What's Up Docs?
In this BBC Radio 4 podcast, Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken are on a mission to help us take better care of ourselves. Although they are identical twins, Chris and Xand are very different and they never stop thinking and arguing about science and health. They want to lead healthy, happy lives and as doctors, they want this for everyone. Yet they tussle over how best to get there. When it comes to looking after our own health, it can be confusing. Medicine and science produce amazing new treatments and diagnostics every day and we are bombarded with so many headlines and pieces of advice; but how are we supposed to know what's really best for us and then successfully apply it to our lives? Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken embrace this challenge; even as they marvel at the scientific breakthroughs, they grapple with the competing claims about health, wellbeing and how to live. From understanding testosterone therapies to microplastics in our diets, and the concept of 'hangriness' to the power of saying no - this podcast deals with the health stresses we all face every day, while taking on board how the decisions by corporations and governments affect all our health.
Episodes
Drs' Notes: Can your joints repair themselves?
Doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about osteoarthritis with Professor Tonia Vincent, Director of the Centre for Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis and professor of musculoskeletal biology at University of Oxford.They talk more about what happens inside the joints when you have arthritis, how Tonia got into this line of study, and why this area of medicine is in the process o
Will we all get osteoarthritis?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode they look into the incredibly common joint disease, osteoarthritis. Known as the wear and tear disease, around a sixth of the population suffers from a form of osteoarthritis but why do most of us get it? And wha
Drs' Notes: How can spots affect mental health?
In this Doctor's Notes episode of What's Up Docs?, Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation with Professor Tess McPherson, Consultant Dermatologist at Oxford University Hospitals.Together, they explore the emotional side of acne, discussing why a visible skin condition can have such a profound effect on confidence and mental health. They look at how social media, filtered images and
What can you do about your spots?
Welcome to What's Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to acne, a condition that affects most people at some point in their lives, yet remains surrounded by myths and misinformation.Joined by Professor Tess McPherson, Consultant Dermatologist at Oxford Univer
Drs' Notes: How can we manage chronic pain?
Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation with Dr Cathy Stannard, clinical lead of the pain transformation programme at NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board and the clinical lead for the NICE guideline on chronic pain. Together, they take a closer look at chronic pain, exploring what happens when pain persists beyond the original injury. The conversation also explores how chroni
How can we better understand pain?
Welcome to What's Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to pain - one of the most familiar, yet least understood, experiences of being human.Joined by Dr Cathy Stannard, clinical lead of the pain transformation programme at NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care
Doctors' Notes: Sleep Disorders
Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about sleep disorders with Dr Sophie West, a consultant respiratory physician and lead of Newcastle regional sleep service.They explore what good sleep hygiene looks like and how temperature and hydration can affect our sleep. They also dig into dreams: why we have them, whether we can control them, and how to stop recurrent nightmares.If
Drs' Notes: Why did neurodiversity evolve?
Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about neurodiversity with Professor Duncan Astle.The doctors want to know what evolution could say about neurodivergence, how the definition of neurodivergent conditions has changed over time, how modern societal structures interact with neurodivergence and what could be changed, how social media interacts with neurodiversity, what we can all do to un
How can we better understand neurodiversity?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.What is neurodiversity really? It's a term we hear a lot, but do we actually understand what it means?In this episode, Chris and Xand van Tulleken break down the concept of neurodiversity. From discussing diagnosis to discovering
Drs' Notes: How do athletes look after their ankles?
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about ankle health with Genevieve Tawiah.The doctors want to know how different sports and performance arts can impact your ankles, but also how they can help strengthen and protect such a unique set of joints. They also want to know about different conditions that might affect the ankle and what can be done to manage them, and to learn more about Gen’s e
How can you better look after your ankles?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they discuss ankles and how to best strengthen and protect them - from uncovering the biology behind one of the most heavily stressed parts of the body, to discussing tips and tricks for strengthening your ankles
Doctors' Notes: Type 2 Diabetes
Chris and Xand van Tulleken take a deeper dive into type 2 diabetes and the bigger factors shaping one of the world's most common health conditions.Joined by Dr Tamara Hibbert, they explore why type 2 diabetes rates are rising, the role of inequality and deprivation, and why some communities are disproportionately affected.They also discuss how type 2 diabetes treatment has evolved, how important
How can we better understand type 2 diabetes?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to type 2 diabetes. To understand this condition, they start with the basics: what blood sugar actually is, why our bodies need it, and how it is normally kept under control. They explore where blood suga
How to Spot a Sleep Disorder
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they dig into sleep disorders, including insomnia, restless leg syndrome and parasomnias, which include sleepwalking, sleep talking, and night terrors. They explore what it means to have healthy sleep. Joining th
Doctors' Notes: Routine
Doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken are back with a bonus episode, continuing their conversation on routines with Bas Verplanken, Professor Emeritus of Social Psychology at the University of Bath.They take a deeper look at how our routines influence our behaviour - do they matter more than our attitudes and beliefs? They also want to know whether routines help or hinder creativity and how our ag
Should you get back into a routine?
