Radio Health Journal
The latest in health, science, technology, and the intersection of medicine and public policy.
Russia produces one-third of the world’s rough diamonds. The Russian government owns 33% of Alrosa, a Russian company that owns 90% of Russia’s diamonds. An expert discusses how a global embargo of Russian diamonds would send a strong economic message to its leaders.
Fitness apps can be helpful, but for some people, obsessive meal tracking helped them develop an eating disorder. Experts talk about the slippery slope of the fitness industry, and discuss proper recovery methods.
Doctors successfully transplanted pig kidneys into a brain-dead human for the first time. An expert discusses the future of organ transplants.
Although the Omicron variant accounts for 99% of Covid cases in the U.S., it’s far less lethal. Experts say this is the perfect combination that could bring us back to normalcy. It’s likely that life with Covid will start to resemble how we handle the flu.
Many children born after the start of the pandemic score lower in child development than children born before. Researchers explain possible theories for these children’s slower development scores.
The future of climate change impacts a lot more than our crops. Natural disasters and mass migrations of people threaten the health and safety of populations and governments around the world. Experts discuss how climate change creates economic, sociological, political, and military issues.
There’s a growing number of complaints to state medical boards regarding doctors lying about Covid-19 and vaccines. The doctors spreading misinformation are not always reprimanded by state medical boards and are allowed to continue voicing the misinformation. They cite freedom of speech as a defense, but other doctors say licensed professionals have an obligation to the truth. Experts explain the …
New estimates show that more than 167,000 children under 18 (a number growing rapidly) have lost a parent or major caregiver to Covid-19. Psychologists say deaths under such circumstances are also much more difficult for survivors to adjust to and will have a major impact on the US. Experts discuss how these “forgotten grievers” are coping and what actions might help ease the impact on them and to …
Studies show that law enforcement is the most sleep deprived of all professions, with potentially damaging and even fatal consequences for decision-making and reaction time, as well as long-term health damage. Experts discuss the unique challenges in having a poorly rested police force and in fixing it.
Severe weather events, like the rare December tornadoes that tore through Kentucky and several other states in 2021, will likely be more frequent with climate change. Experts breakdown disaster cleanup and how it can be improved.
Up to 15% of calls to 911 involve people having a mental health breakdown, yet many call centers, especially in rural areas, have no one with any training on what to do or who to dispatch in those cases.
Hoarding disorder affects at least five percent of Americans, and despite TV programs showing its effects, it is still widely misunderstood.
Preschool teachers have left the profession in huge numbers, closing some schools and threatening others. With nowhere to safely leave their children, millions of people are unable to return to work, sabotaging economic recovery. An expert discusses the low wages behind the 10% (or more) drop in early educators and how current legislation may finally turn the industry around.
Drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 Americans in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, as pressures built and users sometimes had to get their fix from unfamiliar sources. Experts discuss how the pandemic cost lives beyond Covid, and how surgical painkiller drug substitutions are beginning to keep some people from going down the opioid path.
Getting less than six hours of sleep per night has long been known to be hazardous to health, but the discovery of the mechanisms behind those hazards is leading scientists to strengthen their warnings.
Traumatic brain injury can profoundly change the injured in personality and temperament, as well as physically and cognitively. Spouses bear the brunt of these changes to the point many feel like they’re living with a stranger. Two experts and the spouse of a TBI victim discuss the many ways life changes after an injury and what can help to get them through the ordeal.
Covid-19 vaccines are now approved for children as young as 5, but while people are afraid of getting the vaccine themselves, they’re even more nervous about getting it for their children. Misinformation is accelerating against use of the vaccine in kids. Experts discuss and correct the most prevalent myths.
Around a half million people are homeless in the US on any given night, but the street homeless who are most visible often incorrectly influence our assumptions about the homeless. A noted researcher discusses myths and truths about their addictions, employment, residences, and more, and why people often become homeless.
Rural hospitals have long struggled to maintain staffing levels of nurses and other professionals that are adequate for good care. The pandemic has made it much worse, as staffers have quit and patient loads have increased. Experts discuss the roots of the staff shortage, the effects on care safety, the extreme cost of efforts to attract and retain staff, and the threat to hospital survival posed …
Among active duty and veterans of the War on Terror, suicides have claimed four times more lives than combat since 9-11, according to a recent study. The study’s author discusses why the toll is higher than for previous conflicts, and he and another expert in tragedy recovery discuss what the military, VA, and loved ones can do to prevent suicide.
Facial recognition technology is everywhere, from your smartphone to the grocery store to city streets. But do we really want to be constantly tracked? Law enforcement finds it immensely helpful, but many experts say it’s a massive invasion of privacy that needs limitation. Experts discuss.
Many experts believe we have missed our chance to eliminate Covid-19, and that now it is very likely to become an endemic disease--one that persists, though at lower levels, and never goes away. Two noted infectious disease experts discuss what that means for precautions and lifestyles in perpetuity.
Patients have to make medical choices today that they never did before. But do they have enough information to make those choices? Are normal people able to understand the flood of information and the medical terms to make good choices? An expert discusses how patients can work through these issues.
Researchers believe “SynBio” may eventually help address hunger, pollution, and other modern problems. Yet in the wrong hands, synthetic biology could unleash terrible biological weapons. Experts discuss.
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