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The Long Game | Dr Alex: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dr Alex Wibberley
Hi! I'm Dr Alex, an Emergency Medicine doctor in the UK sharing what I've learned after almost a decade of working on the frontline, to help you avoid the preventable illnesses I see every day.
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- Yesterday20 min
6 Medication Side Effects People Mistake for Aging
Around one in five hospital admissions in people over 65 happen because of medication side effects, according to a big government review of prescribing. Yet when someone in their 60s or 70s notices swollen ankles, more tiredness, forgetfulness or feeling wobbly on their feet, the first thing they tend to blame is their age. Sometimes that is right, but often the real cause is sitting in a dosette box in the kitchen cupboard. In this video I go through six side effects of really common tablets, from swollen ankles to forgetfulness, explaining what each tablet is for, why it can cause the problem, and when to get it looked at. We cover amlodipine and swollen ankles, beta blockers and feeling breathless or worn out, prostate and blood pressure tablets causing dizziness on standing, metformin and acid tablets affecting vitamin B12, water tablets and antidepressants lowering sodium and causing muddled thinking, and anticholinergic tablets linked to forgetfulness and brain fog. Please do not stop any of your tablets because of this video. They are prescribed for a reason, and some can be dangerous if stopped suddenly. If anything here rings a bell, have a chat with your GP or doctor who can talk you through what is going on. The full list of research references for this episode is in the description of the YouTube version. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #medicationsafety #healthyaging
- 2 days ago17 min
A Vaccine for Dementia? The Evidence Is Astonishing.
Could a jab you have for shingles also be doing something for your brain? That is the question I am digging into in this episode. Two major studies, including one using a clever natural experiment in Wales, found that people who had the shingles vaccine were around 20% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over the following years. A separate Oxford study on the newer vaccine found something similar, with the effect showing up in both men and women. But then a much larger study looking at millions of hospital records found no detectable drop in dementia at all. So where does that leave us? Honestly, we do not know yet. Two large randomised trials are now underway in Finland and Denmark that should give us a clearer answer in the years ahead. What I do know for certain is that shingles itself is a serious illness. It can be extremely painful, and if it affects the nerve near your eye it can even cause blindness. I have diagnosed and treated it many times over my career. For that reason alone, the vaccine is worth considering if you are eligible, regardless of any possible effect on the brain. I also talk through what the Lancet Commission on Dementia says about the things we already know protect your brain, like blood pressure, hearing, blood sugar, cholesterol, movement and staying connected to others. The full list of research references for this video is in the description of the YouTube version. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #shingles #dementia
- 2 days ago19 min
The Truth About Organic Food. Is It Healthier?
Is organic food actually worth the extra money, or are you just paying for peace of mind? I went through the research on pesticide residues, what organic actually means as a label, and whether organic fruit and veg is more nutritious than conventional. Some of it reassured me. One part of it still niggles at me. We cover what the organic label legally promises, how your body already defends itself against pesticide residues, why children and pregnant women are given extra caution, and what the biggest studies on organic food and cancer actually found when you look past the headlines. I also explain why glyphosate causes so much argument, which foods I think are worth buying organic, and which ones I do not bother with at all. The full list of research references is in the description of the YouTube version. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #organicfood #preventativehealth
- 3 days ago30 min
I’m a Doctor — This Is How I Eat to Reach 100
This summer I watched entire families in Italy and Greece eat completely differently to how most of us eat in the UK. Lots of olive oil, lots of veg, proper bread, beans and pulses with nearly every meal. None of it is low fat. None of it is a diet. It is just what food looks like to them. In this video I talk about why so many of us in the West ended up eating so differently, what the PREDIMED trial actually found when researchers added extra olive oil or nuts to a Mediterranean diet, and why processed meat carries a real but often misunderstood cancer risk. I also give you the simple framework that Steph and I use every day to decide what goes on our plates. Colour at every meal. Something with a bit of crunch. Animals that still look like animals. Beans and pulses daily. All built around one question. Would your great grandparents have recognised this as food. The full list of research references for this episode is in the description of the YouTube version. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #preventativehealth #mediterraneandiet
- 3 days ago26 min
The Most Overlooked Longevity System in Your Body
Your brain quietly produces waste all day, every single day. But it only gets properly flushed out while you are asleep, through a system called the glymphatic system, discovered as recently as 2013. In this episode I explain how this drainage network works alongside your wider lymphatic system, the secondary circulatory network that has no central pump and instead relies on movement, breathing and the pulse of nearby arteries to keep fluid flowing. I talk through why a sedentary lifestyle slows this system down, what that means for inflammation and immune function as you age, and why even one night of poor sleep has been shown to increase the build up of proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease. I also cover the growing research connecting lymphatic function to heart health, the five things that genuinely support this system including movement, deep breathing, sleep, cutting back on alcohol and maintaining good metabolic health, and why things like dry brushing and detox supplements are not backed by solid evidence. The full list of research references is in the description of the YouTube version of this episode. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #longevity #sleephealth
- 4 days ago15 min
Ozempic Works… But There's a Catch. (Did We Get GLP-1s Wrong?)
