Health Discovered

Krista Kellogg was diagnosed with psoriasis in her 20s. After watching her mother struggle with the condition, she knew it was key to get answers as soon as saw the first signs. She also talks about what it’s like to live with the condition, how treatments have evolved, and why it’s important to build a top-notch care team. Adam Friedman, MD, joins us to discuss how an early diagnosis can help prevent complications down the road.

What does it mean to have clean skin? And does clean skin necessarily mean healthy skin? We speak with James Hamblin, MD, author of Clean: The New Science of Skin and the Beauty of Doing Less, about our gut and skin microbiome, our perception of what it means to be clean, and how maintaining healthy skin starts from the inside.

It can take years to get a psoriatic disease diagnosis, and no one knows that better than Katie Roberts, who waited a decade for doctors to make the call. She shares her diagnosis story and talks about what it’s really like to live with psoriatic disease. We also hear from Elizabeth Ortiz, MD, about the importance of early diagnosis, and why finding the right treatment matters.

In the U.S., Americans waste an estimated nearly $800 billion a year on health care on things like high prices, treatment fraud, and complicated claims. So, what can we do to navigate a tricky system? We talk to Marshall Allen, investigative journalist and author of Never Pay The First Bill, about the ways we overspend on health care, the importance of health literacy, and how to handle sky-high medical bills.

Common skin conditions -- from rashes to skin cancer -- can look very different depending on your skin tone. But are doctors trained to care for some of the more common hair and skin conditions in people of color? We talk to board-certified dermatologist, researcher, and published author Dr. Chesahna Kindred, MD, about the realities behind hair loss, specifically in Black women, and her research into potentially dangerous ingredients in hair products marketed towards ethnic hair. 

It’s a personality buzzword we hear so often today: narcissist. We often use it to refer to someone who's self absorbed, but in reality there's much more going on psychologically. We sit down with W. Keith Campbell, PhD, author of The New Science of Narcissism, to talk about what narcissistic personality disorder actually is, the development of narcissism, and the culture surrounding this disorder.

Unprecedented heat waves drove temperatures to historic highs this summer across the U.S. and Europe. Ollie Jay, PhD, professor and director of the Heat and Health Research Incubator at the University of Sydney in Australia, talks about what our bodies might be facing as temperatures rise and offers suggestions for how to stay cool.

Some 7.5 million people in the US have psoriasis, but white people are diagnosed twice as much as people of color. Could skin tone be a barrier to diagnosis -- and treatment? Alisha Bridges discusses the emotional impact of life with this chronic condition, as well as barriers to treatment she encountered. We also talk to Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, a researcher at Penn Medicine who's dedicated her career to uncovering  -- and dismantling -- healthcare disparities related to skin diseases.

In the U.S., Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Why is this, and what would help save their lives? We speak with Tonya Lewis Lee, co-director and co-producer of the new Hulu documentary Aftershock, about these issues, the women lost to maternal mortality, and their families that are forever changed. 

Related:

How to Advocate for Yourself as a Pregnant Woman of Color

What happens in the brain when we experience addiction? Do some people just have more of an addictive personality than others? We talk with Bret S. Stetka, MD, Medscape's Neurology and Psychiatry editorial director, about different chemical messengers, neurotransmitter networks, our brains' complex reward systems, and the role anticipation plays in addiction.

WebMD is saddened to share that our colleague and guest in this episode, Bret S. Stetka, MD, Medscape editorial director for psychiatry and neurology, died shortly after this episode aired. In addition to his book, A History of the Human Brain, Bret was a frequent contributor to Scientific American and NPR. He will be missed.