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When it comes to our health, it seems everyone has an opinion. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:07 | |
But what's the health advice you can really trust? | 0:00:08 | 0:00:11 | |
We're here to weigh up the evidence and use our expertise | 0:00:14 | 0:00:18 | |
to guide you... | 0:00:18 | 0:00:19 | |
..through the contradictions and the confusions. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
We do research no-one else has done, | 0:00:25 | 0:00:28 | |
and put your health at the heart of what we do. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:31 | |
We listen to the questions you want answered. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:36 | |
And ensure you get the information you need. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
We're here when you want to know the latest findings | 0:00:41 | 0:00:43 | |
and not the latest fads. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
I'm Michael Mosley and, in this series, | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
I'm joined by a team of doctors. | 0:00:49 | 0:00:51 | |
Together, we'll cut through the hype, | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
the headlines and the health claims. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:56 | |
This is Trust Me I'm A Doctor. | 0:00:58 | 0:00:59 | |
Hello, and welcome to Trust Me. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:06 | |
Today, we're in Leeds where we're carrying out an Olympic-grade test | 0:01:06 | 0:01:10 | |
to see which forms of exercise are best for bones. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:14 | |
Also in the programme, could a germ-free home make you ill? | 0:01:15 | 0:01:20 | |
Is it healthier to be a night owl or a morning lark? | 0:01:20 | 0:01:24 | |
I was up early, I've had my coffee. What have you been doing? Nothing! | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
And health advice on the internet, can you trust any of it? | 0:01:28 | 0:01:32 | |
But first... | 0:01:32 | 0:01:34 | |
..we all know that exercise is good for your heart, your lungs | 0:01:34 | 0:01:37 | |
and your brain. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:39 | |
But there is one system that's often overlooked - your bones. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:42 | |
As we get older, our bones become less dense which can, | 0:01:47 | 0:01:51 | |
ultimately, lead to them becoming weak and porous. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
And much more prone to fractures. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
Studies have shown that exercise can slow, even reverse, this decline, | 0:01:59 | 0:02:03 | |
but what is the best type of exercise you can do | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
in order to get maximum bone strength? | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
We've all heard that calcium | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
and vitamin D are essential for healthy bones. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:14 | |
But exercise also keeps our bones strong by putting them | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
under stress, subjecting them to jolts and shocks. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
Surprisingly enough, this is essential for bone health | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
because each jolt sends signals to bone cells, | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
telling them to grow back stronger. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
To find out which kind of exercise does this best, | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
we've teamed up with Leeds Beckett University. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:38 | |
Dr Karen Hind, an expert in bone health, | 0:02:39 | 0:02:43 | |
is helping us carry out the unique study. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:45 | |
So, from the age of 35, | 0:02:47 | 0:02:48 | |
we lose approximately 0.5% of bone mass per year. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:52 | |
That's very depressing! | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
That is actually accelerated once ladies hit the menopause | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
and once men hit around the age of 50. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:00 | |
Exercise will make a massive difference to your ability | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
to maintain your bone density. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
We and the Leeds team have recruited elite male and female athletes, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:11 | |
including Olympic medallists from three very different sports. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:15 | |
We want to see exactly how each sport has affected their bones, | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
so we can learn what type of exercise might be of benefit | 0:03:21 | 0:03:25 | |
to all of us. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
We've recruited cyclists from two different racing teams... | 0:03:28 | 0:03:32 | |
..cricketers... | 0:03:33 | 0:03:35 | |
..and gymnasts. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:40 | |
Each of the sports have different movement and physiological demands. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:45 | |
And by looking at those different movements | 0:03:45 | 0:03:47 | |
and then looking at bone density, we can actually get an idea | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
of what specific exercises might be beneficial. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:54 | |
Each of our athletes get a type of X-ray called a DEXA scan | 0:03:56 | 0:04:00 | |
to measure the bone density in their hips and spine, | 0:04:00 | 0:04:04 | |
two common areas for fractures, as we age. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:06 | |
We'll compare their results to the average bone density | 0:04:09 | 0:04:11 | |
for people of their age and gender. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