These weight loss injections like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro genuinely work. In the big trials, people lost around 15 to 20 percent of their body weight, and a separate trial of 17,000 people with heart disease and excess weight showed around 20 percent fewer heart attacks, strokes and cardiac deaths. That part is not really in question. What worries me is how these drugs arrived in public life, through red carpets and before and after photos with nobody admitting what they were taking. That shifted what people believe a normal body looks like, caused shortages for people with type two diabetes who actually needed these medications, and pushed some people towards unlicensed products bought online with no doctor involved at all. Being overweight is not the disease itself. It is often the visible end of things like insulin resistance and low grade inflammation that never switches off. These medications reduce how much you eat, but they do not change what you eat and they do not address why you were eating that way in the first place. For a great many people taking these drugs, I think they are best understood as a window rather than a destination. Using that window to build better habits, get more protein in, build up your fibre, get walking and do some proper resistance training twice a week gives you a real chance of keeping the benefit for good. The data on stopping is clear too, people regained around two thirds of the weight within a year of coming off treatment. Some people will need to stay on these medications for a long time, and that is a legitimate medical decision made with your own doctor. This conversation is about using the time you have on these drugs well, whatever you and your doctor decide about the long run. The full list of research references for this episode is in the description of the YouTube version. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #weightloss #glp1
- 4 days ago16 min
Cancer Is Rising In Young People… But Why?
Bowel cancer in people under 50 is rising, and the numbers are genuinely striking. Someone born around 1990 has roughly double the risk of bowel cancer compared with someone born around 1950 at the same age, and the risk of rectal cancer specifically is even higher. At the same time, rates in older people are actually falling, which tells us something in the way we live has changed. In this episode I go through what the research currently points to. That includes how inactivity affects insulin levels in a way that may encourage damaged cells to grow, how ultra processed food has pushed fibre out of our diets, and what that does to the good bacteria living in your gut. I also talk about a toxin called colibactin, made by certain strains of E. coli, which a 2025 study found far more often in bowel cancers diagnosed in people under 40 than in those diagnosed over 70. I also cover alcohol, why the old idea that a glass of red wine is good for your heart doesn't hold up once you look closely at the research, and why regular drinking carries more risk than people often assume. Most importantly, I talk through the warning signs you should never ignore, things like bleeding from your back passage, an unexplained change in bowel habit, weight loss you can't explain, or tummy pain that keeps coming back. If any of these apply to you, please get seen by a doctor. The full list of research references for this episode is in the description of the YouTube version. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #boweldcancer #guthealth
- 5 days ago28 min
9 Foods That Heal Inflammation and Lower Disease Risk
There is a process ticking away in your body right now that sits behind pretty much every condition Dr Alex has treated in A&E, from heart attacks and strokes to type 2 diabetes, dementia, arthritis, kidney disease and several cancers. That process is low grade inflammation, and what you eat has a real influence on whether it stays switched off or keeps simmering away for years. In this episode Dr Alex explains what inflammation actually is, why it sometimes fails to switch off, and the nine foods that help bring it back under control. These include tinned oily fish for the omega 3 fats that help end an inflammatory response, blackberries for their pigments called anthocyanins, broccoli for a compound called sulforaphane that switches on your own cell defences, and extra virgin olive oil, which contains a polyphenol that works a bit like a mild natural ibuprofen. He also covers hemp seeds, mushrooms and their compound ergothioneine, turmeric and why cooking it with black pepper and oil matters more than taking a supplement, fermented foods like yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi for gut bacteria diversity, and dark chocolate at 80 percent cocoa or above for its flavanols. Finally, Dr Alex talks through the three everyday habits that push inflammation back up: ultra processed food, not eating enough fibre, and alcohol, including why the old idea that a glass of red wine protects your heart does not hold up once you look at the research properly. The full list of research references is in the description of the YouTube version of this episode. Disclaimer: This is not personal medical advice and does not override what your doctor says. #dralex #inflammation #guthealth
About The Long Game | Dr Alex
Hi! I'm Dr Alex, an Emergency Medicine doctor in the UK sharing what I've learned after almost a decade of working on the frontline, to help you avoid the preventable illnesses I see every day.
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