Health Beat with Dr. Benita Zahn

Pfizer and Merck are both touting their antiviral drugs still waiting for FDA approval as game-changers for saving lives affected by COVID-19. How do they work, and what about monoclonal antibody treatment by Lilly and Regeneron? Where do they fit in the treatment game? How does all this play out with vaccines? Happy to have Dr. Joe Bertino back, a clinical pharmacologist, he's the editor of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and has more than 30 years of experience in the area of drug development and clinical pharmacology.

Sometimes it seems the advice on what's best to eat for our health is like sands shifting in the desert. So the new guidelines from the American Heart Association are refreshing. It's not a list of dos and don'ts. Rather, it’s guidelines based on generally accepted bet practice. I recently spoke with Dr. Alice Lichtenstein who is a senior scientist and Director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Team at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging through Tuft's University and special advisor to the American Heart Association. 

There is a debilitating leg condition affecting 3 million Americans called chronic venous insufficiency. It's caused when blood pools in the legs because the valves that should prevent this -- insuring our blood circulates properly -- don't work efficiently. Treating this condition more efficiently is under study at Albany Medical Center and Dr. Adriana Laser is here to discuss this. 

We've heard much talk about the pandemic 15 or 20 pounds gained. This is on top of the already growing issue of obesity in this country.  Keep in mind, being overweight increases the odds of gastric esophageal reflux, and with that comes the risk of a potentially deadly cancer. Dr. Matthew McDonald is a bariatric surgeon who recently joined Capital Cardiology. 

Getting and keeping kids active is an ongoing challenge, but one that's being met by Girls on the Run. It's a national non-profit organization providing programming to strengthen third to eighth grade girls' social, emotional, physical, and behavioral skills with the ultimate goal of helping them to successfully navigate life. In short, it helps to empower them. Sarah Smith Syden in the executive director of Girls on the Run Capital Region and my Health Beat guest. 

As we move into cold and flu season with COVID-19 concerns lingering, how would you like to pile high a plate of immunity? Yes, there are foods we can eat to boost our defenses against illness. Jill Edwards, director of education for the T. Coline Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, is here with that healthy recipe. 

More than 1 million people per year are affected by an eye injury and 90% of these injuries could have been prevented had the individuals been wearing protective eyewear. October is Eye Injury Prevention Month. So as we wrap up this month, I've invited optometrist Mike DiNapoli from DiNapoli Opticians to share some prevention pointers. 

A sweeping change to longstanding recommendation about the use of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack. Who does this impact and why the change? Cardiologist Dr. Lance Sullenberger is my guest to explain. 

 Are you tired all the time? Perhaps it's time to rethink how you're sleeping and resting. As bestselling author Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith writes in her book “Sacred Rest,” there are seven types of rest.