lustig discusses whether it’s really possible to become addicted to food, and if it is, does that change how we view those who struggle in their relationship with food?
In our conversation, Rob argues that the phrase "food addiction" is a misnomer, and that the real issue is food additive addiction. He says all the medical evidence suggests that two additives drive this - sugar and caffeine. And while foodstuffs such as fat and salt may make our food more palatable or enticing, they are not in themselves addictive.
In a staggering fi...
2024-05-1447 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerIs Food Addiction Real?Dr Rob Lustig discusses whether it’s really possible to become addicted to food, and if it is, does that change how we view those who struggle in their relationship with food?
In our conversation, Rob argues that the phrase "food addiction" is a misnomer, and that the real issue is food additive addiction. He says all the medical evidence suggests that two additives drive this - sugar and caffeine. And while foodstuffs such as fat and salt may make our food more palatable or enticing, they are not in themselves addictive.
In a staggering fi...
2024-05-1447 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerAllergies: What You Need To KnowIn the last few decades, there has been a huge increase in allergy and allergic reactions, but why? Just what has changed in our health and environment to bring this about? Consultant NHS allergist Dr Sophie Farooque discusses one of the biggest puzzles in medicine.
For example peanut allergies were almost unknown before the 1990s, but today it and other food allergies are much more common. Sophie reveals the best thing to do to stop a child developing a food allergy is - perhaps counter intuitively - to ensure that from an early age, they are exposed to...
2024-04-0247 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerAllergies: What You Need To KnowIn the last few decades, there has been a huge increase in allergy and allergic reactions, but why? Just what has changed in our health and environment to bring this about? Consultant NHS allergist Dr Sophie Farooque discusses one of the biggest puzzles in medicine.
For example peanut allergies were almost unknown before the 1990s, but today it and other food allergies are much more common. Sophie reveals the best thing to do to stop a child developing a food allergy is - perhaps counter intuitively - to ensure that from an early age, they are exposed to...
2024-04-0247 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Hormones Not Calorie Counting May Be Key In ObesityDr Jason Fung argues that much of what we think we know about weight loss is simply wrong.
Jason says that the critical factor in losing weight is hormones - not calories. He believes calorie counting is an overly simplistic approach. And that actually dieting may be the worst thing you can do, because it slows your metabolic rate which actually makes it harder to reduce weight in the future.
Jason argues medical science reveals that we all have what is effectively a fat thermostat in our bodies that tries to keep our body within...
2024-03-1945 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Hormones Not Calorie Counting May Be Key In ObesityDr Jason Fung argues that much of what we think we know about weight loss is simply wrong.
Jason says that the critical factor in losing weight is hormones - not calories. He believes calorie counting is an overly simplistic approach. And that actually dieting may be the worst thing you can do, because it slows your metabolic rate which actually makes it harder to reduce weight in the future.
Jason argues medical science reveals that we all have what is effectively a fat thermostat in our bodies that tries to keep our body within...
2024-03-1945 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThe Secrets To A Successful Keto DietBeth Zupec–Kania is a dietician and nutritionist, who has spent over 30 years developing very low carb - otherwise known as ketogenic diets - to treat a range of both physical and mental health conditions. She has worked with many of the leading neurologists and psychiatrists pioneering this field.
I heard Beth speak at a conference Metabolic Psychiatry: Understanding How Modifying Metabolism Can Create Mental Health last November. I was very keen to get her on the podcast, because I’ve now done several episodes about the use of ketogenic diets to treat different illnesses. And so many p...
2024-03-0554 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThe Secrets To A Successful Keto DietBeth Zupec–Kania is a dietician and nutritionist, who has spent over 30 years developing very low carb - otherwise known as ketogenic diets - to treat a range of both physical and mental health conditions. She has worked with many of the leading neurologists and psychiatrists pioneering this field.
I heard Beth speak at a conference Metabolic Psychiatry: Understanding How Modifying Metabolism Can Create Mental Health last November. I was very keen to get her on the podcast, because I’ve now done several episodes about the use of ketogenic diets to treat different illnesses. And so many p...
2024-03-0554 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerShould You Take A Weight Loss Drug?Dr Barbara Mintzes and Dr Joel Lexchin, have recently published a review paper on the weight loss drug Wegovy (generic name semaglutide). They discuss it and the new generation of similar obesity medications.
The hype surrounding this new class of drugs has been huge, but is it justified?
These pharmaceuticals are called glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists or GLP-1 for short. They work by stimulating cells in your intestines to release a natural hormone called GLP-1 that tricks your stomach and your brain into thinking you’ve just eaten a large meal.
Clearly, obesity is ma...
2024-02-2049 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerShould You Take A Weight Loss Drug?Dr Barbara Mintzes and Dr Joel Lexchin, have recently published a review paper on the weight loss drug Wegovy (generic name semaglutide). They discuss it and the new generation of similar obesity medications.
The hype surrounding this new class of drugs has been huge, but is it justified?
These pharmaceuticals are called glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists or GLP-1 for short. They work by stimulating cells in your intestines to release a natural hormone called GLP-1 that tricks your stomach and your brain into thinking you’ve just eaten a large meal.
