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.
1101
Personality and Drug Abuse
Drug and alcohol addiction and abuse is rising. Researchers have found that “fear mongering” educational efforts to combat it in adolescents doesn’t work. New science has discovered that certain personality types are predictably predisposed to...
16 min
1102
Smart Roads
In the near future, cars will be able to provide data as well as receive it, and a variety of methods are being researched to tap into this. Experts explain how cars can communicate with roads, traffic signals and central computers, and how roads...
17 min
1103
Medical Notes: Week of December 23, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of December 23, 2018 including: The reason for a decline of American lifespans, a study explaining why waiting a year between the birth of 1 child lowers complications, and finally if your desk is a mess, your co-workers...
1 min
1104
Little People, Disability and the Prospect of "...
Many people with dwarfism also face skeletal abnormalities which can lead to disability. Experts, all little people themselves, discuss major causes of dwarfism, the hurdles they create, the struggle for respect, and the prospect of treatments that...
12 min
1105
Amnesia
It's a rare thing for people to lose their memory of past events. An expert discusses why doctors believe it may occur, and a woman to whom it happened recounts her experience.
17 min
1106
Medical Notes: Week of December 16, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of December 16, 2018 including: Studies showing neither aspirin, nor omega 3 fish oil supplements help during a heart attack. Then, health issues related to inflammation and grief and finally, people with ADHD being...
1 min
1107
Avoiding Food Waste
During the holidays, leftovers from gatherings and parties may threaten to take over the refrigerator. An expert discusses consumer-friendly how-to’s, including how to read labels, that can lengthen food life and help avoid food waste.
12 min
1108
The Good and Bad of Medical Crowdfunding (2018)
Medical campaigns account for a third of monies raised on crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, and many people who’ve fallen through the holes of the safety net have been helped this way. But new studies show that fraud is rampant in crowdfunding, with...
16 min
1109
Medical Notes: Week of December 9, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of December 9, 2018 including: The increase in skin cancer deaths among men, a higher heart attack risk due to an immune molecule called IL-17, and finally, changes to diagnosing pain levels using EEG.
1 min
1110
Party Food Safety
During the holidays, party foods are a prime source of food-borne illness. Two food scientists discuss common ways foods become contaminated, some of the myths of food contamination, and ways to keep foods safe when you have guests to protect.
12 min
1111
ICU Inefficiency
With monitors surveying every part of patients’ bodies, hospital intensive care units appear to be a model of high tech. But systems engineers say ICU’s are actually models of inefficiency because few of those high tech devices talk to each other....
17 min
1112
Medical Notes: Week of December 2, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of December 2, 2018 including: A study indicating how ramping up exposure to peanuts can make it safer for kids with allergies. Then, the increase of multigenerational households, and why volunteering to help out co-workers...
1 min
1113
Implicit Biases in Science
Most people think of science as fact-based and not as subject to bias as the rest of the world. However, studies show that gender bias is rampant in science, and that women are not taken as seriously as men, even with identical qualifications. Experts...
12 min
1114
Fungal Sinusitis
Many people who have chronic recurrent sinusitis may have an allergic reaction to fungi rather than a bacterial infection. Treatments for the two are completely different, and in some cases, fungal sinusitis can be life threatening. Two experts and a...
16 min
1115
Medical Notes: Week of November 25, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of November 25, 2018 including: the cost of non-fatal injuries annually, a possibly cause to scoliosis, why volunteering to help out a co-worker isn't always a good thing, and finally, what kind of person swears the most?
1 min
1116
Open Offices
Companies instituting open offices without walls often claim they improve collaboration and interaction. Studies now show that the opposite is true—that workers put on headphones and interact via email rather than in person in order to shut out...
12 min
1117
School Based Mental Health
Schools would be a good place for programs to screen for mental health issues in students, and to educate about mental health to lessen the pervasive stigma. Some states are making programs mandatory, but elsewhere schools and personnel may resist,...
16 min
1118
Medical Notes: Week of November 18, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of November 18, 2018 including the connection between the appendix and Parkinson's Disease, plus asthma related issues due to obesity, third generation households, and finally, makers of smoke alarms may be thinking of...
1 min
1119
Emotional Support Animals
A woman who suffered abuse as a child describes the mental health benefits of owning a dog, and an expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act discusses requirements for emotional support animals.
10 min
1120
Reporting "Bad Parents"
Just about anyone can report a parent to a child abuse hotline. It’s meant to protect children, but all too often, parents are reported when no abuse or neglect exists in order to retaliate for a divorce or some other grievance. And though the world...
16 min
1121
Medical Notes: Week of November 11, 2018
Medical Notes for the week of November 11, 2018 including doctors pinpointing the gene at fault for AML. Plus, obesity links tied to asthma, immaturity being mistaken for ADHD, and finally vitamin gum and it's benefits.
1 min
1122
Leprosy in the Modern Era
Thanks in part to its Biblical past, the disfiguring disease leprosy carries more stigma than most diseases. We hear little about it today, but it still exists, and because it’s now treatable, often the stigma is worse than the disease. An expert...
12 min
1123
MDMA for PTSD
People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder often can’t face their trauma, which is necessary for psychotherapy to work. It is a big reason PTSD is so difficult to treat. Scientists are leading clinical trials into the use of the banned...
17 min
1124
The Surprising Importance of Tickling
Tickling is a unique application of the sense of touch that surprisingly has developmental and cultural importance. Experts discuss the science and sociology of tickling.
12 min
1125
The Psychology of Adopted People
People who are adopted have more psychological problems than others, yet they also tend to have other psychological strengths. Experts, both themselves also adoptees, discuss the roots and outcomes of these issues as adopted children grow up.
15 min