Summary
When it comes to shop-bought painkillers, there are rows and rows of shelves dedicated to them in supermarkets and pharmacies – ranging from own-brand tablets, to more expensive capsules and caplets, as well as branded packets that promise to work faster, and target specific pain.
Listener Hannah got in touch all the way from Tunisia to ask the questions – what’s the difference between paracetamol, ibuprofen or aspirin? Can certain painkillers target specific pain? And are any of them able to deliver faster pain relief than others – particularly the pricier branded ones?
Greg Foot swallows all the information available, and talks to experts in clinical pharmacology and biochemistry to find out.
This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.
PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, podcast fan. |
| 0:03.0 | Consider this your invite to the UK's biggest podcasting party. |
| 0:06.7 | We're heading to Sheffield from the 4th to the 6th of July |
| 0:09.0 | for the BBC Sounds Fringe at the Crossed Wires Festival. |
| 0:12.8 | We'll be joined by some of the biggest names in podcasting, |
| 0:15.3 | including Sarah Cox, Charlie Hedges, Russell Kane, |
| 0:18.4 | and some bloke called Greg James doing his Radio 4 show called Rewinder. |
| 0:23.2 | You can watch live shows of your favourite podcasts, and the best part is free. |
| 0:28.0 | To book your free tickets, go to crossedwires. Live, forward slash fringe. |
| 0:34.4 | BBC Sounds, music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello, I'm Greg Foote and welcome to the show that cuts through the advertising hype |
| 0:44.3 | to find out whether promising sounding products really deliver on their bold claims. |
| 0:49.4 | Today's suggestion was sent in by Hannah McBain in Tunisia. |
| 0:53.8 | Hi, Slice Bread Team. |
| 0:56.0 | I have a question for you. |
| 0:58.0 | What is the difference between the different painkillers that you can find? |
| 1:02.0 | Iboprofen, paracetamol, aspirin. |
| 1:05.0 | Do some work better for different types of pain? |
| 1:09.0 | And then one thing that really interests me is you get tablets for |
| 1:13.0 | headaches or for period pains or for sports injuries. Can they target that pain specifically? Or is it |
| 1:20.0 | all just a marketing ploy? Looking forward to hearing what you're able to find out about this. |
| 1:26.0 | Thanks very much. Thanks Thanks Hannah. Another great one |
... |
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