Clearly, obesity is ma...
2024-02-2049 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerDeprescribing from Psychiatric Drugs: The Problems and the SolutionsDr Mark Horowitz discusses why psychiatric medication has turned out to be far harder to stop than any one expected.
For Mark, this is as much a personal as well as a professional interest. For as a patient, at one point he was taking five different psychiatric drugs. Ironically, although Mark was working in London at the Institute of Psychiatry, he found the mostly useful information about deprescribing came - not from the medical profession - but from peer support websites.
This experience has driven his research and interest in safely stopping psychiatric medication. H...
2024-02-0655 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerDeprescribing from Psychiatric Drugs: The Problems and the SolutionsDr Mark Horowitz discusses why psychiatric medication has turned out to be far harder to stop than any one expected.
For Mark, this is as much a personal as well as a professional interest. For as a patient, at one point he was taking five different psychiatric drugs. Ironically, although Mark was working in London at the Institute of Psychiatry, he found the mostly useful information about deprescribing came - not from the medical profession - but from peer support websites.
This experience has driven his research and interest in safely stopping psychiatric medication. H...
2024-02-0655 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Changing Your Diet Improve Your Mental Health?Psychiatrist Dr Georgia Ede argues that the medical profession has completely underestimated the huge impact of diet on our mental health.
In her new book, Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, Georgia reveals improvements we can all make to our diet, and in particular, three different dietary approaches for those looking to improve their mental health.
She suggests that early results from a range of trials using this approach to treat conditions from bipolar disorder to schizophrenia, show a much great effect, in fact 6 to 10 times that seen in any comparative drug trial.
Ge...
2024-01-2358 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Changing Your Diet Improve Your Mental Health?Psychiatrist Dr Georgia Ede argues that the medical profession has completely underestimated the huge impact of diet on our mental health.
In her new book, Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, Georgia reveals improvements we can all make to our diet, and in particular, three different dietary approaches for those looking to improve their mental health.
She suggests that early results from a range of trials using this approach to treat conditions from bipolar disorder to schizophrenia, show a much great effect, in fact 6 to 10 times that seen in any comparative drug trial.
Ge...
2024-01-2358 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerTreating Long CovidDr Lisa Sanders, writes a column called Diagnosis in the New York Times magazine, which was the inspiration for the Fox medical drama House, M.D. .The show in which Hugh Laurie, playing Dr Gregory House, regularly managed to diagnose the most obscure of medical conditions.
But today Lisa has arguably a rather tougher challenge than Hugh Laurie ever faced, she’s recently become the Medical Director of Yale's Long Covid Multidisciplinary Care Center. Long Covid can affect multiple systems and organs in the body, and finding effective treatments so far has proved extremely difficult.
Howe...
2024-01-0943 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerTreating Long CovidDr Lisa Sanders, writes a column called Diagnosis in the New York Times magazine, which was the inspiration for the Fox medical drama House, M.D. .The show in which Hugh Laurie, playing Dr Gregory House, regularly managed to diagnose the most obscure of medical conditions.
But today Lisa has arguably a rather tougher challenge than Hugh Laurie ever faced, she’s recently become the Medical Director of Yale's Long Covid Multidisciplinary Care Center. Long Covid can affect multiple systems and organs in the body, and finding effective treatments so far has proved extremely difficult.
Howe...
2024-01-0943 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhat Doctors Don’t Get TaughtDr Robert Lufkin argues that modern medicine hasn’t paid nearly enough attention to the underlying causes of diseases, and has tended to treat symptoms instead.
And in a controversial new book Lies I taught at Medical school, How Conventional Medicine is Making You Sicker and What You Can Do to Save Your Own Life, published by BenBella books, as evidence for his claims, he points to the epidemics of chronic disease, we are now seeing in the industrialised world.
In the US in 2010, 16-21% of adults had two or more chronic diseases. Today, shockingly, th...
2023-12-1257 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhat Doctors Don’t Get TaughtDr Robert Lufkin argues that modern medicine hasn’t paid nearly enough attention to the underlying causes of diseases, and has tended to treat symptoms instead.
And in a controversial new book Lies I taught at Medical school, How Conventional Medicine is Making You Sicker and What You Can Do to Save Your Own Life, published by BenBella books, as evidence for his claims, he points to the epidemics of chronic disease, we are now seeing in the industrialised world.
In the US in 2010, 16-21% of adults had two or more chronic diseases. Today, shockingly, th...
2023-12-1257 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThalidomide - The Story You Don’t Know (Part Two)This is the second episode of a two parter about a new investigation into the drug thalidomide, so if you haven’t listened to part one, please do go back and listen to that first.
Thalidomide is one of the greatest medical catastrophes of the 20th century. It’s now thought to have been responsible for around 100,000 miscarriages and disabled children.
In this episode, journalist Jennifer Vanderbes reveals the second half of the story. The result of six years of research, resulting in her recent book: Wonder Drug: The Hidden Victims of America’s Secret Thalidomi...
2023-11-2848 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThalidomide - The Story You Don’t Know (Part Two)This is the second episode of a two parter about a new investigation into the drug thalidomide, so if you haven’t listened to part one, please do go back and listen to that first.
