Sound Medicine Radio Hour

Precision Medicine, An Update From The VA, and More: Full Show, April 26, 2015 Apr 24, 2015

In this final episode of the Sound Medicine Radio Hour: We tailor glasses to your eyes and blood transfusions to your blood type, so why isn't more of medicine specific to the patient receiving treatment? We hear from Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute on how the new Precision Medicine Initiative plans to use the power of genetic sequencing to develop innovative treatments for cancer and other diseases. We check in with the director of a VA hospital to learn what progress has been made in the past year, and we learn about how a study on breast cancer in dogs can help human women. We'll also hear about a program in Dallas that brings music to palliative care patients, and hear a final essay from palliative oncologist Larry Cripe.

Transgender Kids, Anesthesiologists, And More: Full Show, April 19, 2014 Apr 17, 2015

Patients with cancer answer the question: how should doctors deliver news of a terminal diagnosis? A new study provides evidence that young children who identify as transgender aren't "faking it" or "just tomboys." We learn how and when to use the portable defibrillators that are being placed in public spaces. And we'll hear from the other doctor in the operating room, the anesthesiologist.

Treating PTSD With Eye Movements, Antibiotic Resistance in Brazil, and More: Full Show, 4-12-2015 Apr 10, 2015

This week on Sound Medicine: Making the workplace more welcoming for young people with disabilities, report from Brazil on why easy access to antibiotics could cause worldwide problems, and h ow direct access to your x-ray or MRI might change your conversation with your doctor. Plus, we discuss the despair and peace that comes with long-term chronic illness.

Hormone-Disrupting Plastics, Genetics Testing For Life Insurance, and More: Full Show April 5, 2015 Apr 06, 2015

Rethinking Gym Class, Doctors Googling Patients, And More: Full Show, March 29, 2015 Mar 27, 2015

This week on the Sound Medicine radio show, could schools' fear of litigation be keeping your kids from getting more out of gym class? National guidelines recommend 60 minutes of exercise a day for children and teens, but our guest Dr. Greg Myer says more thinking needs to go into quality of exercise, rather than the quantity. We learn about new ways doctors and nurses are helping patients with multiple illnesses manage their care with fewer hospitalizations. Plus, genetic counselor Dr. Maria Baker on whether it's ever okay for doctors to Google their patients. And we get an advance look at the upcoming PBS documentary Rx: The Quiet Revolution , which airs April 2.

Where We Stand With Cancer: Full Show, March 22, 2015 Mar 21, 2015

This week, Sound Medicine presents a full hour of conversations and stories about cancer. We hear from Larry Einhorn , the doctor who discovered the cure for testicular cancer, and his first patient. We visit the world's only repository of healthy breast tissue , and we learn how researchers are "training" the body's immune system to fight cancer. Plus, why treatment for a rare cancer can be so frustrating and lonely- even with access to the latest technologies and therapies: the latest conversation betweenbioethicist Eric Meslin and pharmacogeneticist David Flockhart , who is chronicling his own experiences with brain cancer.

Out Chasing Storms, A Doctor Rediscovered The Mission Of Medicine Mar 17, 2015

Dr. Jason Persoff has logged over 4,000 miles chasing storms, and he says it’s a spiritual experience. He never expected his hobby to reconnect him with his passion for medicine. In his normal life, Persoff is an internist at University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, where he treats patients who have smoked too much marijuana , among other daily duties. But every spring, he packs his camera and follows storms around the United States. Persoff’s two worlds collided in on May 22, 2011. Persoff was chasing storms outside of Joplin, Missouri, when the weather took a dramatic turn. Early in the day, the storms forming around Joplin were fairly mild. Then “suddenly, out of nowhere, this beast of a storm formed just west of Joplin, and morphed into the deadliest tornado in US history in the past fifty years, in a very, very quick fashion,” Persoff remembers. He was giving it a wide berth, tracking the storm on radar and following it from behind, hoping for a good view from a safe distance.

A Storm-Chasing Doctor, An Overdose Antidote, King v. Burwell And More: Full Show, March 15, 2015 Mar 14, 2015

This week on Sound Medicine, we sit down with policy analyst Aaron Carroll to decipher the latest Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act. We learn some tips for preparing for the dreaded colonoscopy. And we hear from hospitalist and storm-chaser Jason Persoff, who treated survivors of the devastating EF-5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Plus, field producer Andrea Muraskin has a story of the ground-swell building around a life-saving drug that can reverse a heroin overdose.

Yoga For Bhutanese Refugees, Medical Mistakes, And More: Full Show, March 8, 2015 Mar 07, 2015

This week's show features a ProPublica report on what happens after medical errors, and why the medical device tax is so controversial. Plus: how a rice byproduct is being tested as a way to prevent malnutrition in babies; help for refugees with mental health issues; and how getting rid of clutter could benefit your health. (Hint: it's never really about the stuff).

When It Comes To Medical Mistakes, Disclosure And Apologies Are Rare Mar 06, 2015

Have you ever been injured, infected, or otherwise harmed by a medical mistake? If so, your story may be more common than you think. Recently, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine analyzed responses from 236 patients who had completed Pro Publica's Patient Harm Questionnaire , and published their findings in the journal Patient Safety . They found that only nine percent of respondents said a medical facility disclosed the harm, and only 11 percent reported that a health provider had apologized. More than 30 percent reported paying bills related to the harm, with the average cost over $14,000. A 2013 study in the same journal estimated that at least 210,000 and as many as 400,000 people die each year in American hospitals due to preventable harm. Sound Medicine host Barbara Lewis spoke with ProPublica reporter Marshall Allen about the recent findings.