Welcome to What's Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn to routines. With many families heading back to school and September still feeling like a reset for a lot of us, there's no shortage of advice on building the perfect routine, or optimising the ones we have. But are rout
Doctors' Notes: Walking
Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about walking with Professor Steve Haake.Recording in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens, they discuss how why creating opportunities for walking can have benefits far beyond physical health and how Steve got into researching walking. Together, they also take a closer look at public health initiatives, such as parkrun – one of the UK's most succes
How does walking benefit you?
Welcome to What's Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, recorded while walking through Sheffield Botanical Gardens, they turn their attention to one of the simplest and most accessible forms of exercise - walking.Joined by Professor Steve Haake, Professor of Sport Engineering at Sheff
Doctors' Notes: Crying
Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about crying with counselling psychologist Kimberley Wilson.They look at why people have different thresholds for crying, why other people’s tears can make some of us feel uncomfortable and how we can manage that. They also ask Kimberley why some people can’t cry. Chris is one of those people. What can he do about it? They also discuss ho
Is crying good for you?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they turn to something many of us are familiar with - crying. We cry with laughter, with sadness, and in moments of awe or overwhelm, but it can also be a surprisingly confusing part of our emotional lives. Some people welcome a
Doctors' Notes: Relaxation
Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about relaxation with philosopher and author Julian Baggani.They look at the history of relaxation, the activities we have chosen to do in order to switch off and how that has changed over the years. They also look at whether relaxation has become commodified and what that might mean for our ability to do it successfully.If you’d like to
Why is it so hard to relax?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they look at relaxation. We are all aware that relaxation has an importance in our lives, when things get too much we book holidays and time off work. But what does it actually mean to relax and are the activities we chose actual
Doctors' Notes: Hydration
Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about hydration with Dr John Whittle, a consultant in anaesthesia, critical care and perioperative medicine at University College Hospitals and an honorary associate professor at University College London.Most of the time our bodies are brilliant at regulating fluid but what happens when that process gets disrupted by illness, stress or a
How hydrated should you really be?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode they’re exploring hydration. We’ve all heard we should be drinking eight glasses of water a day, but does it hold up? Chris and Xand look at what water actually does in the body and how we regulate fluid.They also separate fact fro
Doctors' Notes: Bad Advice
Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation with Professor Sunita Sah about why humans follow advice they suspect, or even know, is bad.They explore what first drew Sunita to this area of research, alongside her own experiences of following advice she knew she should probably question. Together, they unpack the psychology behind why rejecting advice can feel so uncomfortable, and why i
Why do we follow bad advice?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they discuss a behaviour almost everyone recognises - following advice we suspect is bad, or even know is wrong. So why do we do it?From medicine and wellness culture to friendships and everyday life, Chris and Xand unpack the psy
Doctors' Notes: Eyes
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about eyes with Mr Raj Das-Bhaumik.The doctors want to know what particular things we should be doing to look after our eyes in the summer, including how to protect them while swimming or spending time outdoors. They're also curious about dry eye, a common condition that could affect over half of the UK population, and how to manage it, as well as other e
How can you look after your eyes?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand van Tulleken discuss eyes and how to check and protect them. From finding a proper pair of sunglasses to mythbusting common beliefs about eyes, the twins explore the intricacies of an organ that ca
Doctors' Notes: AI Medicine
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about AI medicine with Dr Emma Karoune.The docs explore how AI has been used in cutting edge medical research, such as to create digital models of the heart to enable instant alerts to a doctor. They want to know about AI for pattern recognition and how this can be used in determining changes in scans or predicting pandemic. They also want to know more ab
What can AI medicine do for you?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.Can AI empower better self-care and clinical practice, or is it just more health noise? Most of us have fallen down a search engine rabbit hole only to emerge more confused about our symptoms than when we started. But as we enter
Doctors' Notes: Lungs Special at Crossed Wires Festival
In this extended episode of What's Up Docs?, Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation with Professor Robin Condliffe.Together, they explore how our understanding of the lungs has evolved over time, from early theories about breathing to the breakthroughs that transformed modern respiratory medicine.They also examine why lung health is shaped by more than biology alone. From air poll
How can we look after our amazing lungs?
