Understanding chronic pain (part one)

Loading player...
Chronic pain affects about 40% of the UK population. While there is growing recognition that pain can be an illness in and of itself, there is still a lot we don’t know. Anand Jagatia hears from fibromyalgia sufferer Vicky Naylor on what it’s like to live with chronic pain, and the Guardian’s science correspondent Linda Geddes about the causes for these sometimes debilitating conditions. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
6 Jul 2021 English United Kingdom Science · Nature

Other recent episodes

Revisited: A Scottish tea mystery, episode three – a bag for life

Science correspondent Nicola Davis investigates the strange story of Tam O’Braan and his attempts to grow tea in Scotland. In episode three of this mini-series first broadcast in October 2025, all of O’Braan’s lies come to a head and it is revealed where he was sourcing the tea being supplied…
23 Jul 20 min

Revisited: A Scottish tea mystery, episode two – the list

Science correspondent Nicola Davis investigates the strange story of Tam O’Braan and his attempts to grow tea in Scotland. In episode two of this mini-series first broadcast in October 2025, Nicola hears how O’Braan’s network of Scottish tea growers began to have suspicions about exactly what he was selling and…
22 Jul 23 min

Revisited: A Scottish tea mystery, episode one – green shoots

Science correspondent Nicola Davis investigates the strange story of Tam O’Braan and his attempts to grow tea in Scotland. In episode one of this mini-series first broadcast in October 2025, Nicola looks back on her first meeting with O’Braan while working on a feature about tea plantations in the UK…
21 Jul 22 min

Can a world-first gene therapy reverse ageing?

The first person has been treated with a highly anticipated new gene therapy that aims to turn back the clock on ageing cells. The trial is aimed at retinal cells, with the hope that encouraging them to behave as if they were young again could improve sight in the affected…
16 Jul 18 min

Fungi: the invisible force protecting our planet

Scientists often talk about the importance of flora and fauna to the health of our planet, but Dr Toby Kiers, an evolutionary biologist and founder of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, wants us to consider another force: fungi. Her work charting the planet’s vital underground systems has…
14 Jul 16 min