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GUT REACTIONS
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MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page |
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A window on gut function, failure and treatment |
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Geoff Watts examines how research and technological advances are unravelling some of the mysteries of the gastrointestinal tract.
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| A view of the gut |
Programme 1
Wednesday 19th January, 9.00pm
A "gut feeling" is becoming recognised as more than a poetic turn of phrase.
Researchers have discovered that the gut, with its millions of nerve cells, acts as the body's second brain.
Could this hold the key to targeting treatment for diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome?
Gut Reactions hears from pioneering gastroenterologists who are shedding new light on gut motility and the gut-brain link.
 Listen again to Programme 1 |
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| A doctor examines a bowel scan |
Programme 2
Wednesday 26 January, 9.00pm
The second programme examines the relationship between the guts and the immune system.
Packed away neatly inside your abdomen, your intestines don't take up much room. But rolled out, their surface area would cover two tennis courts.
Geoff Watts finds out how the body defends this huge area from attack by marauding bacteria.
If doctors can understand this relationship, they could offer effective treatments for inflammatory diseases such as Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis.
Listen again to Programme 2 |
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Programme 3
Wednesday 2 February, 9.00pm
The final programme looks at the microbes living in our guts.
Food poisoning and waterborne diseases, like cholera and typhoid, are caused by ingesting pathogenic bugs.
Now, thanks to well publicised live yogurt products, we are becoming aware of so-called good 'probiotic' gut bacteria.
But do they really work?
Listen again to Programme 3 |
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RELATED LINKS |
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A journey through the Digestive System (interactive game)
The Enteric Nervous System: A Second Brain by Michael Gershon
The IBS Network
CORE - formerly The Digestive Disorders Foundation
British Society of Gastroenterology
The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's disease (NACC)
BBC News: 'Parasitic worm hope for Crohn's'
BBC News: Should we top up our healthy bacteria?
BBC Health: The digestive system
BBC Health
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