Thalidomide is one of the greatest medical catastrophes of the 20th century. It’s now thought to have been responsible for around 100,000 miscarriages and disabled children.
In this episode, journalist Jennifer Vanderbes reveals the second half of the story. The result of six years of research, resulting in her recent book: Wonder Drug: The Hidden Victims of America’s Secret Thalidomi...
2023-11-2848 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThalidomide - The Story You Don’t Know (Part One)It was one of the greatest medical tragedies of the 20th century.
In 1957, a new wonder drug was launched in Germany. It was marketed as an astonishingly safe sedative. Tragically, this could not have been further from the truth. For this was the drug thalidomide, and it would end up being responsible for around 100,000 miscarriages and disabled children.
This week’s guest, journalist Jennifer Vanderbes, in a forensic six year investigation has uncovered compelling and shocking new information about warnings that went unheeded, test results that were misrepresented, and uncovered scores of potential victims who hav...
2023-11-1450 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThalidomide - The Story You Don’t Know (Part One)It was one of the greatest medical tragedies of the 20th century.
In 1957, a new wonder drug was launched in Germany. It was marketed as an astonishingly safe sedative. Tragically, this could not have been further from the truth. For this was the drug thalidomide, and it would end up being responsible for around 100,000 miscarriages and disabled children.
This week’s guest, journalist Jennifer Vanderbes, in a forensic six year investigation has uncovered compelling and shocking new information about warnings that went unheeded, test results that were misrepresented, and uncovered scores of potential victims who hav...
2023-11-1450 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThe Accidental Drug AdvocateKim Witczak's life was changed for ever one tragic day in 2003 when her husband Woody killed himself. Several weeks earlier, Woody, who did not have a history of depression or mental illness, had been prescribed the SSRI anti-depressant drug Zoloft (generic name sertraline) for his insomnia. Kim sued the drug company Pfizer for wrongful death, later settling out of court. Pfizer did not admit liability.
Since Woody’s death 20 years ago, Kim has become a committed advocate for safer medication. She campaigned for stronger safety warnings to be put on SSRI drugs. And in 2004 and 2006, labelling in th...
2023-09-1951 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThe Accidental Drug AdvocateKim Witczak's life was changed for ever one tragic day in 2003 when her husband Woody killed himself. Several weeks earlier, Woody, who did not have a history of depression or mental illness, had been prescribed the SSRI anti-depressant drug Zoloft (generic name sertraline) for his insomnia. Kim sued the drug company Pfizer for wrongful death, later settling out of court. Pfizer did not admit liability.
Since Woody’s death 20 years ago, Kim has become a committed advocate for safer medication. She campaigned for stronger safety warnings to be put on SSRI drugs. And in 2004 and 2006, labelling in th...
2023-09-1951 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Knowing Your Blood Sugar Level MattersGP Dr David Unwin has been a pioneer in the UK developing and promoting a low-carb approach for treating type 2 diabetes. In 2016, he won the NHS innovator of the year award for his work. His treatment approach has been so successful that he has put around half his type 2 diabetic patients, who follow a low carb diet, into remission. And as a result, his practice, spends far less on diabetic medication than any of the surrounding GP surgeries. The potential cost savings if this approach was adopted nationally and internationally, would be huge for health services across the world.
2023-09-0556 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Knowing Your Blood Sugar Level MattersGP Dr David Unwin has been a pioneer in the UK developing and promoting a low-carb approach for treating type 2 diabetes. In 2016, he won the NHS innovator of the year award for his work. His treatment approach has been so successful that he has put around half his type 2 diabetic patients, who follow a low carb diet, into remission. And as a result, his practice, spends far less on diabetic medication than any of the surrounding GP surgeries. The potential cost savings if this approach was adopted nationally and internationally, would be huge for health services across the world.
2023-09-0556 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow To Keep Your Brain Healthy Into Old AgeNeuroscientist Dr Sabina Brennan argues that while we may be increasingly aware of the importance of physical health, we neglect the value of brain health.
By giving our brains the right stimulation, she believes, not only can we increase our odds of either avoiding or delaying serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s, we may actually be able to build in resilience and slow down the ageing of our brains.
Sabina discusses the research that shows how essential it is that at every stage of our lives, our brains receive the right input at the right ti...
2023-08-2246 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow To Keep Your Brain Healthy Into Old AgeNeuroscientist Dr Sabina Brennan argues that while we may be increasingly aware of the importance of physical health, we neglect the value of brain health.
By giving our brains the right stimulation, she believes, not only can we increase our odds of either avoiding or delaying serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s, we may actually be able to build in resilience and slow down the ageing of our brains.
Sabina discusses the research that shows how essential it is that at every stage of our lives, our brains receive the right input at the right ti...
2023-08-2246 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerAnorexia: A Patient’s StoryAs a teenager, journalist Hadley Freeman spent over two and half years in hospital being treated for anorexia. In this interview, she gives a brutally honest account of her experience and describes how she was finally able to recover from what is one of the most puzzling psychiatric diseases.
She has just published a book about her illness called: Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, and during her research for it, also spoke to many experts and patients. Anorexia remains an incredibly difficult disease to treat with the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition...
