Second Opinion


Second Opinion

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Transcript


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My name's Xand van Tulleken. I'm a doctor, and every day,

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I make decisions based on years of training and medical experience.

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But when it comes to health stories, in the news or on the telly,

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I'm frequently at a loss.

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Every day, we're bombarded with sensational headlines.

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Now, some of them are so bizarre, they're a complete delight...

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..but sometimes, they're downright irresponsibly terrifying.

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I'm going to have a look at last year's health headlines,

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and find out the truth. Coming up tonight -

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could paracetamol be turning us into a nation of psychopaths?

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Could you be going to the loo all wrong?

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An Israeli study showed that it halves your pooping time.

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And could Noel Edmonds really have stumbled across

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a magic box that can tackle cancer?

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Well, the answer might surprise you. This is Second Opinion.

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APPLAUSE

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Welcome to Second Opinion, the show that's knowledgeable enough

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to pull the nonsense out of the headlines,

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and professional and discreet enough not to ask how it got in there.

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I read medical news all the time - I'm fascinated by it, I love it.

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Whether it's a headline that claims juicing makes you live forever,

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or this one weird tip to cut belly fat, I'll make that juice,

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I'll click that link,

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and the only thing I'm forgetting when I read this stuff

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is that I spent seven years training not to believe any of it!

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So, here's what I want to do tonight - we're going to go through

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the headlines, and see if we can make sense of them.

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We've got experiments, we've got correspondents,

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we've spoken to medical experts.

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What I want to do is take the year's medical news gently

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in the palm of a warm, gloved hand, and ask it to cough.

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Here are my top five headlines from last year.

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At five, from November...

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Wrong!

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Everybody has an equal likelihood of death,

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and that likelihood of death is, for the optimists among you,

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100%.

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Sorry to break it to everyone(!)

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The study, from the University of California, San Diego,

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in association with Facebook,

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found that in any given year,

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someone who uses Facebook is about 12% less likely to die

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than someone who doesn't, but are they really alive,

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or have they just not updated their status yet?

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At number four, from September...

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On the face of it, this does seem absurd.

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Let me remind you what kidney stones are.

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They're waste products that have crystallised out of your urine,

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a little bit like limescale in your kettle.

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They turn into little rocks in your kidneys,

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and if you can shake them loose before they get too big,

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that will save you lots of pain and possibly some emergency surgery.

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Professor David Wartinger, a urological surgeon from Michigan,

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heard from an unusual number of his patients that riding

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a particular roller-coaster was a good way of helping kidney stones

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to pass out, so what did he do?

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Of course - he 3D printed a model of a kidney with kidney stones in it,

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put it in a backpack at kidney height, and

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rode around Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain railroad repeatedly.

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What he found was that sitting at the back of the roller-coaster

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resulted in successful passing of a kidney stone

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in the model 64% of the time.

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The front was not so good, at 17% success rate.

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Let's be clear - despite what the headline would have you believe,

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this is not a cure for kidney stones.

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If you have a family history of kidney stones,

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and you like riding roller-coasters, maybe you should give it a go,

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but it's more important to stay hydrated.

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In at three, from September...

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Now, this was an article back in September about cat scratch disease.

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You can get it from a bite or a scratch from

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a cat infected with Bartonella henselae bacteria.

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In humans, this can cause fever, pustules,

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and in extreme cases, it can cause death. It sounds awful.

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So, should we not be cuddling these death-dealing felines any more?

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Well, the answer is - it's fine.

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Of course it's fine!

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Anyone who's ever met or seen a person who's handled a cat

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knows it's fine.

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To help prevention efforts, scientists in America

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conducted a survey of disease patterns over an eight-year period.

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It's extremely uncommon.

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Most cases resolve spontaneously, and it's very treatable.

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Only one case in the UK last year, and they survived just fine.

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So how should you read this story?

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If you get ill after handling a cat,

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or after not handling a cat,

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go and see your doctor!

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At number two, from April...

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Yes, it's a classic "thing causes cancer" story,

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but maybe it is time to eat less meat and eat more rice.

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Or maybe it's time to go fully veggie.

