Medical campaigns account for a third of monies raised on crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, and many people who’ve fallen through the holes of the safety net have been helped this way. But studies show that fraud is rampant in crowdfunding, with fake patients and medical providers who are all too eager to take money for worthless treatment. Experts discuss these issues and the need for regulation.
What’s Up With Hiccups?
Hiccups are annoying and uncomfortable, and doctors don’t know why we (and most other species) get them. An expert explains what we know about what hiccups are and why most home remedies actually work.
Nerve Growth Factors: New Hope For TBI’s, MS, ALS?
Unlike most cells in the human body, the central nervous system cannot repair itself. People who suffer brain or spinal cord injuries, or neurological disorders such as MS and ALS have few alternatives. A neurological researcher describes how he has discovered previously unknown nerve growth factors that could someday allow such injuries and diseases to heal.
“Flat Head Syndrome”
Since the beginning of the “baby on back” movement to reduce sudden infant death syndrome, many more infants are developing misshapen heads with a flat spot in one place. An expert discusses whether this is serious, how it can be treated with a helmet-like device, and how it might be prevented.
Where Can We Gather? The Zoom Thanksgiving
Getting together with family and friends over the holidays will be different this year due to COVID-19 precautions for families and governmental restrictions on restaurants and bars. The hospitality industry complains it’s unfairly targeted, but data shows it’s a COVID hotspot. Yet families in homes can repeat some of the same errors. Experts discuss how to keep gatherings safe and the consequences if we don’t.
The Effects of 2020 Stress
2020 has produced an ongoing barrage of stressful events, and psychologists say the months of strain have started to show in both physical and mental breakdowns among increasing numbers of people. Three mental health professionals discuss the signs that a person is in trouble, and what they can do to get through these difficult times intact.
Time Blindness
Someone who is always late for everything and never finishes any project on time is often labeled as irresponsible, lazy, or purposely insulting. But they may be suffering from a brain abnormality called time blindness that’s often a part of ADHD, with often sad consequences. Experts discuss.
Black Lung Disease: Still All Too Present
Black lung disease among coal miners is often thought of as a relic of the past, thanks to environmental laws. The disease is completely preventable, but a distinguished reporter and author has still found plenty of it among today’s miners. He discusses his findings and why it’s still going on.
Memory Care Farm Animals: Helpful Menageries
Some nursing homes with a large number of patients with dementia have found that farm animals on-site and even in rooms can be helpful in raising spirits and reducing the need for medications. A therapist and program director at one such nursing home discusses how llamas, chickens, goats and mini horses have found a home, to the benefit of residents.
Organ Thieves: The First Human Heart Transplant In The South
In the race to perform the first human-to-human heart transplant, ethical corners were sometimes cut. An investigative journalist explains how a black man’s heart was harvested without his family’s consent for the first human heart transplant in the South, and how incidents such as this help to explain ongoing African-American distrust of medicine.
Will We Be Ready For A Covid Vaccine?
A COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon, but while billions have been spent on its development, little has been spent on distribution and there are still many unanswered questions. Experts discuss how vaccine distribution might be carried out, how long it’s likely to take, and the steps needed to make it work.
Searing Pain In The Face: Trigeminal Neuralgia
A searing, stabbing pain on one side of the face can be so severe it’s sometimes called “the suicide disease,” and may evade diagnosis. Trigeminal neuralgia is often caused by a throbbing artery in contact with nerves at the base of the brain. Treatment can be difficult though often ultimately successful. Two experts discuss.
Virtual Clinical Trials
Researchers see the new acceptance of telemedicine as an opportunity during clinical trials. Along with Zoom visits, numerous sensors on participants could provide constant monitoring of health conditions without traveling to see doctors, making control better.
Food Insecurity In 2020
An estimated 35 million people were food insecure last year, and the dislocations due to COVID-19 have made it much worse now. Experts discuss the health consequences of hunger, the strategies families are using to cope with economic dislocation, and one local effort typical of new volunteer programs to feed hungry children in need.
Obesity Bias In Medicine
Studies show that medical professionals are as biased as the rest of us against people who are overweight, resulting in lectures, misdiagnoses, and patients who start avoiding the doctor. Experts explain the problem, results, and what might be done about it.
