Bob Barrett

Over the past decade there have been an explosion of new laboratory tests for disease plus a steady movement to electronic health records.  At least in the developed world.  In countries where resources are scarce there is little to no health infrastructure in place.  But the answer to some of those issues may be sitting in your pocket.  On today’s Health Show we’ll hear how cell phones are being transformed into mobile labs.

There’s always been a conventional way to get an education.  You go to kindergarten, then grammar school, then high school, then college.  Then it’s off to the workplace, hope you enjoyed the ride, watch your step...have a nice day.  But with economic times being as dodgy as they’ve been over the past five years, that convention has been broken...at least when it come to college.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear how the non-traditional student is the new normal.

Plus we spend an academic minute teaching old dogs news tricks.  Young ones, too.

David Goldhill is president and chief executive officer of G-S-N, The Game Show Network.  He is also an author and crusader for a consumer based universal health care system.  After the  death of his father, Goldhill, began a personal exploration of a health-care industry that for years has delivered poor service and irregular quality at astonishingly high cost. On today’s Health Show we’ll here from David Goldhill about his book
“Catastrophic Care: How American Health Care Killed My Father--and How We Can Fix It”

Teaching history can be daunting.  I mean, where do you start?  Even if you narrow it down to American history, there are so many stories that even the best teachers can only scratch the surface.  That’s what makes the “Don’t Know Much About...” book series so much fun.  Author Ken Davis takes a topic, like the presidents of the United States, and leaves you with information you didn’t know you didn’t know. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, a conversation with Davis about his book about the POTUSes.

Plus we spend an academic minute with a few negative ads.

There are times when you listen to The Health Show and every feature flows into the next with a clear theme and obvious plan.  Well not today.  On today’s Health Show it’s four different feature on four different topics, none of which have anything to do with the other.

First we’ll hear about the growing tread of males becoming family care givers.

Then advise from the NIH: get up and do something...anything.

We’ll hear how many people in our gadget obsessed culture need a digital detox.

And commentary from our friend Judah

When you switch on your computer in the morning, what’s the first page you see.  For millions, that home page is Google...and the first thing they notice is the Google Doodle.  Now students are being asked to design there own Google Doodle for a nice scholarship. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll get details of the contest.

We’ll also hear how budget cut backs have changed the lives of some teachers in Chicago, attend a training session for emergency room personnel and spend an academic minute learning about a rare condition that affects a child’s coordination.

Here’s one of those statements of indisputable fact that you love so much: nobody’s eye sight gets better as they age.  There have been recent advances in eye care research that are helping more people keep their sight longer.  On today’s Health Show, a talk about your eyes.

We’ll also learn how being born deaf affects your sense of touch.  And we’ll visit with a pain specialist who has some very good advice about concussions.

Many of us are still trying to make some kind of sense out of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  Perhaps that’s impossible.  But in the days after the shooting people swarmed into the town to try and help. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from a Red Cross volunteer who went to Newtown the day after the shootings.

We’ve had nasty flu seasons before...but this year is turning out to be something especially gruesome.  The season started about a month early and there is now widespread flu in 47 states.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll talk to a flu expert from the Mayo Clinic about this years strain of the flu, and what you can do to stay healthy.

And while we’re talking about seasons...we’re in the heat of the football playoff season, so it’s a good time to hear from a doctor and author who says you should treat your health care like a team sport.

Remember correspondence schools?  That’s when you used to be able to take courses through the mail for complete a diploma or learn a trade.   Well people don’t use the mail for much anymore...they use the internet.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll learn about virtual schools and how a northeastern state preparing for their growth.

We’ll also hear from a student who’s welcoming everyone to her personal jungle in her new a book.  Then it’s off to California for a visit to a traditional Mexican music school.  And we’ll spend an academic minute with out of tune banjos.

Most of the time on this program, I feel like I can hold my own in most discussions.  There are some topics however.  Take menopause.  Whenever we talk about this part of a woman’s life I feel like half the audience is saying “yeah, what do you know about it”.  That’s why I call on smart people to help me.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll talk about menopause, or, most accurately, perimenopause.

Little green men.  Robots with ray guns on their arms.  Klingons!  These are just a few examples of fictional life in outer space.  But, if you were given all the facts and numbers about another world, could you come up with a story about what life would be like up there?  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll talk to some student short story authors who turned facts and a good imagination into prize winning stories.

We’ll also spend an academic minute in a place we have a few more facts about...the oceans.

Nobody has ever won an election by saying that Medicare is bad.  In fact, people who say that tend to lose elections by large numbers.  So, it’s no surprise that in a recent survey, 98 per cent of adults 18 or older said that Medicare is important to American’s health in retirement.  But what about the health of Medicare itself?  On today’s Health Show, we are going to be joined by two representatives of  A.A.R.P.  and  talk about the future of Medicare and Social Security...and what A.A.R.P.  is doing to support their members.

