The Truth about: Healthy Eating • 2016

58:39

Horizon investigates a new era of Alzheimer's research, which is bringing hope to millions of sufferers across the world. New scanning and gene technology is allowing scientists to identify the disease at its earliest stages, often 15 years before symptoms appear and the brain cells are destroyed. A series of new drugs trials in Colombia, the USA and Europe are showing startling success in reducing beta amyloid, the protein which is a hallmark of the disease. It is also becoming clear that changes in lifestyle can prevent the development of the disease. A new system inside the brain has been discovered which clears amyloid when we are in deep sleep, but allows it to accumulate if we don't sleep well. The programme reveals that for sufferers in the early stages of the disease, brain connections, or synapses, can be strengthened and even replaced by absorbing enough of the right nutrients. A UK-wide trail helps sufferers in the early stages to concentrate on improving everyday tasks, and in the process not only make their lives easier, but helps to reactivate the planning and organisational parts of the brain. In an ageing world, where the biggest risk of developing Alzheimer's is old age, the scientific breakthroughs in Alzheimer's disease are bringing hope where once there was despair.

Horizon • 2016 • Health

8:21

Why do we sleep? We spend a third of our lives in slumber, but science has yet to determine exactly why we have do it. Here’s a look at how sleep works, why we’re not getting enough sleep, what happens if you DON’T sleep, and an idea about where sleep came from in the first place.

It's Okay To Be Smart • 2015 • Health

58:30

Surgeon Gabriel Weston discovers the surprising truth about why so many people are piling on the pounds, and how to fight the fat epidemic. She discovers the hidden battles of hormones that control people's appetites, and sees the latest surgery that fundamentally changes what a patient wants to eat by altering how their brains work. Gabriel is shocked to find out that when it comes to being overweight, it is not always your fault you are fat.

Health

45:07

On the island of Sardinia, the people live in harmony with the land and with one another. Learn about this effortless lifestyle where work and play seem to be united and the result is longevity. Can the same be true in an American suburb?

S1E2 • Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones • 2023 • Health

52:30

Through the lens of a boxer, a first responder, a cell tower climber and a man with a bionic limb, go deep into the universe of the most powerful machine on earth: the human brain and the vast nervous system it controls.

S1E6 • Human: The World Within • 2021 • Health

58:56

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam takes a deep dive into the fascinating and varied world of viruses. He aims to show how public health measures, combined with ground-breaking science, will have an impact far beyond Covid-19, including breakthroughs that could help fight other infectious diseases, genetic disorders and even cancer.

S1E1 • Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - Going Viral • 2021 • Health