 | | | | | | | | |
|
| |
| CASE NOTES
|  | |  | MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page | |
|
| | | | PROGRAMME INFO | | | |
| | | Dr Mark Porter gives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tackles a particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
case.notes@bbc.co.uk | | | | | LISTEN AGAIN 30 min | | | |
|
|
|
|
PRESENTER |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
"I spend half my week practising medicine and the other half writing and talking about it as a GP in Gloucestershire. Working on Case Notes has been a boon for both me and my patients. One of the principal aims of the programme is to keep our listeners up-to-date with the latest developments in healthcare, and to accomplish that I get to interview a wide range of specialists at the cutting edge of medicine. A rare privilege that ensures our listeners aren't the only ones to learn something new."
Mark Porter
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| | |
| PROGRAMME DETAILS | | | |
|  | | |
Hepatitis
This week, Dr Mark Porter explores the sensitive subject of Hepatitis. This is a liver condition that is caused by a virus which can be passed on in different ways.
Contracting Hepatitis
Some people have contracted the disease through contact with contaminated water supplies, others through infected blood, from dirty needles, and through sexual contact. There are different types of Hepatitis - from A through to E and it all depends on how you got it as to what it does to your liver.
Different Types
Case Notes looks at the different types of disease and how it can affect you. We also take a close look at how it can be prevented. Many people over the last 20 years have contracted the virus through infection from contaminated blood, even though there have been measures in place to prevent such infection. Blood should have been heat treated in order to ensure that all blood for transfusions is clear of Hepatitis C, yet in some cases this has not happened.
Origins
People who have contracted the virus can live for many years without developing liver problems. Thus it is difficult to trace the origins of infection. Yet because the different versions have different effects on the liver, it does give some clues as to how the virus was passed on.
Vaccination Programmes
In Europe and the USA, there are vaccination programmes in place to protect people from Hepatitis B infection – mainly transmitted through contact with blood and body fluids of an infected person. Everyone under the age of 18 is recommended for a vaccination and those over 18 in high-risk groups also have the vaccine. If this is such an issue and threat to the young in Europe and the USA why does this not happen here? What protection is in place for those in the UK who are in high risk groups? Dr Mark Porter investigates.
Contact the Programme
Case Notes – BBC Radio 4 : Tuesday 9 pm and Wednesday 4.30 pm – clearing up the misconceptions of Hepatitis. You can email us at: case.notes@bbc.co.uk
Check Up: Phone-in - Also on Hepatitis
Later in the week on Radio 4, our phone-in, Check Up, with Barbara Myers, gives listeners the opportunity to put their questions to the experts on Hepatitis. You can email the programme at: checkup@bbc.co.uk
Next week's topic is Eyes After 40.
| | |
RELATED LINKS
HC Hepatitis C Resource Centre
Hepatitis C Trust
British Liver Trust
Kings College London
Department of Health
Hepatitis AZ
BBC Health - Hepatitis A
BBC Health - Hepatitis B
BBC Health - Hepatitis C
Net Doctor
NHS Direct
BBC Health News
BBC Health
BBC Webguide - Health
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
| |
| |
| |
