New Hampshire Public Radio: Health

An Alarming Rise In Food Allergies

A recent report by the Center for Disease Control shows a huge jump in the number of American kids with food and skin allergies. Some are so severe, they

What If You Couldn't Taste Or Smell?

Impaired sight often requires glasses – impaired hearing, a hearing aid. But what about people who suffer from an impaired sense of smell or taste?

New Hampshire Not Alone In Health Exchange Setbacks

The new health exchanges are often described as something akin to Orbitz or Travelocity. A central place--a website--where insurance can be researched,

N.H. Residents Breathing Easy

A report out today from the American Lung Association says that New Hampshire’s air quality continues to improve. The level of smog is falling in

Insurance Company Practice Of 'Fail First' Called Into...

“I have Crohn’s Disease, I have diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and I had a stroke. From all of this, I am on medication for depression

Forest Pharmacy

The Chairman of the Society of Forest Medicine at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, Japan Dr. Qing Li, studies nature’s effect on the human immune system. A

Proposed Change In Dental Care Workforce Losing Steam

On Thursday, the New Hampshire State Senate is scheduled to vote on a bill that’s getting a lot of attention in the dental community. The measure would

Medicaid Overhaul Plan Hits A Road Block

It’s been three years since state lawmakers began touting managed care as the salvation of Medicaid.

New Hampshire Health and Human Service Commissioner Nick...

Today we sit down with New Hampshire's Health and Human Services Commissioner, Nick Toumpas. After many years of budget cutting, Toumpas may see some funds

Kindergarteners Learn ABCs, Adjust To MS

Pam Sumner, blonde with a quick smile, was diagnosed ten years ago with multiple sclerosis. She’s reliant on a cane and easily fatigued.

Mental Health Math Doesn't Add Up For Hospitals

In the 1950s, the state psychiatric hospital in Concord was home to about 2,500 adults. The manicured campus had it all, including a golf course, barber

Six Songs For Celiacs

Our segment on celiac diet trends led us to local band, The Bramble Jam, andtheir song, "Gluten Free." It inspired us to separate the musical wheat from

Governor Says Health Exchange Decision Rests With Her

The Governor today affirmed that it’s her office that gets to make the final call regarding the type of health insurance exchange New Hampshire operates.

N.H. Health Exchange Remains In Limbo

With a February 15 th deadline looming, a group of lawmakers met today to discuss the direction of the state’s health insurance exchange. But the

E-Cigarettes Suck In Users, Evade Regulation

Long gone are the days of Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man. (The last television ad for a cigarette, incidentally, aired on January 1, 1971 at 11:59pm,

Flu Fever Hits The Granite State

The influenza season started much earlier this year and the strain is considered more severe. Many worry how much of a toll this will take. In New

Impasse in Washington Has N.H. Domestic Violence...

Supporters of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) like to point out that since its passage in 1994, incidents of domestic violence are down by more than 50% nationwide.But they also say this isn’t about stats, this is about people like Carrie Ann, who requested that her last name not be used."The abuse that I encountered was physical, mental, and sexual," she says. "It was constant, day-in-day out. By the end, I was virtually a prisoner. I wasn’t allowed to control my own finances. I...

To Expand (Medicaid) Or Not To Expand

Lawmakers will decide this spring whether to expand the state’s Medicaid program to include childless adults making less than roughly $15,000. To make sure they have all the information they need, the Department of Health and Human Services commissioned a study to look at the effects.We poured over the 61-page report, and boiled it down to these 5 takeaways.Expansion will cost the state $85 million between 2014 and 2020. Not expanding saves the state $65 million over the same period.There...

The Alzheimer's Caf: Unforgettable Therapy

Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia can strip away memory, sometimes even dignity, and can isolate even the most outgoing individual. There’s no cure for the brain disorder, but now, patients and those who care for them are finding relief at something called the Alzheimer’s Caf.

Organic Food On Trial! (Rebroadcast)

A recent study found little evidence of health benefits from organic foods, challenging organic’s reputation as the healthy alternative to conventional agribusiness. But others say researchers did find some vital differences around pesticide levels and that the study was too narrow, ignoring vital environmental and ethical reasons for eating organic.Today we'll look at the arguments on both sides.GuestsSteve Savage – Stanford-trained biologist with a PhD in plant science from University of...

