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The programme that explains the present by exploring the past

The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.

The Forum: 08/09/2012 GMT

Discussion & Talk

08/09/2012 GMT

BBC World Service - The Forum, 08/09/2012 GMT

How much control do we really have over our bodies and health?

What is the best way to cope with a traumatic, contagious or life-changing illness?

Modern technology and medicine can treat conditions that were once thought to be incurable. In other ways though, are we any less vulnerable than in the past to disease and injury, both as individuals and societies? 

Bridget Kendall's guests this week bring personal as well as professional experience to the table: the award winning author MJ Hyland explains why she has gone public about her life with multiple sclerosis. Mark Harrison is a medical historian who has tracked the links between disease and commerce, and entrepreneur Frank Reynolds has devoted the last 20 years to developing treatments for his own spinal cord injury. 

Illustration by Emily Kasriel: the challenge of trying to control our own bodies.

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08/09/2012 GMT

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