Cybersecurity After the Anthem Hack, 3D Printing in Medicine, and More: Full Show, March 1, 2015 Feb 28, 2015

This week's podcast of Sound Medicine is all about technology in healthcare. How safe is your health data? We speak with an expert to learn what we need to know after the Anthem hack. Later in the program: what to do when the computer gets between you and your doctor, and how 3D printing is helping surgeons learn what to expect. Plus, we look at two tools in the fight against America's opioid epidemic: prescription monitoring programs, and the recovery drug suboxone .

Treatments Tailored to Your Genes, Your Rights to Your Records, And More: Full Show, Feb. 22, 2015 Feb 23, 2015

This week on the Sound Medicine podcast: scientists are working on ways to combine genetic mapping with patients' health data to develop treatments tailored to individuals; we learn about the cutting edge field of precision medicine from bioethicist Eric Meslin . Plus, who owns your medical records, how police identify drivers who are high on reefer, and what can be done to save rural hospitals.

Fixes for Obamacare's Flaws, Treating Weed-Related Illnesses And More: Full Show, February 15, 2015 Feb 14, 2015

This week we hear from Steven Brill, author of the bestseller America's Bitter Pill , on how he would fix the healthcare system. A doctor puzzles over how to confront a surge in marijuana-related illnesses when the drug becomes legal in his state. Surveys show that by many measures today's teens are alright, and we'll look at the troubles facing many of America's rural hospitals.

Measles, Concussions In High School Sports, and More: Full Show, February 8, 2015 Feb 07, 2015

Measles: are we sliding backwards? Helping kids get caught up in school after sports-related concussions, how childhood trauma can physically affect the brain, and how brain cancer brings up an interesting family question. We'll also wrap up our story of a father and his injured daughter.

Help For Weekend Warriors: How To Exercise Without The Soreness Feb 05, 2015

You probably know the feeling of waking up sore and wobbly-legged the day after a long hike or intense workout. There’s a name for that: delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS – and there are things you can do to stop it. Dr. Holly Lucille , a naturopathic physician and CrossFit trainer in West Hollywood, California, says DOMS is caused by microscopic tears in muscle fibers that release chemical irritants, triggering inflammation. Once you have DOMS, simple tasks like lifting grocery bags or pulling a laptop from the car can trigger a flare-up. Lucille says she often sees DOMS among “weekend warriors,” people who are not physically active most days, but engage in intense workouts when they have the time. She advises patients and trainees to increase the intensity and velocity of their workouts gradually. But it's not just working out that can lead to DOMS, Lucille says. Any daily activity that uses muscles that have not been worked recently—lifting heavy bags of groceries with your non

In the Midst of His Own Cancer Treatment, A Doctor Scans Family DNA For A Link Feb 05, 2015

Dr. David Flockhart is a pharmacogeneticist and contributor to Sound Medicine who was recently diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer. In our continuing series of conversations, Dr. Flockhart shares his experiences of treatment and recovery, and what he's learned about the disease, and about himself. In this recording, he talks with bioethicist and longtime friend Eric Meslin.*

Heart Disease in Women, Crowdsourcing Healthcare Costs, and More: Full Show, Feb 1 2015 Jan 31, 2015

This week on Sound Medicine: a different way of looking at heart disease for women, dealing with chronic health anxiety, the public safety net program for children's health care that could be canceled this year, and why insurance won't cover an effective treatment for pain pill addiction. Plus, crowd-sourcing comes to healthcare costs, and we continue the story of how a daughter's brain injury changed her father.

Millicent's Fall: The Width of Time Jan 29, 2015

As an oncologist and palliative care specialist, Larry Cripe treats critically ill patients. Two years ago, he found himself on the other side of the healthcare system after his college-aged daughter suffered a 30-foot fall. In this series of essays, Dr. Cripe shares what he learned about how better to communicate with the critically ill and their families, and how to move forward in the face of an uncertain future. *** As I was sitting in the intensive care unit watching my daughter breathe, I realized time has width as well as length. The length of time was marked by the ever-changing bright red numbers of the digital clock at the head of her bed. I experienced the length of time as it passed faster or slower. If I watched the monitors that displayed the spikes of the electrical activity of her heart or the peaks and valleys signaling the rise and fall of her chest too closely, then time passed more slowly. If I willed myself to ignore the clock and monitors and instead watched the

Your Dog Does Listen to You Jan 26, 2015

Ask any dog owner and they will tell you with certainty that their four legged friend can understand them. Now a study from the UK confirms it. Researchers had dogs listen to human speech through a set of speakers—one on the right side of the animal, one on the left. Then they gave a simple command. They watched to see if the dog inclined its head to the right or to the left, depending on the tone of the command. We asked Sound Medicine’s veterinary expert Dr. Liz Murphy to explain the findings. “On the right side of their brain [dogs] will process the emotional content of what we’re saying,” says Murphy, “whereas on the left side of the brain they will process information from the speech that we are uttering.” In other words, dog brains are organized for speech and understanding in ways that are similar to human brains. Dr. Murphy notes it’s important to understand that dogs “may not understand the specific words we are saying to them, but when we utter a phrase to them that contains

Overcoming our Obsession with Diagnosis, Decoding Back Pain, and More: Full Show, January 25, 2015 Jan 24, 2015

On this week's edition of Sound Medicine , we hear from palliative care physician Larry Cripe on how his daughter's life-threatening injury changed his outlook and the way he practices medicine. Host Barbara Lewis speaks with a spinal neurosurgeon whose written a book on how to conquer back pain, a researcher who says it's time to rethink the outpatient visit, and a surgeon who gave up her superstar status. Plus, how to talk so your dog understands, and how not to forget what you learned in class. Individual Segments: Millicent's Fall: "Speechless" Decode Your Back Pain: Interview With Spinal Neurosurgeon Dr. Jack Stern

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