Studying elite athletes will allow us | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
to identify any changes in bone density that may be caused by | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
the particular movements involved in these different types of exercise. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:26 | |
So, we've got tumbling and somersaults, | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
so that's, like, quite a lot of impact on our landings. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:33 | |
We talk about muscle content, fat content but we've never, | 0:04:33 | 0:04:36 | |
ever looked at bone density. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:38 | |
I wouldn't be able to say what the results are going to end up like. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
We shall see! | 0:04:41 | 0:04:43 | |
We shall see, indeed. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:44 | |
Karen has now scanned all our elite athletes and the results are in. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:50 | |
Time to find out which exercise best bolsters bones and what you can do | 0:04:53 | 0:04:57 | |
to minimise your risk of developing fractures later in life. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
We've brought back one male and one female representative | 0:05:02 | 0:05:05 | |
from each of our sports. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:07 | |
OK, so, results time. | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
First, the gymnasts. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
We're pleased to say that your bone density did come out | 0:05:11 | 0:05:14 | |
at 17% higher than the reference range for your age. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:18 | |
-Fantastic. -Whoo! | 0:05:18 | 0:05:20 | |
That's for the women. And the same story with men. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:23 | |
So, 14% above average at the spine. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
Really, really very good, actually. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
For our gymnasts, the results for both the spine | 0:05:29 | 0:05:32 | |
and the hips were significantly better than average. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
Next, what about our cyclists? | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
We expect the cyclists to be very fit but are they bone fit? | 0:05:38 | 0:05:42 | |
With the ladies, we did find a 6% lower bone density overall | 0:05:42 | 0:05:47 | |
than average, in terms of bone strength at the spine. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
And, for the men, 9% lower than average. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:52 | |
So, lower than average, which is kind of surprising. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:55 | |
Strangely enough, spending a lot of time cycling can actually | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
lead to weaker bones than average in the spine for both men | 0:06:01 | 0:06:04 | |
and women, and weaker hips for men, too. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:07 | |
And the reason is to do with the type of activity. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:12 | |
Cyclists are very much weight-assisted, | 0:06:12 | 0:06:13 | |
particularly this region here, so, the lumbar spine. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
And this is where we saw the more prominent | 0:06:16 | 0:06:19 | |
differences between the athlete groups. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:21 | |
Because a cyclist's weight is supported by their bike, | 0:06:21 | 0:06:25 | |
they're not putting the kind of pressure on their bones | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
that would strengthen them. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:29 | |
So, while cycling is a great way to improve your fitness | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
and your cardiovascular health, | 0:06:33 | 0:06:35 | |
it's not so good for your bones. | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
Finally, what about our cricketers? | 0:06:39 | 0:06:42 | |
-I have low expectations for the cricketers. -Oh, OK! | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
So, cricketers are the surprising group here. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:48 | |
Cricketers, at the spine, even better. | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
So, for the women, 22% above average for your age, | 0:06:51 | 0:06:55 | |
and, for the men, 18% above average for your age. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:58 | |
That's surprising | 0:06:58 | 0:06:59 | |
because you think of cricketers as standing around an awful lot. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
You do, and you see cricketers on the field for a long time, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
but, actually, the movements employed in that sport, | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
even though they're not constant and continuous all the way | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
through the game, those explosive sessions might actually be | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
having quite a beneficial effect for your bone density. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
So, cricket was the most favourable of the three sports | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
for bone density, both in the spine and hips. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:24 | |
It seems the combination of running, jumping | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
and twisting has a particularly beneficial effect. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:32 | |
And this indicates the kind of exercise we could all do | 0:07:33 | 0:07:36 | |
to improve our bone health. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
Taking what we've found from this study, | 0:07:39 | 0:07:41 | |
a bit from the gymnastics, from the cricketers, | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