2023-08-0839 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerAnorexia: A Patient’s StoryAs a teenager, journalist Hadley Freeman spent over two and half years in hospital being treated for anorexia. In this interview, she gives a brutally honest account of her experience and describes how she was finally able to recover from what is one of the most puzzling psychiatric diseases.
She has just published a book about her illness called: Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, and during her research for it, also spoke to many experts and patients. Anorexia remains an incredibly difficult disease to treat with the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition...
2023-08-0839 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerPain: Why We Need to Revolutionise Our ThinkingDr Deepak Ravindran, a NHS consultant in pain medicine, reveals how we need to completely rethink our views about pain.
Pain, particularly long term intractable chronic pain, can be one of the most difficult medical conditions to live with, making normal work or life almost impossible. Globally around 20% of people suffer from the condition. And getting the help they need can be incredibly difficult.
Ravindran explains how many of us totally misunderstand pain. The problem can be someone with chronic pain can have a battery of tests that all come back clear, which may lead...
2023-07-251h 47Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerPain: Why We Need to Revolutionise Our ThinkingDr Deepak Ravindran, a NHS consultant in pain medicine, reveals how we need to completely rethink our views about pain.
Pain, particularly long term intractable chronic pain, can be one of the most difficult medical conditions to live with, making normal work or life almost impossible. Globally around 20% of people suffer from the condition. And getting the help they need can be incredibly difficult.
Ravindran explains how many of us totally misunderstand pain. The problem can be someone with chronic pain can have a battery of tests that all come back clear, which may lead...
2023-07-251h 47Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Having a Healthy Microbiome Is Critically ImportantColorectal surgeon Mr James Kinross reveals the remarkable impact that our microbiomes have on every aspect of health from the moment we are born. He argues that the biome may hold the key to understanding diseases as varied as cancer, bowel and auto-immune conditions.
And that the rise of these conditions may be at least partially due to the disruption that’s been caused to our biomes, by the food we eat, antibiotics and the environment around us.
In his new book: Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome, James even suggests that the way...
2023-07-1153 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Having a Healthy Microbiome Is Critically ImportantColorectal surgeon Mr James Kinross reveals the remarkable impact that our microbiomes have on every aspect of health from the moment we are born. He argues that the biome may hold the key to understanding diseases as varied as cancer, bowel and auto-immune conditions.
And that the rise of these conditions may be at least partially due to the disruption that’s been caused to our biomes, by the food we eat, antibiotics and the environment around us.
In his new book: Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome, James even suggests that the way...
2023-07-1153 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerUsing Low Carb Diets To Treat Epilepsy And Other Neurological DiseasesDr Tanya JW McDonald discusses the use of low carb (otherwise known as ketogenic) diets for patients with epilepsy, Alzheimer’s Disease, malignant glioma and other neurological conditions.
Remarkably, low carb diets have been used successful to treat patients with epilepsy for 100 years, but fell out of favour when drugs were developed. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence in the use of these diets, and studies suggest that around 50% of pediatric and 40% of adult patients whose epilepsy is resistant to drug therapy can be helped with a low carb diet.
And in mal...
2023-06-2743 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerUsing Low Carb Diets To Treat Epilepsy And Other Neurological DiseasesDr Tanya JW McDonald discusses the use of low carb (otherwise known as ketogenic) diets for patients with epilepsy, Alzheimer’s Disease, malignant glioma and other neurological conditions.
Remarkably, low carb diets have been used successful to treat patients with epilepsy for 100 years, but fell out of favour when drugs were developed. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence in the use of these diets, and studies suggest that around 50% of pediatric and 40% of adult patients whose epilepsy is resistant to drug therapy can be helped with a low carb diet.
And in mal...
2023-06-2743 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerYour 24 Hour Body Clock: How It Controls Everything from Sleep To When You Should Take MedicationRussell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University, reveals the key role our body clock plays not just in controlling how and when we sleep, but in every aspect of our biology and health.
He discusses his tips for getting a good night's sleep and what do when you just can’t drop off. And explores the huge toll that shift work takes on both our physical and mental health, so much so that the World Health Organization has described the link between shift work and cancer as probably carcinogenic.
Russell goes on to exp...
2023-06-1353 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerYour 24 Hour Body Clock: How It Controls Everything from Sleep To When You Should Take MedicationRussell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University, reveals the key role our body clock plays not just in controlling how and when we sleep, but in every aspect of our biology and health.
He discusses his tips for getting a good night's sleep and what do when you just can’t drop off. And explores the huge toll that shift work takes on both our physical and mental health, so much so that the World Health Organization has described the link between shift work and cancer as probably carcinogenic.
Russell goes on to exp...
2023-06-1353 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCan Longevity Drugs and Lifestyle Extend Our Lifespan?The idea of staying fit, young and healthy for longer, is something many of us would love to achieve, but just how possible is it?
Dr Robert Lufkin, who has a particular research interest in the science of longevity discusses the reality. He says the aim is not to live forever, or live longer when we are frail and ill, but to lengthen our healthy lifespan.
When we age, the odds of us getting a range of degenerative diseases or life threatening illnesses increase, so the science of anti-aging is really all about discovering why t...