Welcome to What's Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, recorded live at Crossed Wires Festival in Sheffield, they are joined by Professor Robin Condliffe, Consultant Respiratory Physician at Royal Hallamshire Hospital.Together, they explore the extraordinary science of the lungs: how
Doctors’ Notes: Heart Palpitations
Chris and Xand van Tulleken take a deeper dive into heart palpitations and the rise of wearable technology.With devices like smartwatches now able to detect irregular heart rhythms, more people are being alerted to potential problems, often without any symptoms. But is this early detection saving lives, or creating new challenges?Joined again by Consultant Cardiologist Dr Pranev Sharma, the docs e
What are your heart palpitations telling you?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to heart palpitations. That sudden flutter, skipped beat or racing heart can feel alarming, but what’s actually going on, and when should you be concerned?They break down what palpitations are, what cause
Doctors’ Notes: Body Odour
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about body odour with Matthew Cobb, Professor Emeritus of Zoology at the University of Manchester.They explore whether it’s possible to predict how someone experiences an odour based on their DNA, and how our sense of smell compares to that of other animals.Many people lost their sense of smell during the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing greater awareness to j
What does my body odour say about my health?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they explore something that affects every one of us - body odour. Body odour plays a significant role in our emotional and social lives, and even in our health. Chris and Xand explore what body odour actually is, where it comes f
Doctors’ Notes: Healthy Longevity Special at Hay Festival
This extended episode of What's Up Docs? features Chris and Xand van Tulleken's full live conversation with Professor Devi Sridhar at Hay Festival.Going deeper than the main episode, they explore the tension between individual responsibility and structural change, and why asking "how do I stay healthy?" might be the wrong question altogether. Devi draws on her work across governments and health sy
How to Live Healthier for Longer
Welcome to What's Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, recorded live at Hay Festival, they're joined by Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, to ask how we can live longer, healthier lives. They dig into the difference between life expec
Doctors' Notes: Friendship
Chris and Xand van Tulleken continue their conversation about friendship with Dr Tiffany Watt Smith, writer and culture historian.Tiffany became interested in researching friendships after a moment of crisis in her own friendships. Together, Chris, Xand and Tiffany discuss the difference between male and female friendships and how that has changed over time. They explore the idea that we are livin
Are friends good for your health?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, the Docs take a look at the impact our friendships have on our physical health. Why different friendship styles are important and how we can maintain and nurture our social connections. Joining them is Dr Tiffany
Doctors' Notes: Male Contraception
Chris and Xand van Tulleken take a deeper dive into male contraception with Professor Richard Anderson.They explore why, despite decades of research, new male contraceptive options are still limited. From funding gaps to shifting attitudes, they unpack the social and scientific barriers that have shaped progress so far.They also look at how people feel about the idea of male contraception, whether
Is a male contraceptive pill closer than you think?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to male contraception. We’ve been hearing about a “male pill” for decades, so why don’t we have one yet? They break down how male fertility works, what options currently exist, and the different approache
Doctors' Notes: Lymphatic System
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about the lymphatic system with Professor Kristiana Gordon, a Consultant in Dermatology and Lymphovascular Medicine.The docs ask about the growing field of lymphoedema research and how our understanding of the lymphatic system has developed in recent years. They also explore primary lymphoedema, a condition caused by genetic errors that can affect childre
Do our lymphatic systems need a detox?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand explore the lymphatic system, from its vital everyday functions supporting fluid balance and immunity to its more mysterious roles. They look at what happens when things go wrong, examine popular w
Doctors' Notes: Hay fever
In this Doctors' Notes episode of What’s Up Docs?, Chris and Xand van Tulleken take a deeper dive into hay fever with Professor Stephen Till.The docs and their guest explore whether hay fever is really becoming more common, and if so, why. From climate change and air pollution to changes in our environment and biodiversity, they unpack the factors that may be making symptoms worse. They also look
Why do we get hay fever?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to hay fever. What is it, why do so many of us get it, and is it getting worse? They break down what’s happening in the body, how to tell it apart from a cold, and why timing matters when it comes to trea
Doctors' Notes: Calcium
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about calcium with Dr Sagen Zac-Varghese.The docs want to know about common issues that are seen around calcium and bone health, especially osteoporosis. They want to learn how osteoporosis relates to calcium, who is at risk and why it is more common in women. They also want to know what inspired Sagen’s passion for calcium and what we can learn from astr
Are we getting enough calcium?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into calcium. What is calcium, and what does it do in the body? How important is it for our health? How do we maintain healthy levels of calcium? They also examine how calcium interacts w
Doctors' Notes: Snoring
