Dr Xand's Con or Cure

Original version

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

The facts, not the fakes, about your health.

The facts, not the fakes, about your health with Dr Xand van Tulleken and Ashley John-Baptiste. From social media scams to health scares, they'll shine a light on bad medicine.

Series 2

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Alexander van Tulleken

Ashley John-Baptiste

Richard Collier

Brendan Hughes

Karen Donnelly

Tern Television Productions

Dr Xand's Con or Cure: Series 2: Episode 4

Episode 4

BBC One - Dr Xand's Con or Cure, Series 2, Episode 4

Can a public toilet seat cause infectious diseases? Are non-branded painkillers OK? Also, the woman who spent £25,000 on a cure that was a con and the dangers of low-cost cosmetic surgery.

Every week sees new advances in medical science. And sometimes we come across cures for a condition where there weren’t any before. But what if a so-called medical cure is actually a con? As well as losing hope, it could also see us losing money. Margaret from Scotland spent £25,000 on eye surgery carried out by a surgeon who has since been struck off the medical register. Her eyesight hasn’t improved, and she is still out of pocket. Denise Voon joins us from the College of Optometrists.

In our regular look at medical myths, we ask whether you can catch any infectious disease from sitting on a toilet seat. Dr Xand gets to the bottom of the science.

The world of painkillers is a multibillion-pound business. But there is a lot of confusion over what brands are best to take and for what. Should we use branded or non-branded painkillers? What’s the difference between pills and capsules? Am I better off taking ibuprofen or paracetamol? Xand has the answers.

Last year, 900,000 non-surgical cosmetic procedures were carried out in the UK. That’s everything from anti-wrinkle injections to lip fillers. But with the increase in popularity comes an increase in dodgy practitioners and scam products. And sometimes a low-cost offer of treatment can result in an even bigger cost to your health. Mum Amy from Northumberland wanted a solution to reverse signs of ageing after the birth of her first child. She saw an offer on Facebook delivering three areas of Botox at a reduced price of only £80 due to a cancelled appointment. Amy thought she was in luck. However, the woman who carried out the procedure on her wasn’t qualified, and Amy went through months of discomfort, migraines and feeling extremely self-conscious due to a droopy eye caused by the injections. We are joined in the studio by Ashton Collins from Save Face, a national register of accredited practitioners who work in non-surgical cosmetic treatments.

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