Sound Medicine

Sound Medicine 10-10-10

This week, the benefits of palliative care; slowing the progress of macular degeneration; bogus anti-aging claims; a history of osteopathic medicine; and a positive approach for kicking the tobacco habit.

Sound Medicine 09-26-10

This week, multi-organ transplants; an accurate test for Alzheimer's disease; acupuncture for cancer pain; and the second part of our interview with the author of The Youth Pill. Also, Dr. Larry Cripe's latest Grace Notes essay. And how asymmetric organs know how grow left -- or right.

Sound Medicine 09-12-10

This week, a prediction for the 2010 healthcare bill in the face of midterm elections; physicians in Haiti; measuring radiation exposure from common medical tests; and an interview with a Charlottesville pediatrician who makes housecalls. Also, are human personalities fixed? And, how naps help us learn.

Sound Medicine 08-29-10

This week the theme is patient safety. First, medical simulations benefit medical students and their future patients; next, what the healthcare industry can learn from the airline industry; also, how medical professionals can coordinate to provide safer care. In the Checkup this week, get the scoop on those phantom cellphone vibrations.

Sound Medicine 08-15-10

Keeping young athletes hydrated during hot weather is the top story this week. Also, uninsured patients have higher death rates; budget cuts to county health departments; and helping third-world newborns breathe. And, Barbara Lewis talks to an optometrist about the safety of "anime eyes" contact lenses. In the Sound Medicine Checkup, stroking a rats whisker can prevent a stroke in the animal.

Sound Medicine 08-01-10

This week, mandates for free preventive health services; improving patient care at cancer centers; depression during pregnancy; medications during pregnancy; and encouraging doctors to report medical errors. Also, the healthiest type of rice. And one instance in which marriage does not increase life expectancy.

Sound Medicine 7-18-10

This week, teaching healthcare costs in medical school; a new way to treat diabetes-induced blindness; a virus that causes prostate cancer; and a book about a doctor who treats chronic drug addicts. Also, where you reside affects how much you exercise.

Sound Medicine 07-04-10

This week we re-broadcast some recent favorite stories: a study that claims computerizing hospitals does not save money; new NFL rules for concussions; exercises to prevent ACL injuries in young athletes; high-impact sports for bone health; and an interview with a clinical geneticist, whose primary job is to deliver bad news.

Sound Medicine 06-20-10

This week, at-home care for the elderly; a recent study showing that caregivers are less healthy than their peers; depression may increase incidents of inflammatory disease; and one doctor's experiences in Haiti. Also, why folks over 50 are happier.

Sound Medicine 06-06-10

This week, an Indiana cancer doc makes the Time 100; the feds' patient bill of rights; the pros and cons of a double mastectomy; personalized medicine for breast cancer patients; portrait of the Brain Collection brain bank; and how hand bacteria helps finger criminals.

Sound Medicine 05-23-10

This week, a decline in premature births; how to reduce sodium in our diets; peripheral arterial disease (PAD); medicating mentally ill children; also, high-tech band aids, and why triathlons are riskier than marathons.

Sound Medicine 05-09-10

This week, a newly discovered gene disorder in the Amish community, physicians and social media, and what it's like to grow up with, and grow old with, a disabled sibling. Also, the rising number of births to mothers over 40; and the dangers of third-hand smoke.

Sound Medicine 04-25-10

This week on Sound Medicine: lessons learned from the year's confusing flu season; legislation to improve school lunches; how salamanders regrow limbs; women marathoners and air pollution; and a new way to conduct hospital rounds. Also, can Botox inhibit emotions? And no more smoking on submarines.

Sound Medicine 04-11-10

The watchword this week: patient safety. Learn methods hospitals use to improve patient safety and ways research advocates protect patients involved in clinical trials; also, indoor tanning beds cause skin cancer. In addition, the problem of sodium in our diets and how kung-fu breathing techniques help asthmatic children. Finally, a visit from former co-host Dr. Ora Pescovitz, who discusses the past and future of medicine and health care.

Sound Medicine 03-28-10

This week, the future effects of the new health care law; long-term benefits of sports for girls; benefits of moderate exercise; and in our Patient Listening series, medical students start a scholarship for a fellow student. Also, low-birth weight babies in the USA. And, can you be bored to death?