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about snoring with Dr Sophie West, a consultant respiratory physician and lead of Newcastle regional sleep service.They take a deeper look at what happens when snoring means we’re not breathing enough, or stop breathing altogether, a condition known as obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS). They ask why it happens and what can be done to tre
Why do you snore?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode they're looking at snoring, exploring what causes some of us to snore when we sleep. They also want to know when we should worry that our snoring might actually be the sign of a larger problem, and what we can do
Doctors' Notes: Balance
Chris and Xand continue their conversation with physiotherapist and vestibular rehabilitation specialist, Maggie Stacey. They explore why alcohol can make us unsteady, how our sense of balance develops and changes as we age, and why falls pose such a major health risk for older adults. They also hear from their guest about the balance problems she most often sees in the clinic, and the warning sig
Should you improve your balance?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken tune in to the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they turn their attention to balance. Where does it come from, why is it so important for our health, and do some people naturally have better balance than others? They also explore how much we can improve it, and what we shou
Doctors' Notes: Voice
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about the complexities of the voice with speech and language therapist, Lydia Hart. They ask why so many of us cringe at the sound of our own voice and whether it’s really possible to change it. They explore how adjusting the way we speak can shape how others respond to us, hear from Lydia about the most common issues she sees in the clinic and find out w
How do we care for our voices?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken tune in to the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they turn their attention to the voice. Where does it come from, why do we all sound so different, and how much can we really change it? They also explore what we should be doing to take care of our voices.To help them strike
Doctors' Notes: Feet
Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about feet with Professor Anthony Redmond, an expert in clinical biomechanics at the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. Together, they examine common foot problems, from bunions to verrucas, and explore why diseases affecting our blood vessels or nerves seem to often show up in the feet. They ask what this reveals about how we
How can you look after your feet?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they turn their attention to our feet. They explore the biology and mechanics of our feet and what happens when that delicate balance goes wrong. They also look at footwear and the little changes that can go a lo
Doctors' Notes: Cholesterol
Chris and Xand take a closer look at cholesterol - what it is, why it worries so many people, and how diet and medicine fit into the picture. They’re joined again by Professor Nita Forouhi, Professor of Population Health and Nutrition at the University of Cambridge, to discuss why foods like seed oils become controversial, when cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins make sense, and how her thi
How should we think about cholesterol?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken untangle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they take on one of nutrition’s most misunderstood topics: fat. What is it, and why does our body need it? At what point does something normal and essential become something we worry about? What do cholesterol
Doctors' Notes: Light
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about the sun's effect on our happiness with Professor Hester Parr, human geography and research lead of Living with Seasonal Affective Disorder.The doctors want to know how low light affects those with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), how the disorder is viewed and what research is being done to help treat those with it, including that being conducted
Why do we feel happier when the sun’s out?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand will shine a light on…light. They discuss why the sun can help lift our mood, and its effects on our sleep and general wellbeing. Joining them to discuss this is Professor Hester Parr, a profe
Doctors' Notes: Buildings
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about how the built environment affects our health, with architect Lisa Finlay from Heatherwick Studio.They ask when wellbeing first became a serious consideration in architecture, how Lisa weaves it into her own projects, and whether cities can be designed in ways that actively support public health.They also explore what the “healthy building” of the fu
Can buildings make us healthier?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the building blocks of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, they step outside into the built environment to ask: can buildings affect our health? From light and air to noise, materials and design, they explore how architecture shapes the way we feel, think and function.They visit Coal
Doctors' Notes: Hips
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about hips with Dr Paulina Kloskowska, physiotherapist, academic, and researcher.The doctors discuss hip replacements, how they can potentially be avoided and which activities best support hip health. They also want to learn more about why women are more likely to need a hip replacement and what research is being done to change the landscape of women’s hi
How can you look after your hips?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into hip health. How do your hips work? Why is it such a unique part of the body? What can go wrong? They also examine common hip injuries, how women’s hips differ from men’s, how our hip
Doctors' Notes: Toothache
