Inside Health

Should private clinics be offering out dated injections for hay fever? Cheese Molars - Why up to 1 in 7 British children have got soft yellow teeth? And generics versus branded medicines - why pay more for the same thing?

Inside Health returns tonight with an analysis of new guidance to protect as many as half a million women from breast cancer - but who are they? Plus the return of iodine deficiency and the importance of supplements during pregnancy. And can antibiotics really cure back pain?

Breast Cancer prevention and new guidance from America to offer oestrogen blockers like Tamoxifen to women at high risk. If you are on long-term medication and suspect side effects - Margaret McCartney explains the benefits of taking a drug holiday. Why so many medicines prescribed by paediatricians are not licensed for use in children. And the science behind pulse rate monitors.

The truth about high intensity exercise regimes. We review the latest evidence behind teeth whitening, and ask whether it is safe to use do-it-yourself kits? The latest figures on the measles outbreak in Swansea. And Voice lifts - despite what you may have heard they are not the voice equivalent of a face lift.

What's the story behind the headlines about the links between red meat and heart disease? Measles outbreak in Swansea. And why head injury can lead to unrecognised pituitary damage.

Dr Mark Porter reports on NHS 111 - the new 24 hour urgent care number designed for the public to access urgent medical care. It was meant to go live across the whole of England this week but has been plagued by problems. And Inside Health's resident sceptic Margaret McCartney turns her beady eye to the latest fashion in the diet industry - fasting and so called 2 day diets. Popular - but what about the evidence? And obesity and cancer - there's growing understanding that being overweight is an important risk factor for a number of common cancers, but the relationship is never realy explained - Mark Porter turns his attention to one of the factors that might explain the link.

As part of NHS reforms doctors will be holding the purse strings from April 1st. In a special edition of the programme Dr Mark Porter finds out what the changes actually mean in practice. He meets GPs who have already been piloting some of the ways in which health services are commissioned to find out what they will mean for services on the ground. He also hears from GPs and hospital doctors about their concerns. One doctor says implementing GP commissioning is like flying a plane while it's being built. Why are GPs concerned and what could the changes mean for the future of our health services?

Should alcoholic drinks in England and Wales have a minimum price to stem drink related problems? Could harnessing the power of phages – naturally occurring viruses that prey on bacteria – help fight the threat posed by growing resistance to antibiotics? Cervical smears follow up – if women in their late 60s are among those most likely to develop cancer of the cervix, why aren’t they included in the national screening programme? Babies’ hips – concerns that the resurgence of swaddling is leading to hip dysplasia. And the space age hospital bed that can detect everything from infections to some types of cancer. But this one isn’t in the sick bay of the starship Enterprise – it’s in a hospital in Leicester.

Dr Mark Porter looks at the overuse of antibiotics, preventing premature labour, whether all women need smear tests, and aspirin to prevent the risk of stroke after hip replacements

Dr Mark Porter questions Lord Howe, Minister for Health, as the government announces a U-turn to the NHS reforms following widespread concern that they would lead to privatisation by the back door, and the end of the NHS as we know it. Why women with epilepsy need to take extra care with their contraception, and the importance of managing their medication when they do get pregnant. And what sort of thermometer should you use when monitoring your child's temperature?

Dr Mark Porter puts the Pharmaceutical Industry in the spotlight as some clinical trials are criticised for testing new drugs against a much weaker rival so that the results appear much better than they really are. Kamran Abbasi and Dr Bina Rawal from the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry discuss if the hurdles are being set too low, so that a new therapy comes out on top. And what if sustained periods of adversity in childhood are associated with permanent structural changes in brain development? So suggests new research into adolescents with Conduct Disorder - a controversial diagnosis given to 1 in 20 teenagers in the UK with aggressive or anti-social behaviour. Mark Porter investigates.

Is it safe to drink urine, or even sea water in a survival situation? Dr Mark Porter examines calls to withdraw one of the most widely used anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac because of its increased risk of heart attacks. And what kinds of health problems can result from living with a parrot, cockatiel or a loft full of pigeons? As guidelines to improve hospital meals are introduced, how will the idea of food as medicine improve patients' experience?

Dr Mark Porter investigates a new shingles vaccine for the over 70s, is a chicken pox vaccine for children an alternative? contraception for over 35s, can you take the pill until the menopause? Why we're so poor at First Aid? And switching to cheaper drugs, does the size and colour influence how you take your medicine, could changing to a cheaper brand have a hidden cost? And early clues to Parkinson's disease.

Why the reporting of drug side effects has dropped by a third in a decade - it's the responsiblity of GP's and the general public to notifiy through the yellow card system - but it's on the wain - does that mean drug safety is slipping through the net? Mark Porter finds out how the medical technology that identified why King Richard III died could be used to help the rest of us. And answers a listener's question about so called 'chemo brain'. Does chemotherapy really effect memory and the ability to concentrate? Plus a family history of cancer - is it always as worrying as it sounds?

Alcohol – no reduction in deaths from alcohol in England but fewer in Wales. Targeted cancer therapies – thousands of people with cancer are to have their genes mapped as part of a new drive towards treatment tailored to the individual. But what’s in it for the patient? Caffeine – it’s a natural component of coffee, tea, cola and chocolate, but what is it doing in shampoo? If the TV ad promoting caffeine enriched hair products has had you scratching your head, then we have got the answers. And, continuing the personal hygiene theme, are you worried that you have bad breath? We’ll be finding out why it is often imagined, rather than real – and what can be done to help people with halitophobia.