July 30th, 2010
Podcast 96: Survivors of childhood cancer face manageable reproductive risks.
What becomes of children who survive cancer treatment and enter their reproductive years? Would their attempts to have children end in a higher-than-normal rate of stillbirths and miscarriages? Apparently not. It turns out the major concern is with women who’ve undergone pelvic irradiation before menarche. That treatment seems to hobble uterine development, but not irretrievably. For […]
June 25th, 2010
Podcast 93: Is computed tomography safe? Yes, but …
That’s the question asked in an intriguing essay — by a radiologist — released online in the New England Journal of Medicine. We have her as our guest this week. Feedback, please! You can comment here or by emailing me at jelia@jwatch.org — or better still, call 1-617-440-4374. Interview-related links: Rebecca Smith-Bindman’s essay Radiation doses from common CT […]
January 29th, 2010
Podcast 72: A conversation about two new drugs for multiple sclerosis.
We’ve got Dr. William Carroll this week — we tried last week, but the 13-hour time difference between Boston and Perth just stymied me. Dr. Carroll speaks about his NEJM editorial concerning two new drugs for multiple sclerosis. Both are oral therapies that work to keep lymphocytes at bay in this disease. Interview-story link: MS Treatments Said […]
February 8th, 2009
Podcast 29: Dr. Brian Jack of Boston University sees RED (Re-Engineered Discharge) as a way to lower hospital readmissions.
Millions of people are discharged each year from U.S. hospitals. How many find themselves on the street with no clear idea of what they’ve been treated for, what drugs they should take and when, and how to get in touch with a clinician if something goes wrong? No surprise, many are readmitted — either directly […]