| Show Number |
Air Week |
Title |
Program Description |
| SHOW #122 |
October 26, 1997 |
Endoscopic Ultrasound |
This technology combines ultrasound imaging, which penetrates tissue to
provide a visual image, with endoscopy, which uses a tiny television camera attached to a
long tube to peer deep inside the body. The combination gives doctors a powerful new
method of diagnosing certain cancers. Another technique called fine-needle aspiration
allows the immediate biopsy of suspicious tissue. All this adds up to a diagnostic system
that can detect some cancers earlier, less invasively, more accurately, and with reduced
pain and recovery time. The downside is that it requires a great deal of expertise and
specialized training. Endoscopic ultrasound is reportedly available presently at about 150
hospitals across the country. CONTACT: Katherine DiFonso, Public Relatons, University of
California - Irvine, (714)456-7679 |
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EVERYDAY BREAKTHROUGH: Thalidomide |
The infamous drug thalidomide was banned in 1962 after over 12,000 babies
were born with profound birth defects. Now, new uses have been found for the compound,
including relief of mouth pain and wasting suffered by AIDS patients, as well as treatment
of leprosy, lupus, and even brain tumors. It has recently been recommended for approval
under strict controls by an Advisory Panel to the FDA. CONTACT: Dr. David Wohl, UNC
Department of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
(919)966-2536 |
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Compassion Training |
Programs now exist at medical schools across the country designed to
teach medical students the art of effective and compassionate communication with their
patients. Duke University's Standardized Patient Program has been one of the most
innovative. Actors and actresses are rehearsed in the roles of patients with specific
medical problems, and complicated lives. They appear in an interview setting with
students, who must ask the right questions and behave appropriately to elicit the
information they need to arrive at the right diagnosis. The idea is to remind students to
consider the whole person, rather than treating patients as "walking lists of
symptoms." CONTACTS: Becky Levine, Public Affairs, Duke University Medical Center,
(919)684-4148; Joan Tetel-Hanks, Director, Standardized Patient Program, (919)681-8652 |
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BREAKTHROUGH PROFILES: Dr. Emil Frei |
Dr. Frei and his colleagues have been working on acute lymphocytic
leukemia since the 1950's. Previously, children diagnosed with this highly aggressive form
of childhood leukemia uniformly succumbed within five or six weeks. Today, the survival
rate is nearly eighty percent. Dr. Frei is Physician and Chief Emeritus of the Dana Farber
Cancer Institute, and is the Richard and Susan Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine
at Harvard Medical School. CONTACT: Karen Cummings, Dana Farber Cancer Institute,
(617)632-5675 |
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| SHOW #123 |
November 2, 1997 |
TIME Magazine 'Heroes of Medicine': Dr. Charles Berde |
Dr. Berde is Director of the Pain Treatment Service at Boston's
Children's Hospital, and is one of the world's leading authorities on children's pain. He
has devoted his career both to clinical practice, helping to alleviate and manage pain in
pediatric patients, and to research into improved methods of doing so.This profile piece
on Dr. Berde is presented in conjunction with the "Heroes of Medicine" special
edition of TIME Magazine. Dr. Berde and his colleagues have also developed a long-acting
local anesthetic, currently in clinical trials, which could make a significant
contribution to surgical recovery. CONTACT: Liz Cohen, Public Affairs, Children's
Hospital, Boston, (617)355-6420, ext. 5938
To access a full-length interview with Dr. Berde, click here |
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EVERYDAY BREAKTHROUGH: Kid-Friendly ER |
A new trend in emergency care is the establishment of Children's
Emergency Rooms, tailored to the unique wants and needs of kids. This piece profiles the
new facility at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, NC CONTACT: Kylie Meyer Snyder, Public
Relations, Wake Medical Center, (919)250-7975 |
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PDP Asthma |
This story profiles the Pediatric Day Program for young asthma patients
and their families at National Jewish Hospital in Denver. At the PDP, participants learn
the latest methods of managing their asthma, controlling the disease, rather than letting
the disease control them. Asthma is a disease in which education can be the best medicine
of all, as there is a wide variety of techniques for keeping the condition at bay.
Research has shown that the PDP can help significantly reduce patients' health care
utilization, which implies fewer acute attacks and improved quality of life. CONTACTS:
Jordan Gruener, Public Relations, National Jewish Hospital, (303)398-1002; Asthma
information is available from: American Lung Association, (800)LUNG-USA, web site: www.lungusa.org; also Asthma & Allergy
Network/Mothers of Asthmatics, Inc., (800)878-4403, web site: www.podi.com/health/aanma |
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| SHOW #124 |
November 9, 1997 |
TIME Magazine 'Heroes of Medicine': Dr. Keith Black |
Dr. Black is head of the new Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art treatment center specializing in brain
cancer. He is one of the foremost neurosurgeons in the country, and at age 39 is also one
of the leading researchers in the field, having published over 100 scientific papers. He
is deeply committed to his clinical and surgical work, and is passionate about the goal of
eventually finding a cure for brain cancer. He has pioneered breakthrough research in the
areas of overcoming the blood-brain barrier to allow delivery of tumor-killing drugs to
the brain, genetically altering proteins to develop a brain tumor vaccine, and using radio
waves to destroy tumors. CONTACT: Roberta Nichols, Public Relations, Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center, (310) 855-4647. Full-length interview with Dr. Black |
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EVERYDAY BREAKTHROUGHS: Boxers' Dementia |
Professional boxers are often struck with dementia as a result of
repeated blows to the head. Amateur boxers, who are required to wear headgear in the ring,
do not experience as much trauma to the head. Dr. Larry Lewis, Director of the Division of
Emergency Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is studying
the effects of repeated blows to the unprotected head. In his lab, professional boxers
throw their best punches at and artificial head equipped with sensors. The research is
also designed to test the amount of protection given by various types of headgear.
CONTACT: Joni Westerhouse, Director for Medical Communications, Office of Medical Public
Affairs, Washington University School of Medicine, (314)286-0120 |
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Gulf War Syndrome |
Gulf War Syndrome is an affliction mired in mystery and controversy ever
since veterans of the 1991 conflict began reported a variety of health problems soon after
their return from duty. Many have dismissed the condition as no more than the typical
post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by a certain percentage of soldiers returning
from battle zones. But the veterans and their families have adamently insisted there's
more to it than that. Now, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center at Dallas, and at Duke University Medical Center, have provided scientific support
for the thesis that there is a physiological basis to Gulf War Syndrome. They have
identified three specific neurological conditions they say were caused by exposure to
certain combinations of chemicals - not only chemical nerve agents, but also flea collars,
insect repellents, and even petrochemicals. CONTACTS: Veterans & families:
1-800-PGW-VETS; General: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,
(214)648-0000, website: http://www.swmed.edu |
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