Sound Medicine 03-14-10

This week, why many elderly hospital patients receive poor care; the safety of soy-based foods for breast cancer patients; and the book, Whirlwinds and Small Voices: Sustaining Commitment to Work with Special-Needs Children. Also the universality of basic human emotions, and a link between ambidexterity and ADHD.

Sound Medicine 02-28-10

On Sound Medicine this week, advice about when to introduce infants to solid food; the under-diagnosis of celiac disease; chlamydia reinfections in teen girls; and why people have problems with destination memory. Also, the science of beauty. And some musings on blood donation.

Sound Medicine 02-14-10

This week, part two of our series on biobanking human tissue; a low-acid diet to prevent osteoporosis; more natural approaches to hormone replacement therapy; and an interview with the author of "Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History and the Wonder of Childbirth." Also, a theory about food cravings and common household chemicals that may affect human fertility.

Sound Medicine 01-31-10

This week, Tanya Froelich on links between prenatal smoking and lead exposure to childhood ADHD; Aaron Carroll on the demise of the healthcare reform bill; Robert Gold discusses his book, The Forensic Pharmacist; Also, in our Patient Listening series, Rich Frankel meets a lung cancer survivor who explains why he kept his diagnosis a secret.

Sound Medicine 01-17-10

This week on Sound Medicine: Computer models predict a large increase in type 2 diabetes cases; dreams as the pre-cursor to human consciousness; a short history of women in medicine; and another Grace Notes essay on the topic of prayer in medicine. Also, needlesticks in medical students and how sleep can be a memory aid.

Sound Medicine 01-03-10

This week on Sound Medicine: IU bioethicist Eric Meslin explains why Darwin's Origin of Species still matters; also, hear reprised interviews with authors of these books: Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?; A Short History of Medicine; and A Brain Wider Than the Sky.

Sound Medicine 12-20-09

Topics this week: research that shows high technology does not cut expenses or improve outcomes for hospitals and doctors' offices; how emergency care workers employ electronic medical records; author of the book Sugarless Plum, a biography of a diabetic ballet dancer; and author of the book Declarations of Dinosaur, about practicing family medicine. We also have another Grace Notes essay by Dr. Larry Cripe.

Sound Medicine 12-06-09

Topics this week: budget cuts threaten a community's water fluoridation program; efforts to improve mental health services for veterans; the difficulties of recruiting volunteers for cancer clinical trials; and the ethics of predictive medical testing. Also, a musical cure for tinnitis.

Sound Medicine 11-22-09

On Sound Medicine this week: marketing smokeless nicotine products; reforming the physician's fee-for-service pay structure; the dog flu and its vaccine; and the book, Smallpox, the Death of a Disease.

Sound Medicine 11-08-09

This week on Sound Medicine, Dr. Aaron Carroll compares the latest House and Senate HC reform bills; Dr. Marcia Shew discusses Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine; 12-year old researcher Brendan O'Neil discovers energy drinks don't work; and Dr. Tim Ford discusses the use of satellite imaging for predicting disease.

Sound Medicine: 10-25-09

Sound Medicine 10-11-09

This week on Sound Medicine topics include the Human Toxome Project; why college athletes are vulnerable to H1N1; similarities among individuals hospitalized with H1N1; why primary care physicians suffer burnout; and humorist Eric Metcalf offers up his favorite home remedies -- and a prediction for the merican health care system.

Sound Medicine 09-27-09

This week, Sound Medicine topics include: Dr. Malaz Boustani on common drugs that can cause cognitive impairment in older adults; Alison Gopnik, PhD, on her book "The Philosophical Baby," which looks at how babies perceive the world; and Dr. Aaron Carroll provides an update on health-care reform legislation. Also, Dr. Joe O'Neil on the Indiana law prohibiting teens from cellphoning while driving.

Sound Medicine 09-13-09

This week on Sound Medicine, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIAID discusses swine flu vaccine clinical trials in children; Dr. Daniel Jernigan of the CDC explains this year's extended flu season; Dr. Ron Ackerman discusses the economics of preventive care; reporter Sandy Roob visits a student-run health clinic in Indianapolis; and sociologist Nina Bambina discusses the advantages of online social networking for seniors.