there was exercises that involve a bit of jumping, a bit of twisting. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
Dancing would be perfect. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:48 | |
OK, so a bit of squat, ideally a bit of star jumping. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
Anything that involves a bit of leaping. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
That's even better because you're working that muscle but you're also, | 0:07:53 | 0:07:57 | |
through the jumping, you're also getting | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
that gravitational loading. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:00 | |
That wasn't quite what I was expecting. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
I already do quite a lot of cycling | 0:08:04 | 0:08:05 | |
but it seems that isn't enough for maximum bone strength so I'm going | 0:08:05 | 0:08:09 | |
to have to throw in some star jumps, perhaps a bit of weight training. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:14 | |
Maybe even a little bit of Zumba dancing. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
When it comes to sleep, some of us are larks, | 0:08:26 | 0:08:28 | |
we enjoy an early morning. Others are owls. They prefer a late night. | 0:08:28 | 0:08:33 | |
But what happens when your biological clock | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
is out of sync with your alarm clock? | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
Dr Giles Yeo investigates. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
For many of us, the time of day we're expected to be at work | 0:08:42 | 0:08:45 | |
doesn't fit in with our body's natural rhythm | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
of sleeping and waking. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
This can result in us getting fewer hours' sleep than we really need. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:54 | |
And scientific evidence suggests that's not good for our health. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:58 | |
Long-term sleep deprivation is linked to a whole host of different | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
health problems, including increased risk of cancer and heart disease. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:07 | |
For every hour's difference between your body's natural rhythm | 0:09:09 | 0:09:12 | |
and your actual daily routine, | 0:09:12 | 0:09:14 | |
you increase your risk of obesity by up to 30%. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
So, why do these differences occur, and what can we do about it? | 0:09:20 | 0:09:24 | |
Well, research suggests some of it is down to your age and could | 0:09:24 | 0:09:28 | |
explain the biggest mystery for any parent of a teenager. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
Why can't teenagers get up in the morning? | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
Are they just being lazy? | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
My teenage son Harry and I are going to do an experiment to compare | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
which time of day our brains are most alert - | 0:09:41 | 0:09:44 | |
morning or evening. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
7am, and it's time for the morning test. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
Three...two... | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
..one, go! | 0:09:52 | 0:09:54 | |
Under time pressure, | 0:09:55 | 0:09:56 | |
we have to respond to the direction of arrows on the screen. | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
-Are you feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, Harry? -No, not really. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:03 | |
The test is designed to reveal our levels of attention. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:07 | |
See, I was up early, I've had my coffee. What have you been doing? | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
Nothing! | 0:10:10 | 0:10:11 | |
8:30 PM, and time for the evening rematch. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:17 | |
-Are you ready? -Yeah! -OK. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
You may be good at stuff like being famous | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
but, yeah, I'm good at Arrow Beam and stuff like that. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:24 | |
Oh! Got that wrong. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:26 | |
I'm amazing at this. I might as well be a pro gamer. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
So, how did Harry and I compare? | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
For reaction time, both of us were faster in the evening. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
And for our ability to ignore distractions, | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
both of us were better in the morning. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
But, for one important measure - our ability to shift focus quickly | 0:10:41 | 0:10:46 | |
in response to the arrow, we're complete opposites. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
I did much better in the morning | 0:10:51 | 0:10:52 | |
while Harry did better in the evening. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:54 | |
So, his brain really does seem to work | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
on a different daily rhythm from mine. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
In fact, everybody has what is known as a "chronotype" | 0:11:00 | 0:11:05 | |
which determines what time of day you're at your best. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
It's set by a part of our brain that acts as our master body clock | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
and sets our daily rhythm. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
Recent research suggests that as timing is shifted | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
by age-related hormones, such as testosterone, | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