2023-05-3057 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCan Longevity Drugs and Lifestyle Extend Our Lifespan?The idea of staying fit, young and healthy for longer, is something many of us would love to achieve, but just how possible is it?
Dr Robert Lufkin, who has a particular research interest in the science of longevity discusses the reality. He says the aim is not to live forever, or live longer when we are frail and ill, but to lengthen our healthy lifespan.
When we age, the odds of us getting a range of degenerative diseases or life threatening illnesses increase, so the science of anti-aging is really all about discovering why t...
2023-05-3057 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerShould You Take A Statin?Dr John Abramson, who has published several peer reviewed papers examining the data behind statins, discusses the facts you need to know before deciding with your doctor whether to take one of these drugs or not.
Statins are drugs that lower cholesterol levels and the numbers of people recommended to take them continues to increase. Just this year, the UK’s National Institute of Clinical Excellence, NICE, has extended its recommendations to suggest that those with a less than 10% 10 year risk of heart disease consider taking one.
Yet interestingly, the vast majority of the clinical tr...
2023-04-111h 01Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerShould You Take A Statin?Dr John Abramson, who has published several peer reviewed papers examining the data behind statins, discusses the facts you need to know before deciding with your doctor whether to take one of these drugs or not.
Statins are drugs that lower cholesterol levels and the numbers of people recommended to take them continues to increase. Just this year, the UK’s National Institute of Clinical Excellence, NICE, has extended its recommendations to suggest that those with a less than 10% 10 year risk of heart disease consider taking one.
Yet interestingly, the vast majority of the clinical tr...
2023-04-111h 01Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhat You Need to Check Before Taking Any Prescription DrugFormer Canadian politician Terence Young became a safety advocate, starting the non-profit group Drug Safety Canada, following the tragic death of his 15 year old daughter Vanessa after taking the drug Propulsid. The drug was withdrawn from the North American market the day before Vanessa's funeral.
Terence argues in a new book that it’s essential that we all educate ourselves about drug safety. We can’t just leave it to doctors. He says most of us have absolutely no idea about the true risks and benefits of the prescription drugs we take. And the only way we can f...
2023-03-2847 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhat You Need to Check Before Taking Any Prescription DrugFormer Canadian politician Terence Young became a safety advocate, starting the non-profit group Drug Safety Canada, following the tragic death of his 15 year old daughter Vanessa after taking the drug Propulsid. The drug was withdrawn from the North American market the day before Vanessa's funeral.
Terence argues in a new book that it’s essential that we all educate ourselves about drug safety. We can’t just leave it to doctors. He says most of us have absolutely no idea about the true risks and benefits of the prescription drugs we take. And the only way we can f...
2023-03-2847 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerSugar, Refined Carbs and Polyunsaturated Fats: The Perfect Storm?Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Gary Fettke frustrated by the increasing number of diabetic patients' limbs he was having to amputate, started prescibing low sugar diets to these patients. But then found himself sanctioned by the Australian medical board for giving nutritional advice.
Fettke was told: "there's nothing associated with your medical training that makes you an expert, or authority on the field of nutrition, diabetes or cancer, you're not allowed to make any recommendations to your patients on nutrition". It would take nearly five years for the decision to be reversed.
Fettke's belief in the importance o...
2023-03-1448 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerSugar, Refined Carbs and Polyunsaturated Fats: The Perfect Storm?Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Gary Fettke frustrated by the increasing number of diabetic patients' limbs he was having to amputate, started prescibing low sugar diets to these patients. But then found himself sanctioned by the Australian medical board for giving nutritional advice.
Fettke was told: "there's nothing associated with your medical training that makes you an expert, or authority on the field of nutrition, diabetes or cancer, you're not allowed to make any recommendations to your patients on nutrition". It would take nearly five years for the decision to be reversed.
Fettke's belief in the importance o...
2023-03-1448 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Stem Cell Transplants Play a Critical Role in MS and Other Auto-Immune Diseases?Dr Richard K. Burt, a world leading pioneer who performed America’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) to treat multiple sclerosis, discusses how he developed this innovative procedure and its future in the treatment of MS.
While the treatment is only suitable for certain MS patients it can be life changing. The US’s National MS Society says there is growing evidence that HSCT may be highly effective for people with relapsing remitting MS who meet very specific characteristics. The society adds it can greatly reduce and potentially even end MS disease activity in some.
But...
2023-02-2855 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Stem Cell Transplants Play a Critical Role in MS and Other Auto-Immune Diseases?Dr Richard K. Burt, a world leading pioneer who performed America’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) to treat multiple sclerosis, discusses how he developed this innovative procedure and its future in the treatment of MS.
While the treatment is only suitable for certain MS patients it can be life changing. The US’s National MS Society says there is growing evidence that HSCT may be highly effective for people with relapsing remitting MS who meet very specific characteristics. The society adds it can greatly reduce and potentially even end MS disease activity in some.
But...
2023-02-2855 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Inflammation, Diet and Disease Be Linked?Dr Shilpa Ravella, a transplant gastroenterologist, argues that inflammation may be a common factor in many of the diseases we face today from heart disease to cancer.
