Opt-out organ donation; your body after death; what time of day to take blood pressure medication
Inside Health
BBC
4.4 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2017
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
More than 6500 people are currently on the national transplant waiting list, hoping for an organ to be donated which might save their lives. Many of them will wait for years and, sadly, hundreds will die before a suitable organ becomes available. The low supply of organs remains the main restriction on performing lifesaving transplant surgery. The British Medical Association believes that moving to an opt-out donation system - where people who die without expressing whether or not they wish to donate their organs will be presumed to be willing to donate - would increase donation rates and save lives. The system has been in place in Wales since December 2015 and now the BMA says it's time the rest of the UK followed the Welsh model. Dr Margaret McCartney discusses with Dr Phil Banfield, chair of the British Medical Association Welsh Council.
An area of medicine not often discussed on Inside Health is pathology. Mark visits the morgue at St Mary's Hospital in London to speak to pathologist Mike Osborn. What happens to your body after death? What is rigor mortis? And how much do crime dramas on TV get right?
Finally, what time of day should you be taking your blood pressure medication? Millions of people take drugs to control their blood pressure and reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes. Most people will take their medications in the morning but with many heart attacks and strokes happening during nighttime hours, just when the medication might be wearing off, should we be considering evening dosing instead? A new online trial has enrolled 21,000 people and aims to find out what time of day is best to take blood pressure medications. Mark speaks to Dr Amy Rogers from the University of Dundee who is in charge of the trial.
Producer: Lorna Stewart.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, |
| 0:05.4 | The Traitors Uncloaked. But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's |
| 0:10.6 | Saturday bonus episodes, the Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Ryland, and comedy specials |
| 0:16.2 | from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffel and Rommas Shranger Nathan. However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncloked. |
| 0:24.3 | So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.4 | Hello, thank you for listening to this edition of Inside Health. |
| 0:32.1 | I hope you enjoy it. |
| 0:33.8 | Coming up today, blood pressure pills might millions of people across the UK be better off taking their medication in the evening rather than the morning. |
| 0:43.3 | We currently have 21,089 randomised participants across the whole of the UK. |
| 0:49.3 | We invited adults who are taking blood pressure medication once a day to sign up to the study, |
| 0:55.0 | and we think that in about three to four years' time we should have a reasonably definitive answer |
| 1:02.0 | of whether morning or evening blood pressure dosing is better at preventing heart attacks and strokes. |
| 1:08.0 | And a trip to the morgue. I discover that the life of a pathologist isn't quite as portrayed by the likes of silent witness and CSI |
| 1:16.3 | and dispel some of the myths about what happens to our bodies after we die. |
| 1:21.6 | But first, transplants and calls for a UK-wide change in the way we consent to our organs being used to help others. |
| 1:29.0 | In 2006, the British Medical Association proposed a move to an opt-out system |
| 1:34.3 | where consent is assumed unless people actively say otherwise, |
| 1:38.4 | instead of the then-opt-in system, |
| 1:40.8 | where you have to sign up to be included on the organ donor register. |
| 1:44.8 | In the decade since then, 6,000 people, including 270 children, have died while waiting for a |
| 1:51.3 | transplant, and lack of organ supply remains the main limiting factor in transplantation. |
| 1:57.9 | Ali Reynolds' son Lee was just 21 when he was killed in a head-on car crash, |
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