which rises sharply in teenage boys | 0:11:22 | 0:11:24 | |
and falls off as they grow older. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
Now, if hormones radically alter our body clock, | 0:11:29 | 0:11:32 | |
then our chronotype is going to change as we age. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:34 | |
There's nothing we can do about it. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:36 | |
And, for most of us, the timing of our working day | 0:11:36 | 0:11:39 | |
stays roughly the same throughout our entire lives. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
If you could change it, though, | 0:11:42 | 0:11:44 | |
how much difference would that really make? | 0:11:44 | 0:11:47 | |
One school in London is finding out. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
It's 1.00 PM | 0:11:51 | 0:11:52 | |
and these students are just arriving at school, but they're not late. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
Their lessons start now. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:58 | |
At Hampton Court House Sixth Form, | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
classes run from 1.30 PM to 7.00 PM | 0:12:00 | 0:12:03 | |
to fit around a teenager's naturally late chronotype. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
This new school day is the brainchild of headmaster, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
Guy Holloway. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:15 | |
You clearly have buy-in with the staff. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:17 | |
What do they think about this? | 0:12:17 | 0:12:19 | |
In-house, we talk about the "golden period". | 0:12:19 | 0:12:21 | |
That period between five o'clock and seven o'clock where the quality | 0:12:21 | 0:12:26 | |
of work far outperforms what might happen first thing in the morning. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:30 | |
Really? 5-7? | 0:12:30 | 0:12:32 | |
We have teachers who specifically want to teach at that time | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
because they can get the most out of their students | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
and their students work happiest and most productively at that time. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:42 | |
It's a radical approach for a school to take, | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
one that's being watched with interest by schools | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
in other countries | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
and it's certainly popular with the pupils. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:51 | |
We're still putting in the same amount of work, | 0:12:51 | 0:12:53 | |
the only difference is we're doing it a bit later | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
and, as a direct result of that, we're more productive | 0:12:56 | 0:12:59 | |
and we get more out of it. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:00 | |
How has this new schedule made you feel? | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
I don't have to fall asleep when I get home any more. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
Just more energy and things like that. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:08 | |
So, for the students here, | 0:13:08 | 0:13:09 | |
fitting the school day around their body clock seems to be working. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:13 | |
Now, for most of us | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
shifting our work day like that is just simply not possible. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
But there's plenty that we can do in order to bring our body clocks | 0:13:19 | 0:13:22 | |
in line with our daily routine and avoid tiredness and sleep problems. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
One of the most useful things to reset your body clock is light. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:32 | |
Get some natural daylight as soon as you can in the morning. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
Keep getting up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
And in the hour before bed, avoid screens, like phones, | 0:13:40 | 0:13:45 | |
laptops and tablets. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:47 | |
But my advice is, depending on what your work routine will allow, | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
try not to fight your body clock. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:55 | |
And maybe cut your teenage son some slack when it's midday | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
and he still hasn't got up. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:01 | |
Coming up - is wiping out germs in your home bad for your health? | 0:14:10 | 0:14:15 | |
And when health headlines contradict each other, | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
how do you know what to believe? | 0:14:18 | 0:14:21 | |
But, first... | 0:14:21 | 0:14:22 | |
..when we're not feeling well, | 0:14:23 | 0:14:24 | |
a surprising number of us, these days, over 50%, | 0:14:24 | 0:14:28 | |
would rather turn to the internet for a diagnosis than visit their GP. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:33 | |
But is that wise? | 0:14:33 | 0:14:35 | |
Dr Zoe Williams investigates. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
Let's say you've gorged yourself on a huge meal | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
and an hour later you're having some weird cramping pains in your chest. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:47 | |
Type in the symptom "chest pains" into a search engine | 0:14:47 | 0:14:50 | |
and the first result that usually pops up is a heart attack. | 0:14:50 | 0:14:55 | |
But, of course, it's most likely not a heart attack at all, | 0:14:55 | 0:14:59 | |
probably just a nasty bout of indigestion | 0:14:59 | 0:15:02 | |
and you're simply causing yourself unnecessary worry. | 0:15:02 | 0:15:06 | |
So, can we ever trust the internet | 0:15:06 | 0:15:08 | |
