Original version

BBC World Service Online

Health Check

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Health issues and medical breakthroughs from around the world.

Health Check: 24/01/2011

24/01/2011

BBC World Service - Health Check, 24/01/2011

Buses and flu. Mental health in the Falklands. IQ boosting memories. Healthy heart tips

The flu risks of public transport. Mental health in the Falkland Islands. How thinking about your ancestors can boost your intelligence. And why regular breaks from your desk are good for your heart

Travelling by bus or tram makes you roughly six times more likely to have a respiratory infection a few days later, according to research from Nottingham University in the UK. However, regular users are less vulnerable than people who only use public transport occasionally.  

Psychiatrist Dr Tim McInerney reports on mental health care in the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. He talks to doctors and patients and finds out how a new Mental Health Act could make life easier for everyone.   

Many people enjoy thinking about their ancestors. Now new research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests it’s not just pleasurable, it may actually make you more clever. Peter Fischer studied what happened when people thought about their forefathers just before taking an intelligence test and found that those who thought about the past members of their families were more likely to do well in the tests. He believes people are more motivated to succeed when they think about their ancestors. 

Taking regular breaks from your desk is good for your heart. Sitting for long periods is not good for your heart according to research published in the European Heart Journal. But the research also shows that apparently minor exercise like getting up and down from your desk to make a cup of tea or go to the printer can make a real difference to the heart health of millions of office workers.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Health Check

24/01/2011

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service