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God, this is awful! I need a sit down and a nice cup of tea.

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What?!

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Look, unfortunately, the problem with things that cause cancer

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is that they are almost unavoidable.

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I know it's frightening, but one in two of us will get it.

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It's built into who we are as humans.

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Lots of the things that give us pleasure, or improve our health,

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like sunlight, can also give us cancer,

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so I, for one, won't judge you if you take the attitude that it's all going to end at some point anyway,

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and we may as well just go out and enjoy ourselves.

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Ah! APPLAUSE

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And at number one, from May...

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An American study looked into paracetamol, also known as

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acetaminophen, and its effect on different kinds of pain.

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Now, there are three kinds of pain - physical pain, emotional pain,

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and pain that you feel on behalf of other people -

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and if you don't believe me, watch this.

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BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP

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and my new band is called Syskill.

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AUDIENCE GROANS

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You felt that pain, right?

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You enjoyed it, but you felt it.

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In the study, the scientists found that if you read a short story

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about someone in pain or in distress, you were less empathetic

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- you felt their pain less - if you had taken paracetamol.

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The authors say...

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But if this is true, I don't think this is a side effect.

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It's the banner headline!

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It's a painkiller! It does exactly what it says on the tin!

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They say it like it's a bad thing,

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but I think it could be incredibly useful.

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Life is full of stresses.

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My dog has to be put down, my marriage is on the rocks,

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and I've got to fire all these people.

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I used to care about other people's feelings,

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but then I discovered paracetamol.

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Now I'm wrapped in a lovely warm blanket of human indifference.

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Thanks, paracetamol.

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Off you go.

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Go on, out you go. Go on, you're done. You're fired.

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Benji, here, boy. Come on.

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Come on. DOG BARKS

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Back in June, Noel Edmonds got into a bit of a spat

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after he tweeted that he had found an unusual way to tackle cancer.

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"A simple box that slows ageing, reduces pain,

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"lifts depression and stress, and tackles cancer.

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"Yep, tackles cancer!"

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With radio stations for pets and cosmic ordering among

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Noel's interests, you can perhaps understand why people

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weren't ready to believe these remarkable claims.

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But Noel does really seem to believe in the product,

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and he appeared on This Morning to defend it.

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I believe doctors and scientists who say...

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So far, so good.

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..that disruption of our immune system by negative energy...

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Oh, there we go.

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..makes you prone to diseases, of which cancer is one.

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That is a scientific medical fact, and I agree with those doctors.

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The other belief I have is that pulsed electromagnetism

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can help with tackling cancer.

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OK, one thing - cancer isn't caused by negative energy

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any more than his contestants can use positive energy

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to guess how much money is in box number four.

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It is important to note that the company distanced themselves

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from Noel's claims, releasing a statement saying this:

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That's three ways of not agreeing with Noel Edmonds - not bad.

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And indeed, on their website,

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they don't say that the EMPpad will tackle cancer,

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but I am a bit confused by some of the things they do say.

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So, it's time to call in an expert.

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Here he is - computational physicist

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and electromagnetic safety expert Dr Richard Findlay.

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Now, I asked him to have a look at

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the claims made on the EMPpad website, so let's start with this.

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Sounds good. Richard, has health got a frequency?

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Health hasn't got a frequency.

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OK, fair enough. How about this one?

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Does it, Richard?

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It doesn't. The earth's magnetic field is static,

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and the fields they're generating are time varying,

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so they're very, very different quantities.

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OK, but the website is full of scientific references.

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Surely some of those are pretty good, aren't they?

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All over the place, really.

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OK, keep it civil, Richard!

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So, heal or no heal?

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We asked EMPpad for a box for Richard to test,

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but they didn't send us one.

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We asked for peer-reviewed clinical studies about the product,

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but they didn't send us any.

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They did send us this statement.

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EMPpad disagreed with Richard on a number of points, saying...

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But here's what really annoys me about this story -

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pseudo-science poisons the well for real science

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that could help people, and that's a huge problem, because in fact,

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electromagnetic field therapy IS currently being investigated

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as a means of treating cancer.

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There's a company in America called Novocure,

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who have developed a device that appears to keep tumours at bay

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using electromagnetic fields.