While our bodies' inflammatory response is essential in fighting off infections and viruses, in her recently published book A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease, Shilpa claims many of us are suffering from hidden low inflammation which may be at the root of many illnesses and reveals simple lifestyle changes we can make to reverse this.
And one of the many surprising facts she reveals is...
2023-02-1440 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Inflammation, Diet and Disease Be Linked?Dr Shilpa Ravella, a transplant gastroenterologist, argues that inflammation may be a common factor in many of the diseases we face today from heart disease to cancer.
While our bodies' inflammatory response is essential in fighting off infections and viruses, in her recently published book A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease, Shilpa claims many of us are suffering from hidden low inflammation which may be at the root of many illnesses and reveals simple lifestyle changes we can make to reverse this.
And one of the many surprising facts she reveals is...
2023-02-1440 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerDr David Healy Discusses SSRI Drugs, Suicide and Sexual DysfunctionDr David Healy was one of the first psychiatrists to suggest that while in some cases the antidepressant drugs, the SSRIs may help prevent suicide, in other very rare cases, they might actually increase the suicide risk. So how does a doctor balance that risk?
David also discusses the evidence from healthy volunteer trials, these are small trials that take place before the major trials and regulators can be unaware of these trials' results yet they often contain important information about a drug's potential side effects.
And he also discusses the problems of sexual dysfunction...
2023-02-0243 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerDr David Healy Discusses SSRI Drugs, Suicide and Sexual DysfunctionDr David Healy was one of the first psychiatrists to suggest that while in some cases the antidepressant drugs, the SSRIs may help prevent suicide, in other very rare cases, they might actually increase the suicide risk. So how does a doctor balance that risk?
David also discusses the evidence from healthy volunteer trials, these are small trials that take place before the major trials and regulators can be unaware of these trials' results yet they often contain important information about a drug's potential side effects.
And he also discusses the problems of sexual dysfunction...
2023-02-0243 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow to Keep Your Gut Healthy - Season TwoProfessor Tim Spector reveals how developing research about our gut biome – the microbes in our gut – is revolutionising our understanding of diet and disease. And he argues this may also help explain why we got so many things wrong about food. For example, it turns out that not all calories are equal, because different microbes will deal with identical calorie foods in very different ways.
70% of our immune cells are actually in our gut, so how our microbes interact with these immune cells has a major impact on how effective our bodies are at fighting infect...
2023-01-1744 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow to Keep Your Gut Healthy - Season TwoProfessor Tim Spector reveals how developing research about our gut biome – the microbes in our gut – is revolutionising our understanding of diet and disease. And he argues this may also help explain why we got so many things wrong about food. For example, it turns out that not all calories are equal, because different microbes will deal with identical calorie foods in very different ways.
70% of our immune cells are actually in our gut, so how our microbes interact with these immune cells has a major impact on how effective our bodies are at fighting infect...
2023-01-1744 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerShould You Take A Vitamin D Supplement? - Season TwoDr Michael Holick is a pioneer in vitamin D science and has spent a lifetime researching and exploring what he believes are its potentially life-changing benefits.
He argues that across the world guidelines for the amount of vitamin D we need are simply too low. And that many of us, even those living in a hot climate, will not be able to get enough vitamin D from sunlight alone.
Dr Horlick contends that not only do we need vitamin D for bone health, we also need it for many other critical functions too. Without a s...
2022-12-201h 05Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerShould You Take A Vitamin D Supplement? - Season TwoDr Michael Holick is a pioneer in vitamin D science and has spent a lifetime researching and exploring what he believes are its potentially life-changing benefits.
He argues that across the world guidelines for the amount of vitamin D we need are simply too low. And that many of us, even those living in a hot climate, will not be able to get enough vitamin D from sunlight alone.
Dr Horlick contends that not only do we need vitamin D for bone health, we also need it for many other critical functions too. Without a s...
2022-12-201h 05Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Low-Carb Diets Help Treat Mental Illness? - Season TwoHarvard trained psychiatrist Dr Georgia Ede is pioneering the use of low carb - otherwise known as ketogenic - diets to help treat a range of mental illness from major depression to schizophrenia. An approach she believes could revolutionise psychiatric care in the future.
She spent a decade treating patients with the standard approaches of medication and psychotherapy but became increasingly frustrated that she was not seeing the results she had hoped. So began to explore nutritional options and has now treated hundreds of patients using this approach.
A recently published paper on which Georgia w...
2022-12-061h 05Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerCould Low-Carb Diets Help Treat Mental Illness? - Season TwoHarvard trained psychiatrist Dr Georgia Ede is pioneering the use of low carb - otherwise known as ketogenic - diets to help treat a range of mental illness from major depression to schizophrenia. An approach she believes could revolutionise psychiatric care in the future.
She spent a decade treating patients with the standard approaches of medication and psychotherapy but became increasingly frustrated that she was not seeing the results she had hoped. So began to explore nutritional options and has now treated hundreds of patients using this approach.
A recently published paper on which Georgia w...
