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Remarkable stories that reveal the complexity our physical and mental health
Airdate: 
Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - 20:30
Channel: 
SBS

In the second part of our Best of 2016 series, we look back at some of the most remarkable experiences around physical and mental health on the show last year.

How can a man suffering from headaches have no apparent cause while his twin, with no symptoms, is diagnosed with a rare brain tumour?

What is it like to live with a suspected tick-borne illness when medical experts insist Lyme disease does not exist in Australia?

How do you battle an emotional attachment to your possessions so strong you can’t let anything go?

And what is it like to be your mother’s primary mental health-carer from the age of 5?

From conditions that confound to remarkable recoveries, these were some of our most talked about stories of 2016.

 

Show links

 

 

Support links

 

  • Please contact Lifeline (T: 13 11 14) or beyondblue (T: 1300 22 4636) for support relating to mental health issues 
  • More information about the Australian Twin Registry can be found here. 
  • Do you think you could be at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes? Take the test. 
  • Further information about Dr Michael Mosley's intermittent fasting diet is here.
  • Physical support for hoarding disorder can be found with Catholic Healthcare’s Hoarding and Squalor program. 
  • Information from the Department of Health about Lyme Disease in Australia can be found here.
Meet the Guests
Science journalist and author
Michael Mosley

Michael Mosley discovered he had Type 2 diabetes 4 years ago. As a doctor, as well as an author and broadcaster best known for his work on diet and healthy living, this was a huge shock. To make matters worse, his father was diagnosed with Type 2 about the same age as him, 54, and later died of diabetes-related complications.

“It was a shock when I discovered my blood sugar was raised, so I did some research and found that not only could I improve my diabetes, but I could actually reverse it.”

Michael latched on to the work being done by Professor Roy Taylor at Newcastle University in the UK. Professor Taylor was claiming that by losing weight through eating less carbohydrates and sugary food he could reverse Type 2 Diabetes, in 84 percent of recently diagnosed cases.

Michael made the switch to healthier food, lost weight and reversed his Type 2 diabetes. To keep it at bay he has to maintain his healthy lifestyle, but he believes if he can, so can other diabetics.

Maxine Risk-Sumner

When Maxine was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, her response to the doctor was, “so what?”, as so many people in her community had the disease. But twelve months later, she'd lost 45 kilos and had brought her blood sugar levels under control without medication. The diagnosis was a huge learning curve and she is now helping to educate fellow Indigenous Australians about what they can do to beat their diabetes.   

Stewart Purdie

"It’s like when you have a new baby and it’s the most precious thing in the world. My stuff is like that to  me. It’s mine, I can repair it and look after it."

Professor Randy Frost

"Anything that is owned by someone who suffers from hoarding disorder feel like it’s part of them. To get rid of it feels like you’re cutting off your arm."

Kylie

“If this happens again, [my daughters] are the two people that will get me to hospital, I will not listen to anyone else.”

Professor Stephen Graves

"There may be in fact be other illnesses that have not yet been diagnosed, that are associated with ticks.”

Cate and Chanel Moloney

“I guess with so many different symptoms they would just sort of come to the conclusion that she was making it up or that I was making it up, or we were both making it up …”

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