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This is Marsha Miller.

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Her brain tumour was surgically removed,

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but it was expected to grow back, and the Optune device seems, so far,

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to be preventing this happening.

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It's really important not to dismiss new research like this,

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so am I saying Noel Edmonds was right?

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Look, I'm not even saying Noel Edmonds is real.

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The one thing I'd need to part with my cash is a well-designed,

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well-conducted clinical trial, in humans, published in a reputable

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journal, that demonstrates a statistically significant benefit,

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and that trial does not exist, so for me, it's no deal.

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Now, if you've been keeping up with Australian tax news...

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LAUGHTER

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..you'll be well aware of the next story.

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Back in August, The Sun revealed that the Australian Tax Office

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has installed squat toilets in one of its buildings in Canberra.

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The large number of South-East Asian employees are used to

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a squat toilet, one of these,

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rather than a Western-style toilet,

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as you can see

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from this helpful sticker.

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So, this is just your typical hysterical story about

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the dangers of immigrants, with a nice new scatological twist, right?

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So how should you read this story?

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What if we approach this from a medical point of view?

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In the UK, 80% of people will suffer piles in their lifetime.

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25% will suffer regularly.

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As a nation, we spend £48 million a year on prescription laxatives,

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and that doesn't include over-the-counter purchases.

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But in Asia and Africa, by contrast, where squat toilets are more common,

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in seems instance of piles and colorectal disease is lower.

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So, are squat toilets actually better for us?

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In America, they've invented a clever way of turning your

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traditional Western toilet into a squat toilet, but they've had

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to work pretty hard to make it an attractive proposition.

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When you sit on a porcelain throne,

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this muscle puts a kink in the hose

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and stops the Ben & Jerry's from sliding out smoothly.

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But what happens when you go from a sit to a squat?

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Voila! This muscle relaxes,

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and that kink goes away

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faster than Pegasus laying sweet sherbet dookie.

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Truly, a footstool fit for a constipated king.

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APPLAUSE

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After this advert, sales in America went up by 250%,

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but interestingly, in the UK, there was not the same sales spike.

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It seems like we Brits just don't like to think

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about how we go to the loo.

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But I'm convinced Britain CAN find a way to take squatting

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into our hearts, so we sent Second Opinion's in-house GP,

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Dr Ahmed Kazmi, to try and sell it

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to the unsuspecting shoppers of South London.

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Today, I'm going to be posing as an undercover salesperson

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in this showroom, where we've installed a squat toilet.

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Right, let's sell some squat toilets.

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-Hello, sir, are you OK?

-Yeah, I'm OK, how you doing?

-Very well.

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Are you looking for anything in particular?

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-Erm, a whole new bathroom, to be honest.

-Oh, OK.

-So, erm...

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I'll just show you something a little bit novel.

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It's the most popular toilet model worldwide.

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It's definitely compact.

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It's the traditional squat toilet.

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Have you ever used one?

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So there's loads of health benefits, actually.

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It reduces the risk of haemorrhoids, piles, diverticulitis.

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Because of the hip flection,

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it pulls the anal rectal junction

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into a much more favourable position for opening the bowels,

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so you need to apply less strain, which is why it helps with

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-diverticulitis and with haemorrhoids.

-Yeah.

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It's good for your joints, too.

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A Japanese study showed that, because of the hip flection,

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it pulls the anal rectal canal into the correct position,

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-so you don't have to strain to pass the motion.

-Right.

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An Israeli study showed that it halves your pooping time,

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so everyone could benefit from that.

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It makes it less than one minute that you'd spend on the toilet.

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Have you ever tried one? Like, on holiday, or...?

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-Yeah, I hate them. You tend to get splashes on your feet.

-Yeah?

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Oh, yeah, I know what you mean. That's a technique thing, though.

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Do you know, actually, the majority of the world poops like this?

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-Is it something you'd ever consider?

-I don't think so.

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Do you want to have a quick go, just see how it feels?

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-I think I'm all right with that.

-Oh, just try, go on.

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You're not going to sell it to me, I'm afraid.

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-It's only £150.