2022-12-061h 05Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerSugar - A Chronic Toxin? - Season TwoDr Robert Lustig argues sugar is fuelling an epidemic of chronic and metabolic disease, from diabetes and strokes, to cancer and heart disease costing hundreds of thousands of lives. He says in a view that some have seen as controversial that we need to see sugar not just as empty calories, but as a chronic, addictive toxin. In this podcast, Rob reveals just what sugar does to our bodies.
And he claims that while modern medicine has been highly effective in treating acute illness, it has failed in its treatment of chronic conditions, only able to treat th...
2022-11-0852 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerSugar - A Chronic Toxin? - Season TwoDr Robert Lustig argues sugar is fuelling an epidemic of chronic and metabolic disease, from diabetes and strokes, to cancer and heart disease costing hundreds of thousands of lives. He says in a view that some have seen as controversial that we need to see sugar not just as empty calories, but as a chronic, addictive toxin. In this podcast, Rob reveals just what sugar does to our bodies.
And he claims that while modern medicine has been highly effective in treating acute illness, it has failed in its treatment of chronic conditions, only able to treat th...
2022-11-0852 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThe Whistleblower Who Inspired A John Le Carré Novel - Season TwoWelcome to Season Two of Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker
This week’s story is so extraordinary that the best selling spy writer John Le Carré used it as the inspiration for one of his novels. And indeed if it was a work of fiction it would be dismissed as too fantastical or improbable. To tell this remarkable tale, I am talking to whistleblower Dr Nancy Olivieri, who became concerned during a trial about the effectiveness of a drug that she was using to treat thalassemia – an inherited form of anaemia.
Nancy was threatened with le...
2022-10-251h 01Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerThe Whistleblower Who Inspired A John Le Carré Novel - Season TwoWelcome to Season Two of Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker
This week’s story is so extraordinary that the best selling spy writer John Le Carré used it as the inspiration for one of his novels. And indeed if it was a work of fiction it would be dismissed as too fantastical or improbable. To tell this remarkable tale, I am talking to whistleblower Dr Nancy Olivieri, who became concerned during a trial about the effectiveness of a drug that she was using to treat thalassemia – an inherited form of anaemia.
Nancy was threatened with le...
2022-10-251h 01Medical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow the Smartphone Could Revolutionise HealthcareDr Eric Topol, one of the world’s leading cardiologists, reveals how the smartphone has the potential to revolutionise healthcare and create far more targeted treatment for patients.
Eric, who has been listed as one of the top ten cited researchers in all of medicine and has been voted the number one most influential physician-leader in the United States, explains the huge range of tests that phones can now carry out, from assessing kidney function to controlling asthma. And with technical attachments, phones can also do full body ultrasound scans, skin, eye and eye tests. All in re...
2022-10-0631 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow the Smartphone Could Revolutionise HealthcareDr Eric Topol, one of the world’s leading cardiologists, reveals how the smartphone has the potential to revolutionise healthcare and create far more targeted treatment for patients.
Eric, who has been listed as one of the top ten cited researchers in all of medicine and has been voted the number one most influential physician-leader in the United States, explains the huge range of tests that phones can now carry out, from assessing kidney function to controlling asthma. And with technical attachments, phones can also do full body ultrasound scans, skin, eye and eye tests. All in re...
2022-10-0631 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerFirst Drug Company to Be Accused of Racketeering in a US Court- The Neurontin(Gabapentin) StoryThis week’s podcast is about one of the world’s top selling drugs, Neurontin (generic name Gabapentin). And it centres on an extraordinary court case which for the very first time accused a drug company, Pfizer and its subsidiary Warner Lambert, of racketeering, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, a piece of legislation that was actually brought in tackle organized crime.
The company had been accused of encouraging doctors to use Neurotonin not just for its approved use, but for several unapproved uses, something that is known as off-label marketing and is illegal in the US...
2022-09-2950 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerFirst Drug Company to Be Accused of Racketeering in a US Court- The Neurontin(Gabapentin) StoryThis week’s podcast is about one of the world’s top selling drugs, Neurontin (generic name Gabapentin). And it centres on an extraordinary court case which for the very first time accused a drug company, Pfizer and its subsidiary Warner Lambert, of racketeering, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, a piece of legislation that was actually brought in tackle organized crime.
The company had been accused of encouraging doctors to use Neurotonin not just for its approved use, but for several unapproved uses, something that is known as off-label marketing and is illegal in the US...
2022-09-2950 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhat Happens When the Doctor Becomes The Patient?Neurosurgeon and author, Mr Henry Marsh, pioneer of the awake craniotomy, a brain surgery performed while the patient is still awake, discusses the ethical dilemmas and realities of the surgeon’s role. And he explains why he thinks doctors need a certain level of self-deception and exaggerated self-belief.
But after decades of treating patients, frequently for dangerous and life-threatening conditions, it was a huge shock as Henry describes in his latest book, And Finally, when he found himself diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was treatable but not curable.
So just how does a doctor cope wh...
2022-09-2240 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhat Happens When the Doctor Becomes The Patient?Neurosurgeon and author, Mr Henry Marsh, pioneer of the awake craniotomy, a brain surgery performed while the patient is still awake, discusses the ethical dilemmas and realities of the surgeon’s role. And he explains why he thinks doctors need a certain level of self-deception and exaggerated self-belief.
