Health Newsfeed – Johns Hopkins Medicine Podcasts

Anchor lead: Are statins useful even as we age? Elizabeth Tracey reports Statins are used to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Now a new study shows that even as people get older there are still good reasons to take a statin. That’s according to Seth Martin, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins. […]

Anchor lead: A new technology may help doctors identify resistant organisms more quickly, Elizabeth Tracey reports When a critically ill person has an infection, determining the right antibiotic and starting it right away is crucial. Yet culturing organisms and determining their sensitivity takes time, sometimes a couple of days. Now a new method developed by […]

Anchor lead: Can a simple decision tool help reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions? Elizabeth Tracey reports Antibiotics are overused. That’s clear. Can a new decision tool calling for four points of decision developed by Pranita Tamma, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues, help? Tamma: It’s a very simple construct. It seems like common […]

Anchor lead: What’s behind the recent measles outbreak? Elizabeth Tracey reports In Washington state, a confirmed measles outbreak is underway. The reason an infectious disease that can be serious is once again gaining a foothold is because parents are opting to not immunize their children. Maria Trent, an adolescent medicine expert at Johns Hopkins, says […]

Anchor lead: For those unable to receive vaccines, herd immunity really helps, Elizabeth Tracey reports Herd immunity is the phenomenon where when the majority are vaccinated against an infectious disease, it protects even those who aren’t vaccinated. Now a new study shows herd immunity impacting on HPV infection. Maria Trent, an adolescent medicine expert at […]

Anchor lead: Parents find some messaging about the HPV vaccine more compelling than others, Elizabeth Tracey reports How can parents be informed about HPV vaccination to improve the odds that they’ll choose it for their children? A recent study showed that by far, framing the information as a preventative against cancer was the parental hands […]

Anchor lead: People with cancer may be more likely to consider suicide, Elizabeth Tracey reports Receiving a diagnosis of cancer may cause some people to consider and then commit suicide, a recent study found, with lung cancer and pancreas cancer diagnoses the riskiest. The study also found that men were more likely to commit suicide than […]

Anchor lead: It may be possible to determine who will respond to one type of cancer treatment, Elizabeth Tracey reports Drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors have almost miraculous effects on some cancers. Now new research indicates that the greater the number of mutations, or changes in DNA a cancer has, the more likely that someone […]

Anchor lead: Firearms are a very important factor in causes of death for youth in the US, Elizabeth Tracey reports Firearms are the second leading cause of death among those between one and nineteen years of age in the United States, a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported. About eight children […]

Anchor lead: A new job niche employs statisticians to check data in scientific research, Elizabeth Tracey reports Have you heard of metascience? This is the study of science itself, and these days, the field is focused on looking closely at the statistics in research and validating them independently, a role that seems necessary in the […]