-OK.

-Is it something you might consider?

-No.

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Xand, I really tried my hardest,

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but I'm afraid I wasn't able to sell any squat toilets.

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My diagnosis is that England is not ready yet,

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but I'm taking one home myself.

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APPLAUSE

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Dr Ahmed there, with no sales,

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thus guaranteeing himself a place on the next series of The Apprentice.

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It seems Brits just aren't ready for squat toilets,

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so are we damaging our health?

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Well, I went along to see

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consultant gastroenterologist Dr Lisa Das to find out.

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-Hello.

-Hello. Is it Lisa?

-It is.

-Xand.

-Nice to meet you.

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Very nice to meet you.

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Lisa, you're a world-class gastroenterologist.

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You've worked in the US and the UK.

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You've won prizes. You've passed all the exams.

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I have a burning question -

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are we going to the loo wrong?

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I think we are, so it's a massive problem.

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About 60% of my practice is about disorder defecation,

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people not going to the bathroom properly.

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So why do you think we're getting this all wrong?

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I would probably say a large part is because we don't pay attention

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to our bodies, and that normal urge, that call to stool,

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when your body's telling you you need to open the bowels,

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we tend to inhibit that, and that's because we're busy,

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we're going to a meeting,

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we're sorting out the children in the morning.

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OK, Lisa, scenario -

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you and I, we're on a date, we're in a restaurant.

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I get the urge.

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I get up and excuse myself, walk around the table,

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our eyes meet, and you whisper three pieces of advice

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about how to go to the loo. What are those pieces of advice?

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-So diet, fibre, water and exercise.

-Fibre, water, exercise.

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It's a bit late for that, it's the middle of the date,

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but let's say I had the salad and I've had a glass of water.

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-I'm on the move.

-You're doing the right thing.

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You've attended to that call to stool, which is when you feel

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like you need to go, you have to take advantage of that.

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That's the great thing about being on a date with

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a gastroenterologist -

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they don't mind when you answer the call to stool.

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So, I make my way through the restaurant, I get to the loo,

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I open the door, I sit down, I'm straining.

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Dial back that straining,

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because too much straining can cause problems with haemorrhoids,

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-so 80% strain.

-80% effort. Take it down a little bit, relax.

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Just calm down, it's all right, we've got time,

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we're in this for the long haul.

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Third piece of advice - you shout it across the restaurant,

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into the toilet, what is it?

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Get in the right position and raise your legs.

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-Get your knees up?

-Indeed.

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This date's going better than I expected.

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Could I get your phone number?

0:18:100:18:11

APPLAUSE

0:18:130:18:14

So, there we go, or rather, there we COULD go,

0:18:140:18:16

if we ate well and got into the right position.

0:18:160:18:19

This is a much bigger problem than most of us are prepared to admit.

0:18:190:18:22

Look, I know you're going to ignore me about drinking more water

0:18:220:18:25

and eating your greens

0:18:250:18:26

- you've been ignoring doctors about that stuff for years -

0:18:260:18:28

but if you are having problems, try getting your knees up,

0:18:280:18:31

and don't ignore the call to stool.

0:18:310:18:33

APPLAUSE

0:18:330:18:34

Now, smoking - one of the biggest health issues we face.

0:18:370:18:40

A study in March claimed if you're trying to give up,

0:18:400:18:43

going cold turkey could be the best option, though, to be honest,

0:18:430:18:47

it is a lot easier these days than it used to be,

0:18:470:18:49

when cigarette brands could make adverts like this.

0:18:490:18:52

According to this repeated nationwide survey...

0:18:520:18:55

Speaking as a doctor, I'd probably rather you smoked an actual camel.

0:19:000:19:03

If you are trying to quit smoking, this year,

0:19:060:19:08

you might find it a little bit easier

0:19:080:19:10

without even knowing it, thanks to recent government legislation.

0:19:100:19:13

New laws are coming into force from May, meaning that all tobacco

0:19:130:19:17

packaging that we now see on the shelves will have to be plain.

0:19:170:19:20

This means that, as well as standard sizes, fonts,

0:19:220:19:25

and large health warnings, the government has chosen

0:19:250:19:27

the world's ugliest shade of green for the new cigarette packets.