But after decades of treating patients, frequently for dangerous and life-threatening conditions, it was a huge shock as Henry describes in his latest book, And Finally, when he found himself diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was treatable but not curable.
So just how does a doctor cope wh...
2022-09-2240 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHas Medicine Been Too Slow to Explore the Benefits of Fasting?Dr Jason Fung, a kidney specialist, and one of the world's leading pioneers in low carb diets and intermittent fasting, reveals why modern medicine has been so slow to explore the benefits of fasting and discusses its benefits not just for type II diabetes but for a range of other metabolic and neurological conditions.
For decades, patients with type II diabetes were told to eat a high carbohydrate diet, despite the fact that their problem was that their carbohydrate levels were already out of control.
A major study published back in 2008 in the New England J...
2022-09-1545 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHas Medicine Been Too Slow to Explore the Benefits of Fasting?Dr Jason Fung, a kidney specialist, and one of the world's leading pioneers in low carb diets and intermittent fasting, reveals why modern medicine has been so slow to explore the benefits of fasting and discusses its benefits not just for type II diabetes but for a range of other metabolic and neurological conditions.
For decades, patients with type II diabetes were told to eat a high carbohydrate diet, despite the fact that their problem was that their carbohydrate levels were already out of control.
A major study published back in 2008 in the New England J...
2022-09-1545 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy The UK Does Poorly For Some Cancers & The Devastating Impact of Covid on the UK’s Cancer ServicesIn the final part of his interview, Professor Karol Sikora, one of the world's leading cancer experts and a past director of the WHO Cancer Programme, explains why the UK does poorly in the treatment of some common cancers and the reforms he believes are necessary to change this.
And Karol goes on to discuss the devastating impact that Covid has had on the UK's cancer services, which led to palliative care being halted and now means that patients are presenting with much later stage cancers, which are far harder to treat. He argues we will see t...
2022-09-0824 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy The UK Does Poorly For Some Cancers & The Devastating Impact of Covid on the UK’s Cancer ServicesIn the final part of his interview, Professor Karol Sikora, one of the world's leading cancer experts and a past director of the WHO Cancer Programme, explains why the UK does poorly in the treatment of some common cancers and the reforms he believes are necessary to change this.
And Karol goes on to discuss the devastating impact that Covid has had on the UK's cancer services, which led to palliative care being halted and now means that patients are presenting with much later stage cancers, which are far harder to treat. He argues we will see t...
2022-09-0824 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow To Be A Savvy Cancer PatientProfessor Karol Sikora, one of the world's leading cancer experts - an oncologist for 44 years and a past director of the WHO Cancer Programme - talks about his experience of treating cancer over the last four decades, and explains what cancer patients really need to know. He believes those who take an active interest in their care are in the strongest position to get the best treatment, so knowing how to navigate the health care system effectively can make a huge difference.
He talks about his experience in the UK's NHS, but much of his advice will b...
2022-09-0137 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerHow To Be A Savvy Cancer PatientProfessor Karol Sikora, one of the world's leading cancer experts - an oncologist for 44 years and a past director of the WHO Cancer Programme - talks about his experience of treating cancer over the last four decades, and explains what cancer patients really need to know. He believes those who take an active interest in their care are in the strongest position to get the best treatment, so knowing how to navigate the health care system effectively can make a huge difference.
He talks about his experience in the UK's NHS, but much of his advice will b...
2022-09-0137 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Does Medical Science Know So Little About The Female Body?Journalist Gabrielle Jackson reveals how the research for her book Pain and Prejudice uncovered just how little medical science understands the female body. Astonishingly, it turns out that most of what we know about human biology comes from the study of men, male animals and male cell lines.
Up until the 1990s, women were largely excluded from medical trials. The result of this is that there are many drugs in use today that were never trialled on women.
And in fact, eight out of ten drugs that were taken off the market by the US Fo...
2022-08-2528 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerWhy Does Medical Science Know So Little About The Female Body?Journalist Gabrielle Jackson reveals how the research for her book Pain and Prejudice uncovered just how little medical science understands the female body. Astonishingly, it turns out that most of what we know about human biology comes from the study of men, male animals and male cell lines.
Up until the 1990s, women were largely excluded from medical trials. The result of this is that there are many drugs in use today that were never trialled on women.
And in fact, eight out of ten drugs that were taken off the market by the US Fo...
2022-08-2528 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerSSRIs - Serotonin Hypothesis, Drug Effectiveness & Emerging Data About Sexual Side EffectsProfessor Joanna Moncrieff discusses the serotonin hypothesis, the evidence for the effectiveness of SSRIs, and the emerging data about SSRI sexual side effects.
If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.
The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on X and read further information about the podcast on her Substack newsletter.
Medical Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the to...
2022-08-1736 minMedical Evidence Matters with Liz TuckerSSRIs - Serotonin Hypothesis, Drug Effectiveness & Emerging Data About Sexual Side EffectsProfessor Joanna Moncrieff discusses the serotonin hypothesis, the evidence for the effectiveness of SSRIs, and the emerging data about SSRI sexual side effects.
If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.
The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on X and read further information about the podcast on her Substack newsletter.
Medical Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the to...
2022-08-1736 min