Care homes should be a place where the sick and elderly are nursed and cared for – the clue is in the name. But across seven months, in one nursing home just outside Belfast, 79-year-old Lily’s injuries included a fractured nose, a broken finger and two head wounds. Poppy Everton from Hourglass, a charity set up to challenge and prevent abuse of older people, joins us in the studio with some advice on what to look out for if you suspect someone you care about might be suffering some form of abuse.\n\nWe regularly test devices and remedies for things on Con or Cure to find out what works and what’s a waste of money. Here, we look at what is available to help back pain - something that more than 80 per cent of us are affected by during our lives. Physiotherapist Kirsty Walker joins us to run through a couple of the latest gadgets and gives us some easy exercises we can do at home to help support our backs.\n\nDepending on the circumstances, sneezing can be embarrassing, so at times some of us may try to stifle a sneeze. But is it safe to do that? Dr Xand is on hand to run through some of the myths behind sneezing.\n\nPeople with dementia can feel lonely and vulnerable. Deborah’s aunt was diagnosed with dementia, and while she was looking at ways of trying to help her, she came across robotic companion pets. She now designs her own range of animals and sends them to people who have relatives and friends with dementia. These realistic-looking animals can move, make sounds and react to touch, bringing all the therapeutic benefits of animals when the disease means owning a real pet might not be practical. \n\nAnd, there's a look at bed rotting. Is spending the day in bed bad for you?
Source: BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 15
Skin-lightening creams are popular but can be dangerous. Many such products sold online have chemicals that are banned in the UK and can cause nerve and liver damage or cancer. ...
23-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 14
Food intolerance tests have become very popular, especially the cheaper versions found online. Tom from Oxfordshire felt duped by what he was told about them. He parted with mon ...
22-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 13
Julie from Colchester suffers from arthritis and was told she needed knee replacement surgery. Not only did her operation go badly, but she then discovered that she didn’t ...
21-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 12
Eczema affects one in five children and one in ten adults. There is no cure. Steroids are one frequently prescribed way to control it. After years of using steroid creams, 43-ye ...
20-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 11
Sixty-nine-year-old Margaret and her husband Graham do their best to eat a healthy diet. They are vegetarian, and they try to look after themselves with regular exercise. Worrie ...
19-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 10
New figures reveal that 42 million of us in the UK suffer from allergies, and topping that chart is hay fever. There are dozens of hay fever products available over the counter ...
16-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 8
Incontinence and pelvic prolapses can be debilitating conditions, and so for many women, the offer of a surgical mesh cure, available on the NHS, was a lifeline. But in many cas ...
15-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 7
Around 12 million people in the UK live with hearing issues. Detecting problems with hearing early in life is important. But last summer, the NHS launched an urgent review of pa ...
14-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 5
Tinnitus is a condition that affects one in seven people in the UK and is often described as a ‘ringing in the ears’. For many, it’s a debilitating condition l ...
13-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 4
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 ...
12-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 1
From cons to cures, scams to scares and fakes from facts. \n\nHealth consumer show Dr Xand’s Con or Cure is dedicated to righting the wrongs of ‘bad medicine’. ...
06-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 8
As 200 people in Scotland call for a public enquiry into their mistreatment by a surgeon, Dr Xand asks what we can do to check out the medical professionals who treat us. With 2 ...
23-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 5
Tinnitus is a condition that affects one in seven people in the UK and is often described as a ‘ringing in the ears’. For many, it’s a debilitating condition l ...
13-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 6
Ashley John-Baptiste investigates the criminals selling fake or stolen disabled blue badges. Plus, problems with your feet? Dr Xand has the latest gizmos and gadgets for bunions ...
21-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 11
Sixty-nine-year-old Margaret and her husband Graham do their best to eat a healthy diet. They are vegetarian, and they try to look after themselves with regular exercise. Worrie ...
19-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 14
With weight-loss jabs in high demand, criminals are flooding the market with deadly cheap substitutes. Also on the programme, the growing trend of people using a tobacco-free po ...
01-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 9
We explore the dangerous side effects of antidepressants. Last year, over 86 million prescriptions were written for antidepressants in the UK. Reporter Anton Ferrie meets with s ...
20-09-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: Episode 7
When Clare from Bristol booked a cheap teeth whitening service through social media, her ‘too-good-to-be-true’ treatment made eating and drinking very difficult. Den ...
13-11-2023
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 11
Dr Xand hears the shocking story of 17,500 women in Northern Ireland who were told their cervical smear results were possibly wrong. Also, as the sale of gut health drinks soars ...
28-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 7
With eight million people in the UK suffering from arthritis, many people are turning to supplements that might help with their pain. But how well do they work? Whooping cough i ...
22-04-2025
BBC 1