0:19:270:19:32

It's officially known as...

0:19:320:19:34

It's not a coincidence that The Beatles never wrote a song

0:19:370:19:39

called We All Live In A Pantone 448C Opaque Couche Submarine.

0:19:390:19:43

These aren't the most beautiful things you've ever seen,

0:19:430:19:46

but maybe people will still love them.

0:19:460:19:48

Previously, this has only been researched with focus groups

0:19:480:19:51

where people picked out that colour as the least appealing one.

0:19:510:19:55

So, we at Second Opinion teamed up with Bristol University to do

0:19:550:19:58

some original research into people's subconscious colour preferences.

0:19:580:20:02

Can a colour by itself really make any difference

0:20:020:20:05

to people's smoking habits?

0:20:050:20:06

We sent Second Opinion's smokin' correspondent...

0:20:060:20:10

Oh, sorry - we sent Second Opinion's SMOKING correspondent,

0:20:100:20:13

Dr Emily Grossman, to find out.

0:20:130:20:15

I'm here at Bristol University. We've got some volunteers,

0:20:190:20:22

and we're ready to put this to the test.

0:20:220:20:23

Good afternoon. Thanks for coming to help us with this demonstration.

0:20:270:20:29

We are the tobacco and alcohol research group,

0:20:290:20:31

and we are interested in lifestyle behaviours, and in particular,

0:20:310:20:34

why people smoke and drink, and so this afternoon,

0:20:340:20:37

you're going to be doing a short test on these computers that

0:20:370:20:39

you have in front of you, and we can talk about the results afterwards.

0:20:390:20:42

In this test, we have to work as quickly as possible to sort words

0:20:420:20:46

like "fresh," "clean," and "damaging,"

0:20:460:20:48

into positive and negative categories,

0:20:480:20:50

and then do the same with blue and green cigarette packages.

0:20:500:20:53

So what exactly is this weird test that you've had us do today?

0:20:530:20:56

It's called the implicit association test,

0:20:560:20:58

and it's designed to capture people's unconscious attitudes.

0:20:580:21:02

One of the problems we have in psychology is that,

0:21:020:21:04

when we want to understand what people think, what they tell us

0:21:040:21:08

isn't always an accurate reflection of what they really think.

0:21:080:21:11

So, by getting people to automatically pair colours

0:21:110:21:14

with positive and negative words,

0:21:140:21:16

we can measure how quickly people associate the colours with

0:21:160:21:19

positive words compared to negative words,

0:21:190:21:21

and that gives us a sense of the unconscious strength with which

0:21:210:21:25

they associate a colour with a positive or a negative image.

0:21:250:21:28

So what do our results actually tell you?

0:21:280:21:30

It's interesting that all of you showed

0:21:300:21:31

a preference towards the blue colour,

0:21:310:21:33

and that's the colour that's been used on

0:21:330:21:35

a number of different cigarette packs over the years, because

0:21:350:21:37

it conveys a sense of lightness and happiness and healthiness.

0:21:370:21:40

So, hang on - you're saying that we basically don't like

0:21:400:21:42

the colour green. I've got loads of green clothes.

0:21:420:21:44

Am I wearing stuff that people don't like?

0:21:440:21:46

That's a different question, really, but it's possible that

0:21:460:21:50

different colours have different associations depending on how

0:21:500:21:53

you use the product associated with those colours, so anything that

0:21:530:21:56

you're putting into your mouth, for example, if it has a slightly

0:21:560:21:58

rotten colour associated with it, might be more unappealing.

0:21:580:22:01

So, we found out today that our volunteers felt more negative

0:22:010:22:05

about green cigarette packaging, and that these colour preferences

0:22:050:22:08

might also apply to other things that we put in our mouths.

0:22:080:22:11

APPLAUSE

0:22:110:22:12

Prof Munafo's team will now expand this into a proper study,

0:22:120:22:15

so watch this space,

0:22:150:22:17

and maybe they can look into getting kids to eat their greens.