to give reliable medical information? | 0:15:08 | 0:15:11 | |
If you're one of the two thirds of the British population | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
that asks "Dr Google" that type of thing often, | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
you may be experiencing cybercondria. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:20 | |
That's medical anxiety caused | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
by researching your own symptoms online. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
For me, as a GP, the internet is a fantastic tool, | 0:15:26 | 0:15:31 | |
but most of the sites I use are designed for doctors. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
The online equivalent to medical textbooks. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:37 | |
And if you're just using a regular browser to find information, | 0:15:38 | 0:15:42 | |
the internet tends to offer the very worst-case scenario. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
So, why is that? | 0:15:46 | 0:15:47 | |
One of the main reasons for this is the way that search engines hunt. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:51 | |
So, if I was to put in "chest pain causes", | 0:15:51 | 0:15:54 | |
the first thing that comes up is heart disease. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:56 | |
So, we might think that they would list them | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
with the most likely first but they don't. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
In fact, they use algorithms that rank pages | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
according to how many times a key word is mentioned | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
or how many clicks a page gets. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
We tend to focus on the first couple of results, | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
rather than looking through the list. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
These are the ones that get clicked on again, and again, | 0:16:16 | 0:16:19 | |
and that means they remain at the top, | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
even if the diseases they're looking at are rare. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
Another common way to search for information is to use | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
an online symptom checker. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
But, according to a recent study, | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
they only make the correct diagnosis 34% of the time. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:34 | |
To get the best out of these sites, | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
be as specific as you can about your symptoms. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
For example, talk about the intensity of your pain | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
or the duration of your vomiting. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:45 | |
This can help to narrow down the results. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
But these sites still seem to struggle with differentiating | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
between life-threatening illness and a simple tummy ache. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
Most of us probably know we shouldn't fully trust | 0:16:55 | 0:16:58 | |
the medical content of something we've looked up online. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:01 | |
And, yet, the temptation seems irresistible. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
So, why do we do it? Well, for a start, it's easy. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:10 | |
For some people difficulty in getting | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
a GP appointment or getting the time off work. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
But, I think there's also another reason, | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
something that I call FOFO. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:19 | |
And that's the Fear Of Finding Out. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:21 | |
For me, the danger in using the internet to self-diagnose | 0:17:21 | 0:17:26 | |
is that it can delay a visit to the doctor that could give you | 0:17:26 | 0:17:29 | |
a correct diagnosis and treatment. | 0:17:29 | 0:17:32 | |
But if you do want to use the internet, | 0:17:33 | 0:17:35 | |
then my best advice is to stick with the NHS websites. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
The information there has been rigorously checked by clinicians, | 0:17:39 | 0:17:43 | |
and there are also sections to help guide you through | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
popular myths and misconceptions. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
You can find good information on the internet, | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
and it's especially useful if you share it with your doctor, | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
but in most cases, it's not a substitute for a visit to your GP. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:59 | |
When it comes to health, | 0:18:07 | 0:18:08 | |
the media often seem to perform spectacular U-turns. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
One day, coffee's good for you, the next, it's bad. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:15 | |
Eating cheese makes you fat. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:17 | |
No, here's a study which says it makes you thin. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:20 | |
So what is going on? Are scientists changing their mind all the time? | 0:18:20 | 0:18:24 | |
Are journalists getting it wrong? And how do you know what to trust? | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
I've lined up two experts to help me get to the bottom of it. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
First, I'm meeting Sir David Spiegelhalter | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
