Penn State Hershey Soundcasts

During the first days of life, almost all babies experience some initial weight loss. Most newborns are able to tolerate this initial period of weight loss. However, some do develop complications such as dehydration and jaundice, which are the two most common causes of newborn hospital readmission. In this edition of Sound Health, Dr. Ian Paul, a pediatrician at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, explains how doctors chart growth in the first days, weeks and months of a baby’s life. We also discuss tools they use to do this – including Newt, a new tool developed at Penn State Hershey.

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Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dreaded cancer diagnoses. It often proves deadly because it’s typically aggressive, yet causes few or no symptoms until the late stages. As with many forms of cancer, there is hope for a cure when it’s caught early – and many promising treatments for those with pancreatic cancer in any stage. This podcast features Dr. Niraj Gusani, who heads the Program for Liver, Pancreas and Foregut Tumors at Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute.

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Dr. Cynthia Whitener, an infectious diseases specialist at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, talks about the various types of influenza, the importance of getting the flu vaccine, flu symptoms and treatment. Although this interview was recorded during the 2013-2014 flu season, it contains important information about the flu that will prove timely no matter when you listen to it.

Learn more:

• Articles on flu and flu vaccine from the Penn State Hershey Health Information Library
• Flu-related information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• The latest flu statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Health

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A study by Penn State College of Medicine's Dr. Deepa L. Sekhar shows parents lack education on preventing hearing loss in teens and few believe their child is at risk. According to study results, 69 percent of parents had not spoken with their adolescent about noise exposure, mainly because of the perceived low risk. In this edition of Sound Research, Dr. Sekhar talks about the prevalence of the problem - and how it can be prevented.

For more information:

• Read more about this study on the American Medical Association website

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Dr. Jonathan Foulds, professor of public health sciences and psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine, discusses current research into smoking cessation, the state of smoking in the United States, and what research says about the safety of certain approaches to quitting.

For more information:

• www.smokefree.gov
• www.becomeanex.org
• The state quitline: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)

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Dr. Chris Sciamanna, professor of medicine and public health sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, discusses his research into how to support people to make healthier choices and what doctors might be able to do differently to encourage those choices.

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Click on the Pod icon above or the direct download link below to hear the show. Right-click to save the file to your system.

At least 28,000 men are expected to die from prostate cancer this year in the United States. There are no symptoms for early-stage prostate cancer, which makes screening very important. In this podcast, Dr. Jay Raman, associate professor of Urology at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, talks about who should get tested and when.

Learn more about prostate cancer from:

• Penn State Hershey’s Health Information Library
• National Cancer Institute

Read more about Dr. Raman’s study regarding the role of the digital rectal exam in prostate cancer screening.

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Between long days at work for mom and dad and packed activity schedules for the kids, many parents struggle to find time to cook healthy meals for their families. In this podcast, Dr. Ronald Williams, director of the Pediatric Weight Management Program at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, talks about how parents can make the time to provide their children with healthy meals, snacks and drinks.Learn more:

• Pediatric Weight Management Programat Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital
• Facts about childhood obesityfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Facts about physical activity from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• The Obesity Epidemic and United States Students fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Dr. Cheryl Tierney discusses coming changes to the DSM--one of the tools used by doctors to diagnose mental disorders--and her research of how it may affect children with specific autism spectrum disorders.

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Dr. Cynthia Chuang and Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski discuss their recent research looking at weight gain advice given to pregnant women. They discuss the inaccurate information given specifically to overweight women, why this may be, and what healthy weight gain guidelines are.

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