0:22:170:22:20

Healthcare innovations now, and it seems I'm soon to be

0:22:250:22:27

out of a job, if this headline from July is anything to go by.

0:22:270:22:31

This is Pillo, a healthcare robot

0:22:310:22:33

currently being developed in America

0:22:330:22:35

that's always on,

0:22:350:22:36

and watches everything you and your family do,

0:22:360:22:39

turning your house into a friendly, electronic North Korea.

0:22:390:22:42

It dispenses medication by plopping it out its bottom,

0:22:440:22:46

and it makes darn sure you take it.

0:22:460:22:48

Wait, John, it's Tuesday. Here's your blood pressure medication.

0:22:480:22:52

You're right. Thank you, Pillo.

0:22:520:22:54

And if you want, he'll notify your care takers in case of an emergency,

0:22:550:22:59

like when he forgot his heart medication.

0:22:590:23:02

Hey, Dad. I just got a message from Pillo.

0:23:020:23:05

Everything OK?

0:23:050:23:06

"Dad, Pillo says you've been having capitalist thoughts!"

0:23:060:23:09

And, if the idea of an in-home robot Big Brother tracking your

0:23:110:23:15

every move wasn't troubling enough, it also has thoughts on your dinner.

0:23:150:23:19

Since Pillo's always connected,

0:23:190:23:21

he can answer all of your health-related questions.

0:23:210:23:24

Pillo, how many calories are in a celery stick?

0:23:240:23:27

Six calories, Clara. Celery is excellent for your health.

0:23:270:23:30

Great, I'll have a bunch, then.

0:23:300:23:32

Aww!

0:23:320:23:33

Ugh!

0:23:330:23:36

Look, if there's one thing science fiction has taught us,

0:23:360:23:38

it's that we should definitely entrust artificial intelligence

0:23:380:23:41

with keeping us alive, and this will never, ever backfire.

0:23:410:23:44

Pillo's going to be on the market from summer. Good luck, everyone.

0:23:440:23:48

Right, what should we tackle next? I fancy something really easy.

0:23:480:23:52

How about the junior doctors strike?

0:23:520:23:54

Now, this was the biggest health story of last year,

0:24:020:24:04

and for very good reason - doctors pretty much never go on strike.

0:24:040:24:08

The last junior doctors strike in the UK was back in 1975,

0:24:080:24:13

but last year, they walked out five times from January to April.

0:24:130:24:18

Now, for doctors to go on strike, there has to be something

0:24:180:24:21

pretty wrong, so let's tackle what happened,

0:24:210:24:23

and I'm using "tackle" in the Noel Edmonds sense of

0:24:230:24:27

"not solve at all".

0:24:270:24:28

I'll start with what we think we all know - that doctors are lovely,

0:24:300:24:34

and the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is not.

0:24:340:24:37

But I would say that - I'm a doctor - so let's try to be fair here.

0:24:370:24:41

Why did Jeremy Hunt want to change the junior doctors' contract

0:24:410:24:44

in the first place?

0:24:440:24:45

Around 6,000 people lose their lives every year because we don't have

0:24:450:24:51

a proper seven-day service in hospitals.

0:24:510:24:53

6,000 deaths!

0:24:530:24:55

Is that really true? Well, this study says it is.

0:24:560:24:59

And lots of others say it isn't.

0:25:000:25:02

It's a heavily disputed figure, but for the sake of argument,

0:25:020:25:05

let's buy it. Let's buy that number

0:25:050:25:07

- 6,000 extra people dying, but slow down -

0:25:070:25:10

are those 6,000 deaths caused by a lack of junior doctors?

0:25:100:25:14

Well, like most complicated things, this is probably best explained

0:25:140:25:18

in terms of cheese.

0:25:180:25:19

Imagine the junior doctors as a wedge of cheese.

0:25:210:25:24

There are more of them around during the week,

0:25:240:25:27

and they taper off a bit at weekends.

0:25:270:25:29

Now, there's already a shortage of doctor cheese.

0:25:290:25:32

There are gaps in the rota, so now, our cheese...

0:25:320:25:36

is getting smaller, and looking pretty Swiss.

