Health Versus Wealth With Dr Ben

Jim Thorp, 49, who was born in Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital, recalls: “As a child, all I ever wanted to do was fly planes and play rugby for England. I did neither, though I came relatively close to doing both!” Rory Underwood, England's record international try scorer, who was also an RAF pilot for 18 years, was Jim's childhood hero. Jim spent 9 years in the Air Force but never flew. He made the England Under-21 rugby squad, turned professional in 2000 and as a loosehead prop, lining up on the left of the scrum next to the hooker, he suffered many injuries over the years. Forced to retire from rugby after “4 shoulder reconstructions, 1 neck surgery, countless back injuries, numerous shoulder dislocations, broken bones and a barrel-shaped body that topped over 19 stone, Jim has, for past 21 years, run ‘JT Ethos’, the Midlands’ leading corrective exercise and holistic health company”. Based in Sutton Coldfield, Jim helps clients find long-term solutions to back, neck & health problems and specialises in scoliosis, sciatica and long-term & repetitive back and neck issues. He also helps 35–60-year-olds overhaul their health. 

GP Dr Neera Jaitly and her son Jay, 13, who’s had Long Covid for past two years and is in a wheelchair, are Dr Ben's guest as we highlight the struggles of Britain's 70,000 children who have Long Covid. Despite her medical experience (Dr Neera has been a GP for nearly 25 years), her son’s illness raised issues she couldn’t understand. Some specialists “gas-lit him”, she says, didn’t believe his symptoms, which was “frustrating”. And Jay was keen to appear on the podcast because he wants everyone to better understand Long Covid and he hopes that his own experience may help other children.Dr Neera speaks highly on the episode about the tremendous support she and her family have received from Long Covid Kids, the charity that represents and supports children and young people living with Long Covid and related illnesses and the parents and caregivers that look after them.

Mac Alonge, aged 38, is the Founder & CEO of The Equal Group, a data-driven diversity and inclusion consultancy, which helps companies and organisations identify bias within the workplace and advises them on the actions they can take to eliminate it. Mac’s world focuses on E.D.I. (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion). He and his team are hired by organisations, including many large ones with thousands of employees, and he tells us that businesses sometimes engage in “Diversity Washing”, a well-known term in his world equivalent to “greenwashing”. When Mac encounters “Diversity Washing”, he says, companies often try to “earn the badge” saying they’ve gone through the process. “There’s all sorts of badges & charters you can sign up to, but no checking whether you have committed to doing what you pledged. People put these badges on their website to say they are diversity inclusive, and will flood their websites with images of diverse individuals or those with disabilities. The idea is to give the impression they engage widely in ethnic diversity. Usually, the images used with the same person featuring on every page, photographed at a number of different angles, to give the impression there are loads of culturally diverse employees. This diversity washing can lead to some difficult conversations with leaders.”  

Dr Qian Xu, a specialist in rejuvenation and health optimisation, is Medical Director at Clinicity in central London, where our podcast host Dr Ben Sinclair's award-winning medical business, Dr Finlay’s Private Practice, is based. Dr Qian was born in China and came to UK when she was aged 10. Her mother was a doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology, her father a medical research scientist. After graduating at Southampton Uni, Dr Qian worked at Southampton General Hospital, and later in A&E at St George’s Hospital, London, a major trauma centre.At Clinicity, she is building up a team of practitioners, “all experts at the top of their field”. She declares: “The human body and mind are amazing. The links between mind and body, and how they affect physical symptoms, are something Western medicine takes a different view on. I feel it is very much focused on disease processes, what medications we can use to treat symptoms, making them better in the short-term – rather than delving into the root causes of diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, the naturopathic specialities are more holistic. Western medicine’s ‘quick-fix approach’ is relatively recent and I'm not sure is very good or healthy for the general population.” Dr Qian also enthusiastically recommends rejuvenating red-light therapy, available at Clinicity, and the NovoTHOR machine, of which Hollywood star Tom Cruise is also a big fan.

