Radio Health Journal | Segment Archive

Medical Notes: Week of June 6, 2021

>> June 6, 2021

Patients often ask their doctor for an antibiotic when they’re sick even if it might be a virus causing the illness. Viruses aren’t touched by antibiotics… and using them in such a case only contributes to antibiotic resistance. But now scientists have come up …

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Missing The Goal of Herd Immunity

>> May 30, 2021

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, public health experts have looked to vaccines with the goal of creating “herd immunity,” where so many people are vaccinated that the virus stalls out. Now it is clear we will not reach that goal, meaning the threat of the …

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Clinical Trials And Trust In Underserved Communities

>> May 30, 2021

People of color are less likely than others to receive timely treatment for medical issues. This is reflected in Covid-19 vaccination numbers, in cancer treatment, and in clinical trial participation. Experts discuss ways to increase participation, especially …

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Medical Notes: Week of May 30, 2021

>> May 30, 2021

You might expect that with all of today’s medical advances, people would be having less pain than they used to. But a large new study shows people are in more pain than ever before. The study in the journal Demography finds that for virtually every age, …

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Keeping Generic Drugs Safe (2021)

>> May 23, 2021

The segment below is an updated version of a story originally published at an earlier date – Generic Drug Safety (2019). Since the 1980’s, almost all production of generic drugs has moved overseas, where FDA inspectors have a much tougher time …

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Covid and Kidney Disease

>> May 23, 2021

Covid-19 is usually a respiratory disease, but it can affect virtually any organ in the body. The nation’s top kidney disease expert discusses how Covid can prompt life-threatening kidney effects in the previously healthy, and how those with kidney disease are …

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Medical Notes: Week of May 23, 2021

>> May 23, 2021

The stress of the pandemic on healthcare workers has been enormous… but a study by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center shows critical care nurses were already burning out in large numbers even before it hit. Forty percent of nurses admitted to …

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The Covid Baby Bust

>> May 16, 2021

The U.S. birth rate has been declining since the Crash of 2008, but it took an even larger decline during the pandemic to levels unseen since the Great Depression. Today fertility rates are below replacement levels, which could have big impacts on education, …

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The Changing Face of Colon Cancer

>> May 16, 2021

Colon cancer is striking much younger people than it used to, leading experts to lower the age on screening recommendations. A noted colon surgeon discusses screening and treatment options, and the way Covid-19 has changed patients’ Covid-19 to getting …

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Medical Notes: Week of May 16, 2021

>> May 16, 2021

People who’ve had Covid-19 have a much higher risk of death from other causes long after they think they’ve gotten well. A study in the journal Nature finds that even Covid survivors who were never sick enough to be hospitalized have a 60 percent higher risk …

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The Distorted Smells of Covid-19

>> May 9, 2021

Many of those who’ve had Covid-19 have suffered from a temporary loss of their sense of smell, but some have had what seems to be an even worse symptom weeks or months later—a distorted sense of smell, where everything, from coffee to flowers, smells …

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