from the University of Cambridge. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
He's a professor of statistics, | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
and regularly criticises the press for the way health news is reported. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:48 | |
So, I think most people believe that the reason we get these | 0:18:49 | 0:18:52 | |
confusing headlines is because the journalists are making stuff up. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:54 | |
-Is that true? -There's a whole pipeline, | 0:18:54 | 0:18:56 | |
from an original scientific study, that then goes through, | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
it's published in a journal, | 0:18:59 | 0:19:01 | |
the press officers then summarise the story | 0:19:01 | 0:19:03 | |
and often tend to add in exaggerations. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
They want to get it covered. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:07 | |
And so then it goes to the journalist, and my feeling is | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
that the journalists often do quite a good job, but then, | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
the sub-editor sticks a headline on it | 0:19:13 | 0:19:16 | |
in order to get the clicks or to get attention, | 0:19:16 | 0:19:18 | |
and that's again when serious distortions can occur. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
Right. I've got here some headlines. So the first one here is, | 0:19:21 | 0:19:24 | |
"why Marmite could prevent miscarriages and birth defects." | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
-What's wrong with that? -This does annoy me, | 0:19:27 | 0:19:29 | |
because it makes it sound like this is a proven benefit on human beings, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
whereas in fact, the experiments were just done on mice. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:35 | |
It's not proven to have any benefit to humans at all yet. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
But the press release never used the word "mice". | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
So ideally, this headline should... | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
"Why Marmite in mice could prevent miscarriages..." | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
Yes, but not many people might click on that one! | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
OK. Moving on, we have, | 0:19:49 | 0:19:50 | |
"Why going to university increases risk of getting a brain tumour." | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
Ah, this is a wonderful one. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:54 | |
This was again a rather dull Swedish study that showed that richer men | 0:19:54 | 0:19:59 | |
tended to have slightly more diagnoses of brain tumours. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:01 | |
By the time it got to the newspaper, it was, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
"Why going to university increases the risk of a brain tumour." | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
But this is implying a causation? | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
A causation, that going to university increases | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
the risk of a brain tumour, which I hope it doesn't! | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
How would you go about getting more responsible headlines? | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
More people just hammering on the doors of the newspaper | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
through social media. I think this is one of the power of social media. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
The journalists see this, and they don't like it, actually, | 0:20:23 | 0:20:27 | |
when their articles are being criticised. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:29 | |
Thank you. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:30 | |
Next up is Chris Smyth, | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
Health Editor for The Times newspaper. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:38 | |
He specialises in covering medical news. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
David Spiegelhalter would say that | 0:20:43 | 0:20:45 | |
his biggest beef is frankly with the headline writers. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:49 | |
Well, headline writing is incredibly difficult. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
You've got five usually pretty short words to summarise | 0:20:52 | 0:20:54 | |
something which is, you know, | 0:20:54 | 0:20:55 | |
particularly when we're talking about complex medical statistics, | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
going to be very complicated, so there's just no practical way | 0:20:58 | 0:21:02 | |
that it is going to tell you everything you need to know | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
about the story while also making sense to that person | 0:21:05 | 0:21:08 | |
flicking through their paper on the train. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
So the role of the headline is basically to advertise, | 0:21:10 | 0:21:12 | |
"The story's about this topic," | 0:21:12 | 0:21:14 | |
and you can't really judge a headline unless you read the story. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
Do you see it as part of your job, holding science to account? | 0:21:18 | 0:21:22 | |
Scientists get an enormous amount of public money, | 0:21:22 | 0:21:25 | |
and they do wonderful things with it. | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
But as with everything else, you don't want people | 0:21:27 | 0:21:30 | |
to be marking their own homework and saying, "This is what we think." | 0:21:30 | 0:21:33 | |
You want to have people scrutinising what they're doing, | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
what they're finding. We all do. I mean, you're doing it to me now. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:40 | |