Self Help: How to Think More About Sex

The author and philosopher Alain de Botton addresses the chasm between our private feelings and real world experience of sex in “How to Think More About Sex." It’s one of two new books in The School of Life Series – a smart and frequently funny twist on the “self-help” genre, which he curates.Check out this short film that accompanies the book:

The Alzheimer's Caf: Unforgettable Therapy

Once a month, it’s a decidedly older demographic meeting here at the Children’s Museum in Dover.A dozen or so seniors gather inside a brightly painted conference room. There’s coffee, cake and, this month, some live entertainment from 'The Sea Reeds,' a quartet of local clarinetists.For Rhea Pereira, the music is a chance to sing along with friends. She and her husband John moved here from Florida three years ago, when Rhea began experiencing memory problems."It is sad," says John. "A...

All Options On The Table For N.H. Health Exchange

The President’s health law wasn’t all that popular with New Hampshire House Republicans. Among other actions last session, they passed a law prohibiting the state from managing its own health insurance exchange.And for now, the state is moving forward with a marketplace run by the Federal government.That could change, though. Democrat Ed Butler plans to file a bill that would allow the state to at least consider running its own system.“We need to understand whether or not a state based...

Compounding Pharmacists In New Hampshire Brace For Change

About 20 years ago, Bob Vecchiotti developed something called foot neuropathy. It’s a neurological condition that left his feet numb. Sometimes they would tingle or burn.“But then the pain was getting to the point that I was losing concentration and sleep, and I decided we need to do more,” says Vecchiotti. “That’s when my primary care physician, working with a compound pharmacist, was able to come up with something that worked.”Vecchiotti is a business consultant in Peterborough. He was...

Telemedicine In New Hampshire Gets Boost

Let’s say you are one of the 904 or so residents of Warren, New Hampshire. Let’s say you get sick. Maybe you just started on a new prescription and are having unwanted side effects.“Today, they have one of two options,” says Shawn Tester, who runs the day-to-day operations at Ammonousuc Community Health Services, which has five primary care clinics in Grafton and Coos County.“They either do without. Or they have to travel, oh, I don’t know, 45 miles to our Littleton office to receive that...

Indictment Arrives For Hepatitis C Suspect

A former hospital employee at the center of a Hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire is facing new federal charges.David Kwiatkowski was arrested in July for stealing syringes filled with pain medication. Officials say he would inject himself and then reuse the needles on patients, infecting at least 30 with Hepatitis C.A Grand Jury has indicted Kwiatkowski on a total of 14 federal charges, including tampering with a consumer product and illegally obtaining controlled substances.He denies the...

Health Policy Gets Reboot After Election

President Obama’s re-election didn’t exactly smooth over implementation of his signature health care law. State governments across the nation maintain a solid level of anxiety over the bill.Concord is no different…lawmakers like Republican Jeb Bradley expect to spend a lot of time grappling with the Affordable Care Act’s key provisions.“The biggest single issue that this legislature in the upcoming two years will face is the expansion of Medicaid.”Bradley, who by the way prefers the term...

State Looks For New Tools To Battle Prescription Drug...

Prescription drug abuse experts unveiled a new tool today to help lower opioid misuse in the state.That new tool is a website containing information for doctors describing safe prescribing techniques and standards for pain management.Dr. Seddon Savage, a chronic pain and addiction specialist at Dartmouth, says the cycle of abuse can start with a well-intentioned prescription.“Often, opioids are prescribed for pain treatment. But people find it helps them sleep better, their mood feels a...

Capturing Grace

Afew years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, writer, producer, and Public Radio host Dave Iverson learned that theMark Morris Dance Group was teaching dance to people with Parkinson's at its Brooklyn headquarters.Dave was touched - and produced a special on the dance group for the PBS Newshour and the PBS series Frontline.More recently, he's rounded up a team of pros to film students preparing for their first public performance. He’s launched a Kickstarter project called...

Patient Privacy Versus Public Health In Court Hearing

A judge heard arguments today in a case involving patient medical records at Exeter Hospital. At issue is just how much access the state needs to investigate an outbreak of Hepatitis C.Back in August, Exeter Hospital filed a protective order arguing the state’s broad request for patient records violates both state and federal privacy laws.In Merrimack Superior court, lawyers for the State countered, saying they have a duty to investigate exactly what happened inside the hospital, and that...

Cooking with Roots!

There is something mysterious about root vegetables…that show of budding, flowering and forming fruit… ripe for the plucking plays out underground. you see the leaves, and maybe the broad shoulders of a beet, but you don’t know what you’ve got until pulling it out of the ground. Once exposed, we know what to do with a potato or carrot, but little about the furtive burdock root, salsify or malanga. Diane Morgan digs deep into the secrets of this nutritious family of foods that are low in...

To Get Kids Eating Vegetables, Get Them Growing...

