PLAY PODCASTS
Painkillers

Painkillers

Can they target pain and work faster for a higher price?

Sliced Bread · BBC Radio 4

February 9, 202326m 24s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (open.live.bbc.co.uk) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

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 [email protected] or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth