Primary Care Today

50% or women who suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) are unaware that they have it.

Dr. Brian McDonough talks with naturopathic doctor Fiona McCulloch about that the signs of PCOS and various approaches women can utilize in dealing with it.

Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common cause of dementia among people aged 65 and older. With the population of older Americans growing, research for new therapies becomes ever more critical. Yet one of the most important factors in advancing research, fundraising, has been hampered by numerous challenges.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough talks with Charles Fushcillo Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America about the challenges in securing additional funding for Alzheimer’s Research.

Dr. Brian McDonough speaks with Chris Kelly, leading advocate for "smell training," a program offering help and training to people whose sense of smell has been impaired.

Can the simple act of smiling more often help us live happier, healthier, and more abundant lives?

To answer this question in entertaining detail, Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes onto the show Dr. Rich Castellano, facial plastic surgeon, founder and CEO of ImageLift in Tampa, FL, and author of The Smile Prescription.

An old adage states "There's many a slip between the cup and the lip." Applied to drug delivery, dosing, and compliance by patients, this phrase couldn't be more accurate. Drug information and clinical decision support systems are evolving to address problems in getting the right medications to the right patients, but more work needs to be done.

Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss barriers and solutions to medication-related decision support is Dr. Shobha Phansalkar, Director of Informatics and Clinical Quality Control at the Clinical Drug Information Division of Wolters Kluwer. Additionally, she is an Assistant Professor in Medicine at the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

In a survey released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), nearly half of men reported that their health was "good" or "excellent." This marked a dramatic increase in health perceptions from men over the past decade, despite the fact that more men now live with chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes than ever before. What does this discrepancy between perceptions and realities tell us about the state of health care for men in America?

Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss special considerations and primary care priorities for men is Dr. John Meigs, practicing generalist and President-Elect of the AAFP.

Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, has gained rapid popularity as patient populations have broadened. Once intended almost exclusively for cancer patients undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatments, more and more healthy women are choosing this resource to expand their reproductive options later in life.

Dr. Lisa Ashe, internist and medical director for Be Well Medical Group in Alexandria, VA, speaks with Dr. Brian McDonough about her personal experience with egg freezing from three simultaneous vantage points: physician, patient, and minister.

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. Charles Pollack, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of the Jefferson Institute of Emerging Health Professions at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine. Dr. Pollack's team recently formed the Center for Medical Cannabis Education & Research, tasked with providing expert-developed, unbiased information to clinicians and patients about the medical uses of marijuana and cannabinoid-focused therapies.

The two discuss current clinical recommendations for cannabis based on the available research, and where the benefits and risks collide amidst mass public interest.

In the aftermath of mass violence, from September 11th to the Paris attack to the Orlando shooting, fear and confusion often dominate the public consciousness. Unfortunately, most clinicians are not trained in tactical medicine to respond in times of crisis such as these. But a small subset of survuval medicine experts are working to change this pattern.

Dr. Brian McDonough speaks with Dr. Joseph Alton, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of OB/GYN, and author of The Survival Medicine Handbook: A Guide for When Help is Not on the Way. The two discuss key survival and disaster response considerations for clinicians caught in violently dangerous situations.

Over one million amputees suffer from phantom limb pain, a debilitating condition made all the more complex to treat due to the root question "How do I treat pain arising from a limb that no longer exists?" But new understandings of the pathophysiology behind this disease have led to more meaningful interventions, enabling better counseling strategies for primary care physicians.

Dr. Brian McDonough speaks with Dr. J. David Prologo, Assistant Professor of Radiology at Emory Healthcare and Director of Interventional Radiology Services at Emory Johns Creek Hospital. Dr. Prologo has helped pioneer research ushering in new treatment methods, such as cryoablation, for the treatment of phantom limb pain in amputees.