Dean Billington, a telecoms company owner, stands 6ft 5ins tall and completed 7 years in the British Army, (as a radio operator in the Royal Engineers), joining when he was aged 17. After leaving the Armed Forces, he worked in the telecoms sector. Then In 2011, he left to start Triton Telecom, his own company. Employing 4 people, they are a “one-stop-shop for all B2B telephony requirements, with partners in technology, IT, marketing, telemarketing and SEO”.Dean has lived a full, extraordinary life and crammed a lot into his 55 years. He has saved lives (in his role as a qualified rescue diver) and nearly lost his own, in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. In 2010, he was knocked off his bike and broke his shoulder blade in half, broke 6 ribs, suffered head injuries, has pins & plates in his knee, has had surgery 3 times and spent 6 months in hospital. Despite this setback, his approach to life today is upbeat and full of optimism and positivity.Once asked by a journalist what he felt was his biggest opportunity in life, he replied: “Getting up in the morning! Every day is an opportunity to do better than you did the day before. Every day is a new start. Y

Jas Rohel is the Founder of the annual Education Awards, which she launched 8 years ago after she noticed many people leaving the sector without the recognition they deserved. They began small, only in the Midlands, with 200-250 people attending each year. Now the awards are staged nationally, held at 5 venues, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Midlands, each attracting 500-600 people and held throughout the year. The awards' headline sponsor is the international bank HSBC.Jas has also recently become CEO of the education charity the Titan Partnership, which has been going for 35 years and has established a fine record for making an impact in schools. It began with a group of head teachers coming together to discuss teacher training, but now involves much more. They target youngers from primary schools to Higher Education. “As CEO I aim to grow the network as every school needs to be part of Titan. We want to grow the charity on a national basis," says Jas. "More needs to be done to support the young generation due to the landscape of the world today. Youngsters have it 100% tougher today than it used to be in my day as a youngster. I don't remember walking around worried about knife and gun crime. There is the influence of social media and the impact it has on youngsters today. There is so much negative information about.” In her other roles, Jas Rohel is also a Council member at Solihull Chamber of Commerce and is Station Controller at Solihull Radio.

Dr Jared Watson, an experienced clinical psychologist, was born, raised & educated in New Zealand, including at the University of Wellington, before he came to the UK in 2016. Part of the award-winning team at Dr Finlay's Private Practice, Dr Jared divides his time between supporting people with severe and enduring mental-health issues, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and working with NHS staff who report a range of conditions relating to their work and stressful lifestyles. Dr Jared also supports individuals and teams within the corporate sector, specialising in what is termed ‘organisational psychology’. His work involves helping companies and their employees to optimise their performance. In this episode, he also discusses the impact on mental health brought by social media today. He also discusses the rise in mental health diagnoses in past 20 years in the UK, and the possible reasons for this. "That’s not so much related to the recent Pandemic and could be partly influenced by the fact that people are more comfortable talking about mental health issues today.” He sees this as a good thing. Mental Health has been on a journey and there is less stigma and shame attached to it and talking openly about it these days. Hence the expression: “It's OK not to be OK”. Dr Jared adds: “It's not such a taboo subject anymore.”

Elizabeth Muir, a Musculoskeletal & Pelvic Health Physiotherapist and Clinical Pilates Practitioner, is part of the Dr Finlay's Private Practice team in Birmingham. Her “hybrid” credentials, combining and merging Physio and Pilates, also inspire her own business, Elizabeth Alexander Physiotherapy and Pilates. Beth offers listeners valuable tips and advice based on her 14 years’ experience treating and supporting everyone from new-born babies one day-old, right up to her oldest patient, who was 99.Beth is passionate about encouraging people to move more. Breathing is also a major topic discussed at length, as it affects many areas of the body and mind. Our focus on mental health, as well as physical, has grown hugely post-pandemic, she says, and Pilates and Physio are central to this. There’s not enough post-natal care and support today, and Beth as a mother-of-two, talks about her own experiences, also of supporting clients in this area.