To kick off the new year, Courtney Allison speaks with sports cardiologist Dr. Sonia Tolani about how we can set ourselves up for success with our resolutions around fitness. She describes which forms of exercise are recommended for improving our long term health, why focusing on exercise is more important than focusing on weight loss, and how much it can help to bring along others on our fitness journey.

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We’re taking a break for the holidays. New episodes of Health Matters will return in January. For the holiday break, we are republishing one of this year’s most impactful episodes: 

Faith Salie talks with Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl, a gastroenterologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia. He’s also the Director of Clinical Research at Columbia’s Celiac Disease Center, and an expert on the connections between gastrointestinal health and the other systems in our body that rely on good digestion for their function. He describes how GI diseases like Celiac have implications for mental health, and what anyone can do to support their digestive health.

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This week our host, Faith Salie, talks to NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine endocrinologist Dr. Rekha Kumar, about the effects of sugar and artificial sweeteners on our health, recommendations to moderate sugar intake, and how to navigate the holiday season’s plethora of sweets and treats.

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For Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, Faith Salie talks to Dr. Silky Pahlajani, a behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine who specializes in Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Pahlajani describes how Alzheimer’s is diagnosed, what it really means in the body, and the reasons why Alzheimer's is more significant in women than in men. They also discuss why it’s important to challenge ourselves, learn new things, and strengthen our brain health at any age.

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NewYork-Presbyterian Managing Editor Courtney Allison speaks with Dr. Warren Ng, a psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, who shares the health impacts of loneliness. Dr. Ng provides ways to strengthen our connections when we’re feeling lonely and gives tips on how to navigate loneliness during the holiday season.

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NewYork-Presbyterian Managing Editor Courtney Allison talks to psychologist Dr. Robert Leahy from Weill Cornell Medicine. He helps define regret and dives into its many manifestations. He shows us how this messy emotion can be used, believe it or not, to our advantage. He provides insight on how to reframe regret from rumination and despair into productive ways of thinking by forming healthy habits and focusing on goals, rather than just feelings.

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This week our host Faith Salie is joined by registered dietician Jamie Leskowitz, and endocrinologist Dr. Judith Korner, from NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia, to discuss the highly buzzed about obesity and weight loss medications like Ozempic and WeGovy. They break down how these medications work, who benefits most from them, and the side effects to be aware of.

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This week, Courtney Allison speaks with sports cardiologist, Dr. Sonia Tolani, who explains how exercise changes the heart. These changes are easy to see in elite athletes, Dr. Tolani gives a behind-the-scenes look at the screening process for athletes to ensure their safety in high-level competition. She also describes how teams can prepare for emergency response, and the life-saving measures that everyone should know when it comes to caring for our hearts.

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The immense weight of a world in crisis can feel overwhelming. In this special episode of Health Matters, we hear from three mental health experts: Drs. Elena Lister, Shannon Bennett and Warren Ng. They share guidance on how to cope with the anxiety, fear, sadness, and sense of helplessness that many of us are feeling when we witness the unfolding of tragic events. They also offer advice on how we can talk to children about difficult news.

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This week, our host Courtney Allison is joined by Dr. Elena Lister, a psychiatrist with NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine who specializes in grief. Dr. Lister discusses the importance of facing the many emotions that come with the death of a loved one or other losses. She also talks about her personal experience with grief after the death of her youngest daughter and how to find hope after loss.

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