0:25:360:25:38

And what Jeremy Hunt wants to do

0:25:380:25:40

is stretch this cheese over the weekend, but here's the problem -

0:25:400:25:44

he isn't making any more cheese!

0:25:440:25:46

He's just trying to smoosh the cheese across a seven-day week,

0:25:460:25:50

and clearly, when you smoosh cheese over a seven-day week,

0:25:500:25:53

this isn't going to improve the cheese.

0:25:530:25:57

You can't just smoosh it over the week, Jeremy.

0:25:570:26:00

It gets sweaty, and it gets over-stressed.

0:26:000:26:02

This is no longer top quality cheese. It is sub-standard.

0:26:020:26:07

What Jeremy should do is make more cheese - train more doctors,

0:26:070:26:11

or hire more doctors from other countries.

0:26:110:26:13

APPLAUSE

0:26:130:26:15

But even if he did that, this is only junior doctors.

0:26:150:26:18

You need the whole cheese board.

0:26:180:26:20

You want the brie, the camembert, the cheddar, the stilton,

0:26:200:26:23

the radiographers, the lab techs, the MRI operators,

0:26:230:26:26

crackers, grapes, quince jelly, a little glass of port.

0:26:260:26:29

Jeremy Hunt isn't saying anything about the other contracts,

0:26:290:26:32

or getting more of them in at weekends,

0:26:320:26:35

so as far as we know, he won't save any of those 6,000 lives.

0:26:350:26:39

Ironically, like an exhausted, stressed-out junior doctor,

0:26:390:26:42

Jeremy Hunt was misdiagnosing the problem,

0:26:420:26:44

and giving the wrong treatment.

0:26:440:26:46

APPLAUSE

0:26:460:26:49

But still, he won, he broke the strike,

0:26:490:26:51

so why am I still talking about this story when it's all over?

0:26:510:26:55

Because record numbers of doctors are now leaving the profession

0:26:550:26:58

after training, and late last year, the GMC revealed that the number of

0:26:580:27:02

requests from doctors seeking certificates to work abroad

0:27:020:27:05

had increased by 30 times.

0:27:050:27:09

Now, I've worked as a junior doctor, and it IS a hard job,

0:27:090:27:11

but it's really rewarding.

0:27:110:27:13

There's a reason why getting into medical school is competitive -

0:27:130:27:16

it's fascinating, and it's fun, and some days,

0:27:160:27:19

you get to feel like a hero who can save lives.

0:27:190:27:21

That's what you want from a doctor -

0:27:210:27:23

someone with warm hands and a soft voice,

0:27:230:27:25

who'll hear your problems, examine you properly,

0:27:250:27:27

have time to make a considered diagnosis,

0:27:270:27:29

and then come back and check on you and make sure the treatment worked.

0:27:290:27:32

But if there aren't enough doctors,

0:27:320:27:34

if you're juggling too many patients,

0:27:340:27:36

being constantly paged to another ward,

0:27:360:27:37

if all the support staff are thin on the ground

0:27:370:27:39

and everyone's stressed and stretched and miserable,

0:27:390:27:41

it becomes much less fascinating and much more like playing Whack-A-Mole.

0:27:410:27:45

And before you go,

0:27:450:27:47

"Oh, boo-hoo, poor doctors, having to play Whack-A-Mole,

0:27:470:27:50

"I love Whack-A-Mole," bear in mind, in this scenario, you're the mole.

0:27:500:27:54

So, yes, the strikes are over,

0:27:570:27:58

but the underlying issues are still there,

0:27:580:28:01

and if you leave an underlying condition untreated,

0:28:010:28:03

it will come back to bite you. Just ask a doctor,

0:28:030:28:05

if you can still find one.

0:28:050:28:07

So that's our show!

0:28:080:28:09

I hope it's been as entertaining and informative for you watching

0:28:090:28:13

as it was for us making it, and of course,

0:28:130:28:15

if you didn't enjoy it, you can just numb the pain with some paracetamol.

0:28:150:28:19

Either way, I hope the next time

0:28:190:28:20

you see or read something about your health, you'll think,

0:28:200:28:23

"Do I believe this, or do I need a second opinion?"

0:28:230:28:25

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