Radio Health Journal
Each week, Radio Health Journal breaks down important news in medicine, science and technology with the help of world-renowned experts. Our three weekly segments will help guide you to a happier, healthier life – with some fun facts to share at dinner parties. Can magic mushrooms cure your depression? Have we outrun natural selection?
Hosted by Elizabeth Westfield, Greg Johnson and Maayan Voss de Bettancourt and produced by Kristen Farrah and Amirah Zaveri. New shows posted each Sunday by 5 a.m. EST. Subscribe, listen, and rate. If you’re looking for older episodes, you can find our entire segment catalog on our website radiohealthjournal.org. Also, check out the latest on Facebook and Instagram @radiohealthjournal and on X @RadioHealthJrnl.
526
How Warfare Destroys Healthcare
According to the Geneva Convention and other agreements, health facilities and workers are supposed to be protected from the violence of war. However, they’re targeted much more often than most people know. A noted expert in the field discusses how...
10 min
527
Medical Notes: Week of January 30, 2022
A study finds that increased demand for plastic is doing more damage to both humans and our environment than we thought. Then, car crashes involving pot consumption have doubled over the last 20 years. A study finds that sitting around more is a big...
2 min
528
The Sleepiest Workers? Your Local Police
Studies show that law enforcement is the most sleep deprived of all professions, with potentially damaging and even fatal consequences for decision-making and reaction time, as well as long-term health damage. Experts discuss the unique challenges in...
15 min
529
Pet Food: Not As Simple As Most People Think
A growing number of pet owners are tempted to put their dog or cat on vegan, gluten-free or raw diets. An expert pet nutritionist and veterinarian discusses what pets should and shouldn’t eat to be healthy.
8 min
530
Medical Notes: Week of January 23, 2022
Study at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center shows that a 4th shot increases antibodies fivefold within a week. A new study shows the stigma of depression is lessening. Plus, a new survey finds that not everyone feels invited to the table when it comes to...
2 min
531
Weather Disaster Cleanup: Costly & Inefficient,...
Severe life-threatening weather, such as the rare December tornadoes that tore through Kentucky and other states in December, 2021, will likely become more frequent with climate change. Experts discuss the difficulties in cleaning up large scale...
14 min
532
The Link Between Obesity and Cancer
Studies are finding that obesity significantly increases a person’s risk for a variety of cancers. However, not all forms of fat carry equal risk. An expert discusses who is more at risk and why. Learn more at:
10 min
533
Medical Notes: Week of January 16, 2022
About 25% of pregnant women have skipped taking care of their health needs due to cost. A new machine learning platform can analyze a short video clip created while taking selfies and accurately predict whether the person is at risk of Parkinson’s...
2 min
534
Can 911 Respond To Mental Health Crises?
Up to 15 percent of calls to 911 involve people having a mental health breakdown, yet many call centers, especially in rural areas, have no one with any training on what to do or who to dispatch in those cases. Typically they send police, who may also...
14 min
535
Children’s “Psychotic-Like Experiences”
Children and young adolescents may experience perceptual distortions or strange thoughts, but if they become frequent and disruptive, they can be an early tipoff to serious future mental health distress. An expert discusses this new field of mental...
10 min
536
Medical Notes: Week of January 9, 2022
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 may flame out as quickly as it rose. Then, a new study shows that traditional books are making a come-back. And finally, your microwave could be making your dog really anxious.
1 min
537
Hoarding Disorder: More Than Just Too Much Junk
Hoarding disorder affects at least five percent of Americans, and despite TV programs showing its effects, it is still widely misunderstood. Experts discuss the danger hoarding poses to others, including neighbors, children, and first responders; why...
14 min
538
Dealing With Lifelong Disease
Life-threatening, lifelong chronic diseases from infancy are at the top of the list of medical challenges. A woman who has dealt with cystic fibrosis her entire life discusses how mindset is often the biggest factor in living a full life with such a...
9 min
539
Medical Notes: Week of January 2, 2022
A new finds that patients showing up at rural hospital ERs have extremely similar outcomes compared to patients in urban-area ERs. Then, new research sheds light on why more girls don't go into STEM. Plus, pandemic depression linked to sitting and...
1 min
540
Advances That May Eliminate Scarring
Scars are a public health as well as aesthetic threat, as internal scars can compromise the function of organs and tissues. Scientists are now devising medications that promote healing without producing scars. One of the scientists on the front lines...
11 min
541
Saving Preschool Education
Preschool teachers have left the profession in huge numbers, closing some schools and threatening others. With nowhere to safely leave their children, millions of people are unable to return to work, sabotaging economic recovery. An expert discusses...
13 min
542
Medical Notes: Week of December 26, 2021
Some theories claim that Covid-19 was created in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, but a study now has turned up more evidence confirming the wet market theory. Plus, what restaurants and supermarkets you have in your neighbor can predict your health. And...
1 min
543
Easing the Opioid Epidemic
Drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 Americans in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, as pressures built and users sometimes had to get their fix from unfamiliar sources. Experts discuss how the pandemic cost lives beyond COVID, and how...
15 min
544
New Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Category
Many people who need hearing aids never get them, in part because they currently require a prescription and expensive treatment. An expert discusses the FDA’s new proposed category of over-the-counter hearing aids which should be within reach of...
9 min
545
Medical Notes: Week of December 19, 2021
Johns Hopkins says we're a lot better off than we were last year at this time. Plus, you may be getting a lot of gift cards as presents for the holidays due to supply chain issues. And finally, a study finds that you can decontaminate used face masks...
1 min
546
The Damage of Too Little Sleep
Getting less than six hours of sleep per night has long been known to be hazardous to health, but the discovery of the mechanisms behind those hazards is leading scientists to strengthen their warnings. Too little sleep or poor sleep carries heart and...
13 min
547
Building the Covid Vaccine
The vaccine for Covid-19 was developed with record speed while still following required safety protocols. A noted investigative reporter discusses the development process he uncovered for his exhaustive book and explains why the hundreds of interviews...
10 min
548
Medical Notes: Week of December 12, 2021
An antidepressant called Fluvoxamine significantly reduces the chance someone getting Covid would need hospitalization. Match.com dating survey finds singles today are seeking emotional maturity rather than looks. STING drug shown to be an effective...
2 min
549
When TBI's Change Personality
Traumatic brain injury can profoundly change the injured in personality and temperament, as well as physically and cognitively. Spouses bear the brunt of these changes to the point many feel like they’re living with a stranger. Two experts and the...
16 min
550
Medical Notes: Week of December 5, 2021
Triple negative breast cancers have an especially poor prognosis… and now an analysis finds that black women have a higher risk for these kinds of cancer than previously known. Then, online dating violence begins at an early age—as early as age...
1 min