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Health Check: How do we know when a mystery illness is serious?

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2023/12/06 GMT

How do we know when a mystery illness is serious?

BBC World Service - Health Check, How do we know when a mystery illness is serious?

Claudia Hammond hears how unusual health events are identified and investigated.

How unusual health events are investigated; anthrax outbreak in Uganda; the importance of UK Biobank data; impact of traffic pollution on blood pressure; and the ageing of organs.

On Health Check we often cover the outbreak of a mystery illness or unusual health event that has occurred somewhere across the globe. But how do we know when these illnesses are serious and how are they identified and investigated? Claudia Hammond speaks to Dr. Jarod Hanson from the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) about how they scan and review information related to global health security. This follows news about an outbreak of anthrax in the Kyotera district of Uganda. We hear from those who have been affected.

Claudia is joined by BBC health reporter, Dr. Smitha Mundasad. They discuss the news that the UK Biobank has unveiled unparalleled new data from whole genome sequencing of its half a million participants. They hear from Dr. Maik Pietzner about why this data is so important for genetic research – his research into the cause of Raynaud's phenomenon was possible because of the data.

New research from the University of Washington has looked at how unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic significantly increases passengers’ blood pressure, both while in the car and up to 24 hours later. And a new paper released in the journal Nature suggests that a new method to analyse the ageing of organs in humans may allow us to better predict disease risk and the effects of ageing.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Clare Salisbury
Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

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