Radio Health Journal
The latest in health, science, technology, and the intersection of medicine and public policy.
Some people find that small “stones” are growing on their tonsils. They’re an accumulation of skin cells, food, and other debris. While they are not medically dangerous or painful, they often produce bad breath or sometimes pain. Two expert physicians discuss tonsil stones’ formation and treatment.
A recent report shows that more than a dozen refineries around the US are emitting benzene pollution into the air at higher levels than allowed by the EPA. An activist discusses this newly labeled problem and what the agency can do to curb it.
Many Americans believe that healthy food doesn’t taste good, and tasty food isn’t healthy. A chef who is also a cardiologist discusses how to find a balance by seeking out healthy ingredients rather than whole categories of foods.
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 more susceptible to severe Covid infection.
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 more susceptible to severe Covid infection.
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’ approach to getting screened.
In the mid-1960’s, many Ivy League and Seven Sister colleges as well as prestigious prep schools allowed researchers to photograph incoming students naked as part of work on a now-discredited theory linking physical characteristics to leadership potential. A former student who went through it, now a physician and writer, discusses how research ethics have changed in the last 50 years.
Studies show that as many as a third of people who were very ill with Covid-19 later develop PTSD. Caregivers and health care workers may be afflicted as well. An expert discusses how this develops and what people can do to get better.
Brain aneurysms—bulging in a brain blood vessel, like an inflated balloon—affect 1 in 50 people and are generally without symptoms until they burst. This occurs in about 30,000 people per year in the US, accounting for 3-5 percent of all new strokes. Here is the story of one survivor in her own words.
Homelessness continues to be a stubborn problem despite many well-intentioned programs. A new experimental study finds that giving homeless people thousands of dollars in cash helps get many of them off the streets for good, calling into question many assumptions about the homeless and how they got that way. Experts discuss the new program and its implications for ending homelessness.
Plagues such as Covid-19 are nothing new, and this pandemic is far from the worst the world has ever faced. A physician and historian examines Covid in comparison to other pandemics and discusses the lessons that will serve us well in the future.
Writing by hand is done less frequently, and some students are barely able to produce cursive writing. However, studies show that writing by hand creates a better connection to the brain for learning content. Experts discuss.
During the pandemic, millions of people have adopted diets full of comfort food, and have wrecked their heart health in the process. Now as the world begins to return to a semblance of normal, they will face wildly conflicting dietary advice. An expert cardiologist discusses how people can cut through the confusion.
Today, women outnumber men in medical school. But 175 years ago, women were unheard of in medicine.
An award-winning writer who has epilepsy describes the discrimination faced by people with seizure disorders and dispels the many myths many people hold about them.
Despite social distancing, experts say people are increasingly “hooking up.” Sexually transmitted diseases are growing as a result. An expert discusses STDs in a pandemic.
People suffering from mental illnesses often go through a number of medications before they find one that works. A genetic test seeks to discover this information right away, so patients don’t have to wait. One of the test’s developers discusses its uses.
Proof of having received Covid-19 vaccine may soon be required for boarding a plane, going to a ball game, going to school, having a job or eating in some restaurants. An expert involved in the design of a passport app discusses how it would all work.
Professional athletes are among the most superstitious of all people. While we may be tempted to think these rituals have no effect on performance, psychologists say that if an athlete believes it helps, then it actually does. Experts explain how superstitions work in sports and in life.
During the Super Bowl, leftovers from gatherings—even small ones--may threaten to take over the refrigerator. An expert discusses consumer-friendly how-to’s, including how to read labels, that can lengthen food life and help avoid food waste.
Experts believe that humans need a certain amount of germs for our immune systems to work properly. One expert discusses her concern that we’re living too clean in the pandemic, and how we can benefit from “good bugs” without danger from the bad ones.
Scientists are discovering that our food preferences are much more than a matter of taste, and that taste itself is more complicated than we thought. Psychology also plays a role. An expert discusses what determines preferences, such as why some people like jalapeno peppers & black coffee, and some don’t.
Success of Covid-19 vaccines depends on about 75 percent of people getting them, but distrust of medicine and of vaccines among African-Americans means they may not come close to that milepost. Two experts discuss historical reasons for distrust, how the system will have to come through in ways it has not in the past, and how community leaders will make a huge difference in how the new vaccines …
Researchers have found that severe emotional trauma in childhood triggers physical disease later in life, and has a cumulative effect. An award-winning science writer who has researched the topic discusses findings.
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