You're scrutinising my journalism. Scrutiny is always helpful. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:43 | |
One thing that sometimes comes up is, | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
is this a drug company funding a trial | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
to show that their drug is amazing? | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
And this is quite a difficult issue, | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
because you could not really test drugs | 0:21:53 | 0:21:56 | |
if drug companies were not paying for trials, | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
and some fantastic medicines have been discovered in that way. | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
How you account for that is a difficult judgment, | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
and I don't think it's one that's so much a journalistic problem. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
I think doctors also struggle with this. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:10 | |
Thank you. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
As we've just seen, the medical stories you read in the newspapers | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
are the product of a long chain of events | 0:22:18 | 0:22:21 | |
which begin with the scientists and end with the headline writers, | 0:22:21 | 0:22:24 | |
and at any point, someone can put their spin on it. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
Not just journalists, but medical companies, | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
and their press officers too. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
It's rare that someone gets it wrong, or worse, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
deliberately sets out to mislead. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
But the same evidence can be slanted in different ways. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:42 | |
So, when you do read a story, | 0:22:42 | 0:22:44 | |
ask yourself, "Does this sound plausible?" | 0:22:44 | 0:22:47 | |
Because extraordinary claims require extraordinary amounts of evidence. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:51 | |
Over the last century, there has been a dramatic rise in asthma | 0:22:59 | 0:23:03 | |
and other allergic diseases. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:05 | |
Now, this is often blamed on excessive cleanliness. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:09 | |
But is that true? Are there some bugs you should have in your life? | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
Surgeon Gabriel Weston has been investigating. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:16 | |
Last year, we spent a staggering £74 million | 0:23:18 | 0:23:24 | |
on antibacterial surface wipes, | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
and there's no doubt that some germs are harmful. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
You do need to be scrupulously clean, for instance, | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
after handling raw meat or using the toilet, | 0:23:33 | 0:23:37 | |
to avoid bugs that can make you ill. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:40 | |
But all around us are countless other microbes - | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
bacteria, moulds and yeasts that do us no harm | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
and give our immune system a workout. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
And there are worries that wiping them out with antibacterial products | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
is actually harming our health. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
The theory goes, we spray and wipe away so many natural microbes | 0:23:58 | 0:24:02 | |
in our homes these days that our immune system, | 0:24:02 | 0:24:06 | |
without the usual things to fight, | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
turns instead against our own bodies, | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
causing asthma, eczema and hay fever. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:13 | |
But can using antibacterial products in our homes really be the problem? | 0:24:13 | 0:24:19 | |
To help us find out, we've recruited three families | 0:24:22 | 0:24:26 | |
and given each a removable kitchen worktop. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:29 | |
To begin the experiment, | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
they'll clean this board using antibacterial wipes. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
This will get rid of all bugs, good and bad. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:38 | |
Over the next 36 hours, they'll use their kitchen as normal, | 0:24:38 | 0:24:42 | |
and take regular samples from the board, | 0:24:42 | 0:24:44 | |
so that we can measure how long the service remained germ free. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:49 | |
And how quickly any microbes return. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:52 | |
Analysing the data is microbial physiologist Dr Lynn Dover | 0:24:54 | 0:24:58 | |
at Northumbria University in Newcastle, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
and it's time for the results. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
The first sample we took was after one hour, and in all cases, | 0:25:04 | 0:25:07 | |
there was bacterial and fungal growth after one hour. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
So pretty much immediately after someone has disinfected | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
their surface, these things are now beginning to regrow again. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
Yeah, and that progressed over the next 36 hours. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
So, as you can see, after six hours, eight hours | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
and 12 hours, there's progressively more. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:23 | |
