The Health Show on WAMC

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.

Finding out a loved one has lung cancer is the beginning of a story that almost never ends well.  But once that story’s over, the people left behind often start a new one that tries to capture the spirit of the person they lost.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll hear from a father who lost a daughter and celebrated her life and writings in a book.

We’ll also listen in on a discussion about the disease with a doctor, a survivor and a sister who was left behind.

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.

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.

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.

Prostate cancer isn’t easy.  Not that being diagnosed with cancer is ever easy...but with prostate cancer the treatment options literally go from all to nothing at all.  And sometimes, doing nothing is the best option.  On this week’s Health Show we’ll talk to one of the authors of “Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers”...and try to find out just how much fighting you should do against the disease.

In the past couple of decades a lot of money and effort have gone into the fight against drunk driving...with positive results.  The refrain of “one for the road” is now not taken literally often.  One reason for the success is the ease of testing a driver for alcohol use...a simple roadside breath test.  For some time now, there have been efforts to duplicate that technology to test for drugs other than alcohol.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll hear an evaluation of that technology and hear where it’s already being used.

So, is there ever a time when a doctor might suggest that you get a little more salt in your diet?  It probably won’t come to that, but most salt sold in the US contains Iodine...and for women who are expecting, that’s important.  On today’s Health Show, a look at thyroid issue in pregnant women.

We’ll also meet the new head of a world famous research facility in the Adirondack Mountains...and hear the story of a man in China who took extreme measures to save his wife’s life...and got arrested.