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about toothache with Praveen Sharma, Associate Professor & Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at the University of Birmingham.They explore how dental pain was treated in the past, and what’s changed since. They also explore how modern lifestyles and diets may be contributing to dental problems.If you’d like to share your thoughts on this or
How can you avoid toothache?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken get to the root of what shapes our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they ask why our teeth so often cause pain and problems. They look at how teeth work, why they’re so prone to decay, and what actually causes toothache. They ask when it’s time to see a dentist, what helps with the pain, and
Doctors' Notes: Shoulders
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about endometriosis with Kate Haynes, Chartered Human Physiotherapist and Veterinary Physiotherapist.The doctors want to know how to maintain shoulder health year-round, how to avoid overworking our shoulders and some top tips for rehabilitation of shoulder injuries. They also want to learn more from Kate about the similarities and differences between hum
How can you best look after your shoulders?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into shoulder health. How do your shoulders work? What can go wrong? What to do if you experience problems with your shoulders? They also examine how best to maintain shoulder health thro
Doctors' Notes: Endometriosis
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about endometriosis with Dr Chi Eziefula, Associate Professor in Global Health and Infection at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.The doctors want to know what the deeper biology of endometriosis is, how general attitudes around women’s health impact the time it takes to be diagnosed with conditions, and if we are seeing any change in the research and so
How can we better understand endometriosis?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into endometriosis, a condition that occurs when cells similar to the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other areas of the body. It affects around one in ten women of reprod
Doctors' Notes: Immune Health
Chris and Xand continue their conversation about immune health with Prof Dan Davis, Head of Life Sciences and Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London.The doctors want to know more about the deeper biology of the immune system. Is it true that a bit of stress prevents infection, while chronic stress is detrimental to your immune system? Why does intense exercise drop the immune response?
Does your immune system need boosting?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.What defines a well-functioning immune system, and why are some people seemingly "immune" to everything while others catch every cold? In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into the complex mechanics of immunology. They tackl
Doctors' Notes: Kissing
Chris and Xand dig deeper into the evolution of kissing. They ask what first drew our guest into this unusual area of research, why evidence that humans and Neanderthals kissed is so significant, and why it’s so challenging to explain why kissing developed in the first place.If you’d like to share your thoughts on this or any other topic covered on the podcast, you email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.u
Why do we kiss?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken try to get to the bottom of the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing. In this Valentine’s Day-themed episode, they turn their attention to kissing. Why do humans kiss, how did it evolve, and does it offer any biological advantage? They also explore the meaning behind different types of kisses an
Doctors' Notes: Focus
Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about focus with Duncan Astle, Professor of Neuroinformatics at the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University.Chris and Xand want to know what the impact of having ADHD is, whether a diagnosis can help and if it can predict anything, the neurology and evolutionary explanations for ADHD, and which interventions are currently available. They also
How can you improve your focus?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into focus and how it can be improved. How do focus and attention work? Are there different types of attention? What impacts your ability to focus? Is social media ruining your focus? How
Daily Dose: Laughter
In this Daily Dose, Chris and Xand return to their episode on laughter with Professor Sophie Scott CBE, a leading expert in the neuroscience of laughter, from University College London. Sophie explained how laughter is a positive, evolutionary trait that we all go on a journey to understand as we grow up. Daily Doses of expert wisdom from previous episodes will be dropping each weekday throughout
Daily Dose: Core Strength
In this Daily Dose, Chris and Xand return to their episode on core strength with physiotherapist James Moore. James highlighted why exercising our core can help us live long and strong, but doesn’t have to mean hitting the gym hard.Daily Doses of expert wisdom from previous episodes will be dropping each weekday throughout January (except Tuesdays). You'll find them in the What’s Up Docs? feed on
Daily Dose: Fibre
In this Daily Dose, Chris and Xand return to their episode on fibre with Dr Deirdre Tobias. Deirdre outlined why fibre is important for our diets and where we should be getting it from.Daily Doses of expert wisdom from previous episodes will be dropping each weekday throughout January (except Tuesdays). You'll find them in the What’s Up Docs? feed on BBC Sounds, alongside all the main episodes of
Doctors' Notes: Diet
Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about food with Professor of Psychology Ashley Gearhardt. Drawing on her clinical experience, they explore what it means to live with food addiction and how shame and stigma make it harder to talk openly, seek help, or make changes. They also explore how Ashley came to study food addiction, and the links between industrial processing of food and tobac