This 12-hour sample is quite dramatic. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:25 | |
As you can see, there were lots of different types of fungi. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
They have totally covered the plate. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:29 | |
I imagine if I did it after two minutes, we'd probably find something. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
Where do all these bacteria and fungi | 0:25:32 | 0:25:35 | |
that end up on these plates come from? | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
The whole environment is absolutely teeming | 0:25:37 | 0:25:39 | |
with microorganisms and life. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:41 | |
They're from our bodies, they're from the air around us, | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
little bits of skin that come off that form household dust, | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
just land on the surface and they carry bacteria and fungus with them. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:51 | |
So, no matter how well an antibacterial product | 0:25:52 | 0:25:55 | |
has cleaned a surface, | 0:25:55 | 0:25:56 | |
the bacteria, yeasts and moulds | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
that are everywhere in the environment | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
begin to reappear almost immediately. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
It means that using antibacterial products | 0:26:03 | 0:26:07 | |
is not affecting our exposure to microbes as much as we thought. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:12 | |
They're all around us all the time, | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
so it's just not realistic | 0:26:15 | 0:26:16 | |
to blame the rise of allergies on these products alone. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
But if our cleaning habits aren't to blame, what is? | 0:26:20 | 0:26:24 | |
To find out, I'm having a picnic with Dr Claire Lanyon, | 0:26:26 | 0:26:29 | |
a microbiologist from Northumbria University. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:33 | |
She believes the problem is that we're not exposing ourselves | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
to enough of the bugs found in nature, | 0:26:38 | 0:26:41 | |
and one way to do that is to spend more time in places like this. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:46 | |
Exposure to microorganisms is actually what reduces the incident | 0:26:47 | 0:26:51 | |
of you developing allergies in certain situations. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
I think the key point is diversity. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
We should be exposing ourselves to lots of different varieties of them. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:01 | |
Bacteria don't live as single entities, | 0:27:01 | 0:27:03 | |
they live as a community, and the community is constantly | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
responding with each other and with us. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:09 | |
As the microbes interact with our bodies and with each other, | 0:27:10 | 0:27:14 | |
they make by-products that can help strengthen our immune system. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
And they produce something called secondary metabolites. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
Now, some of these are antibiotics, | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
such as what we've utilised and used to fight infections. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
So these little defence mechanisms that the bacteria have | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
are constantly shaping our immune response. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:34 | |
In an average ten square metres of parkland, | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
there are hundreds of varieties of generally harmless microbes. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:42 | |
And encountering some of them could be a key way | 0:27:44 | 0:27:47 | |
to help your immune system. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:49 | |
So your advice, then, would be | 0:27:50 | 0:27:52 | |
to increase our exposure to lots of | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
different kinds of organism? | 0:27:55 | 0:27:57 | |
Absolutely. Being exposed to microorganisms is a good thing. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
-I will say cheers to that. -Cheers! | 0:28:00 | 0:28:02 | |
So, it seems that for a healthy immune system, | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
you need more germs in your life, not fewer, | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
and the wider the variety you encounter, the better. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:13 | |
So my advice is, vary your diet, | 0:28:13 | 0:28:17 | |
get out in the outdoors, keep a pet, if you like, | 0:28:17 | 0:28:21 | |
get your hands dirty, and whatever you do, | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
don't waste another minute of your life | 0:28:24 | 0:28:26 | |
trying to keep your house spotless. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 | |
That's it for this series. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:39 | |
Visit our website to find out more about the stories in this | 0:28:39 | 0:28:43 | |
and all the other series of Trust Me, I'm A Doctor. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
# I just made an appointment for a special rendezvous | 0:28:46 | 0:28:50 | |
# To see a man of miracles and all that he can do | 0:28:50 | 0:28:55 | |
# I checked in at reception, put my hat onto my lap | 0:28:55 | 0:29:00 | |
# And when he walked in dressed in white | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
# I had a heart attack | 0:29:03 | 0:29:05 | |
# Doctor, I want you | 0:29:05 | 0:29:07 | |
# Ooh, my Doctor Wanna Do | 0:29:07 | 0:29:10 | |
# I can't get over you... # | 0:29:10 | 0:29:13 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media | 0:29:13 | 0:29:15 |