Anybody in the mood for an old fashioned, year-end best of show?  Good, because you’ve just tuned into one.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll take another listen to some of our most interesting stories of the past year.

We’ll learn about a school in Brooklyn that uses Applied Behavioral Analysis to help teach children with autism.  Hear the frustrations of teachers trying to advance their careers in a tough political and economic climate.  And find out about a computer that is making to move from games shows to clinical labs.

You meet the most interesting people doing a show on health every week.  Some are brilliant, some are funny and some...you just want to take home with you and introduce them to mom.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll visit one more time with some of the most interesting people we ran across this year.

We’ll hear from a pair of brothers who both needed heart transplants, talk to a New York actress who turned a life altering accident into a one woman show...and get some more words of wisdom about weight loss from our friend Sandy D.

Every year on The Health Show we hear about new conditions and treatments that shape the world of health care and point it new directions.  But with everything that’s new one thing remains constant: heart disease is going to kill a whole lot of us.

On today’s Health Show, we’ll rerun a conversation we had last February with a pair of heart specialists who published a complete guide to heart health in 2012.

We’ll also welcome back our friend Judah Leblang who found out about his own heart history this year.

When they were first introduced, and it wasn’t all that long ago, antibiotics were hailed as miracle drugs.  They still are.  But strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria have been fighting back against these particular miracles for some time now...and the problem is worse in certain areas.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll find out how bacteria learns to fight antibiotics...and where the most resistant bugs are hanging out.

How free is free speech on America’s college campuses?  There are some schools that seriously restrict speech and expression and there are some that feel it’s leading to a less tolerant society.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from a first amendment lawyer about the state of free speech on campus.

We’ll also hear how the number of women graduating with science degrees is leading to rise in the number of women in the lab.

And we’ll spend an Academic Minute finding out what they’re looking at in those labs.

During the presidential election season there was a lot of talk about illegal aliens.  Well, get ready...we’re about to talk about aliens again...but the other kind, the ones from outer space. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, our astro-biology series returns with a look at the search for extraterrestrial life, and what finding it might mean for our society.

Then we’ll spend an Academic Minute taking a look at a very different kind of aliens species...one that is already having consequences here on Earth.

We’re going to start today’s show with one of those obvious statements you love so much: A stroke is a medical emergency.  The faster you recognize that you or someone you are with is having a stroke, the better the chance of survival.  Not everyone does.  Stroke is the forth biggest killer in the US and the number one cause of long term disability.  On today’s Health Show we’ll hear about the latest methods of turning stroke victims into stroke survivors.

Nobody who has ever read Moby Dick is going to walk away thinking Captain Ahab was a well adjusted specimen.  And Ahab may have fewer issues than some of Melville’s other characters.  Now, English Lit students are trying to diagnose just what the heck was going on with those classic characters. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, diagnosing literature.

Then we’ll hear about a number of NIH grants to study autism, find out how Sallie Mae can help you get the most bang for your college buck...and spend an Academic Minute getting out the youth vote.

Nobody who has ever read Moby Dick is going to walk away thinking Captain Ahab was a well adjusted specimen.  And Ahab may have fewer issues than some of Melville’s other characters.  Now, English Lit students are trying to diagnose just what the heck was going on with those classic characters. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, diagnosing literature.

Then we’ll hear about a number of NIH grants to study autism, find out how Sallie Mae can help you get the most bang for your college buck...and spend an Academic Minute getting out the youth vote.

Ever since the establishment of our democracy, citizens of the United States have demonstrated both pleasure and disgust with their government by exercising their right to vote.

Remember the story of Johnny Appleseed...the man who legend says roaming the country planting his seeds wherever he went?  Well, Janisse Ray isn’t roaming the country planting seeds, she’s touring colleges and universities talking about the importance of saving different varieties of seeds before they are lost forever. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from Janisse about The Seed Underground.

Penn State, Syracuse University, the Catholic Church...these are just a few...the most publicized institutions that have been scandalized by child sex abuse.  Many of the abusers have been caught and put in jail.  But does that bring closure to the men who were abused?  On today’s Health Show, we’ll speak to a psychotherapist about the emotional health issues facing male survivors of child sex abuse.

Remember the story of Johnny Appleseed...the man who legend says roaming the country planting his seeds wherever he went?  Well, Janisse Ray isn’t roaming the country planting seeds, she’s touring colleges and universities talking about the importance of saving different varieties of seeds before they are lost forever. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from Janisse about The Seed Underground.

It’s no secret that obesity continues to be one of the most pressing health problems in the US...and researchers are continuing to study the problem.  What’s to study, eat less and exercise, right?  Well, sometimes it goes deeper than that.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll talk to a clinical scientist about the chemistry of obesity.

We’ll also hear about the science of sleep and sleep deprivation by someone who was on a quest to understand his own sleeping disorder.