Where COVID-19 vaccination is high, it’s a getting-back-to-normal world after the pandemic. But even some vaccinated people won’t return to normal for months or years because of the psychological effects. Experts discuss why this occurs and how people can help themselves return to mental health.
Advances Against Lung Cancer
More people die of lung cancer than breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined. A decade ago, a lung cancer diagnosis was often a death sentence. But now treatments are being developed that mean it can often be treated, especially if screening detects it early. A patient/advocate and researcher discuss.
Poor And Rural Kids In Crisis
A study by Save the Children shows on a county-by-county basis that children in poor and rural counties, especially in the south, are much less likely to survive into adulthood, and when they do, they’re often forced to become adults too soon by poverty, pregnancy, and lack of education. A Save the Children expert discusses factors that hurt children and ways they might be alleviated.
Rethinking Dementia
Dementia has a much wider range than most people think, and people with dementia are usually functional for years. An expert discusses the course of the disease and how life can still be positive for years before it reaches the late, debilitating stage most people think of when they hear the word “dementia.”
When Law Enforcement and Trauma Care Collide
Many patients arrive in the emergency room as a result of violence or car crashes—events in which police have an investigative interest. Sometimes, police needs clash with trauma care, and priorities are hashed out case by case. Experts discuss which priorities come first and when, and the procedures needed to smooth out sometimes contentious interaction.
The Psychology of Procrastination
Most people procrastinate at least now and then. But when we put something off, we’re usually facing not a time management problem, but an emotion management problem. Experts discuss what’s going on in our heads when we procrastinate.
Marfan Syndrome
Marfan syndrome produces obvious physical symptoms such as extreme height, but its hidden symptoms, especially in the heart and eyes, can be much more serious. Experts discuss its diagnosis and treatment.
SUDC — Sudden Unexplained Death Of A Child
Each year, some 400 US children over age 1, most of them toddlers, die overnight for no known reason. Families, longing for answers, often find that their families, friends, and even pediatricians are unfamiliar with this classification of death, or that they even occur. Family members who have lost a child, a medical examiner, and a research expert who has lost a child discuss SUDC.
Tonsil Stones
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.
How Covid Masks Have Affected Children’s Language Development
Infants, toddlers, and grade school children use many cues to learn language. Some of them are visual, involving seeing the mouth move. Some depend on clearly hearing speech. Both have been impacted by mask wearing during the pandemic. Experts now studying how far behind children are as a result discuss how language develops in children and how it’s been affected in the pandemic.
Refineries And Their Neighbors: How Safe Is The Air?
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.
Undiagnosed Mystery Diseases
Hundreds of patients nationally have diseases that have confounded doctors and yielded no diagnosis and no reliable treatment. Today the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, founded and funded by the NIH, helps these patients, but its funding is uncertain beyond 2022. Patients and a physician leader of the UDN discuss the lonely plight of these patients and the hope UDN provides.
Tasty Food vs. Healthy Food: Finding A Balance
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.
Missing the Goal of Herd Immunity
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 pandemic may drag on for years. One of the nation’s leading infectious disease experts discusses how we are missing the target and what it means.
Clinical Trials And Trust In Underserved Communities
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 in clinical trials that might ultimately raise trust in medicine.