Any parent can tell you that sweet foods are an easier sell to kids than, say, sprouts or salad. But with more than a quarter of New Hampshirestruggling with obesity, researchers at Keene State College are working on innovative ways to get children as young as three years old hooked on vegetables.Before we talk about today’s finicky eaters, though, lets understand how kids interacted with food tens of thousands of years ago. Back when everyone had a hand in the family’s grocery shopping."If...

Exeter Hospital Calls State Request a 'Government...

In a press conference at Exeter Hospital today, lawyers called the state’s request for broad access to medical records a government overreach. The state continues to investigate the Hepatitis C outbreak.In August, Exeter Hospital filed a protective order in Merrimack Superior Court. It’s seeking to block the state’s request for broad access to patient medical records.On Tuesday, the Attorney General’s office filed a legal response, saying that during a public health investigation, those...

Living with Lyme

Recently, we learned on this program about the other tick-borne pathogens we should be worrying about beyond Lyme Disease. In the meantime, more and more people in New Hampshire are contracting Lyme. It’s a trend we’ve noticed even on Facebook, where many of our friends are posting about their positive test results, including Word of Mouth contributor Adam McCune…so we asked him to share his story.

Mosquitoes Become Latest Public Health Battle

Mosquitoes get West Nile Virus from birds, and then they give it to us. It’s Ryan Naujoks's job to stop that. He works for Dragon Mosquito Control, a private company that municipalities like Derry hire to spray insecticides."I’m at Rider Field right now, and everything is locked up," Naujokssays over the phone. "Rider Field…"Eventually, someone from the Town of Derry comes and unlocks the gates. Naujoks fires up the sprayer.The truck makes a lap around the field emitting a small puff of...

How the State's Public Health Lab Tests for Hepatitis C

State health officials say theyve confirmed another case of hepatitis C related to the outbreak at Exeter Hospital, bringing the total number of infected patients to 32.In a statement today, the Department of Health and Human Services says the patient in question was admitted to Exeter Hospitals cardiac catheterization lab before suspect David Kwiatkowski began working there. But they say the patient was released after Kwiatkowski started his job as a technician.Prosecutors say Kwiatkowski...

Harried by Hep-C in Hospitals

The story of a medical technician charged with infecting at least thirty people at Exeter Hospital has turned into a national concern, with news hed worked in a half-dozen other states, where hospitals are now checking their records and contacting patients. Well get an update and look at what weve learned from this crisis so far.GuestsTodd Bookman - Reporter who has been covering the Hepatitis C story for NHPR.Holly Ramer - Reporter for the Associated Press of New HampshireWell also hear...

A Very Public Choice

Maggie Koerth-Baker is a science journalist, author, and blogger for Boing-Boing, where she usually writes about the convergence of science and technology with culture. But it was a blog she posted recently, which diverged from her typical subject matter, which prompted us to ask her to return as a guest to the program. In it, she shared the very personal story of her miscarriage, and the medical procedure known as a D&C, which, as she explains, is an abortion that lies firmly outside the...

The See All Sample

The expansion of forensic databases by US federal agencies. DNA collection of convicted felons is a well- publicized procedure. Recently released documents reveal that the department of homeland security and other federal agencies will be required to collect DNA from any person over the age of fourteen who has been detained -- regardless of criminal activity -- and that plans to include children under 14 are being explored.

America's First Locavores

Widespread obesity among Native Americans has led to spiking diabetes rates among young people in the current generation. The phenomenon partially blamed on the lack of access to healthy food on reservations.Edible Idahos Guy Hand recently looked at what a food coalition on the coeur dalene reservation of North Idaho is doing to connect the people there to better eating, starting with their nutrient-rich roots.

The “Who Done It” of Vladimir Lenin’s Death

A Soviet news reel shows teary mourners shuffling past the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The Bolshevik leader and chair of the soviet state in its early years died of a he died of an apparent massive stroke in 1924 at age 54. His embalmed corpse still throngs of visitors to his tomb in Moscows Red Square, and was the topic of an annual clinicopathological conference held at the University of Maryland.

Bodegas Become Frontlines Against Obesity

Most people know how we shouldbe eating: more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, fewer candies, fats, and calories. But putting that into practice can be tough.When you walk into the convenience store and a bag of potatoes chips is a dollar, and a salad is six, which are you going to buy?

Pudgy Kids, Anemic Policies

A new investigative report from Reuters says that the WhiteHouse has fallen woefully short in the battle against childhood bulge.

Green People

Many climate scientists argue weve passed the point of being able to slow down Co2 emissions that contribute to greenhouse gasses. A few advocates for mammoth scale geo-engineering to alter the earths climate.

Lifestyle, As a Cancer Preventative

Adjusting to the shift...at home

Holyoke, Massachusetts has a rate of childhood obesity much higher than the national average, especially within its considerable Puerto Rican community.