Primary Care Today

At the age of 35, Jessica Cross was pursuing a rewarding career and raising a family with her loving husband when she was dealt a crippling blow: suffering a stroke that left her paralyzed on the right side of her body and hospitalized for months.

Two years later, still in rehabilitation, Cross began punching at a keyboard to restore function in her arm and hand. Having little interest in typing mindlessly, this daily rehab exercise soon grew into writing what would become the book, Crossed Lines: What Lies Buried Within the Heart.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough sits down with Jessica Cross to talk about her journey through enduring this stroke, her recovery and rehab, and subsequent activism around education and wellness for stroke survivors.

Jessica Cross is an author, speaker, and Executive Director of Strong Cross Foundation.

Poor fitness in middle age is a strong predictor of a person’s future risk of heart failure. Prolonged exercise training, including a regular routine of high-intensity and moderate-intensity workouts, can forestall the effects of sedentary aging by preventing increased left ventricular stiffness.

Dr. Benjamin Levine joins host Dr. Brian McDonough to talk about how regular exercise training may provide protection against the sedentary aging of the heart by preventing an increase in cardiac stiffness.

Dr. Levine is a Professor of Internal Medicine at the UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Director of Autonomic Function and Cardiopulmonary Clinics at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remains one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in both females and males, with about 9 in 10 people contracting HPV at some point in their lives.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough is joined by Samantha Gottlieb, medical anthropologist and author of Not Quite a Cancer Vaccine: Selling HPV and Cervical Cancer. They explore the history of Gardasil, a vaccine developed for HPV but marketed primarily as a cervical cancer vaccine, which became embroiled in sociopolitical debates about adolescent sexuality and pediatric vaccinations.

The two discuss these precedents alongside current controversies, such as whether vaccinating both males and females will induce herd immunity, and if the benefits outweigh the risks.

According to a report from the Trust for America’s Health, an estimated 1.6 million people could die from drugs, alcohol, and suicide in the next ten years. This is a 60% increase from the past decade.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough talks with John Templeton Jr, President of Footprints Beachside Recovery Center in Florida, about treating addiction and what doctors need to know about reducing opioid addiction risk in their pain medication management.

Over 33,000 lives were lost to opioid overdose in 2015, translating into 91 people dying each day, according to the most recent CDC data. Reducing exposure to prescription opioids, for situations where the risks of opioids outweigh their benefits, is a crucial part of reversing this trend.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough explores alternative options to prescription opioids with addiction specialist Dr. Isaac Alexis, Medical Director of the Lifeline Addiction Center in Beckley, WV.

Exercise can improve your health and reduce the risk of developing several diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough chats with veteran personal trainer and exercise therapy specialist Bobby Whisnand about ways to to keep your workout "working out" and how to avoid exercise pitfalls.

Several studies have shown that therapy dogs help to reduce people’s pain levels and anxiety. Therapy dogs have also been found to increase patients’ physical, mental, emotional and social states and improve their quality of life.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough talks with David Frei, co-creator of Angel on a Leash, a charity supporting therapy dog programs that serve health care facilities, about how therapy dogs bring comfort, affection and happiness to people in confined living situations. Frei is the former host of The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and expert analyst for The National Dog Show on NBC Thanksgiving Day.

There is nearly a 20% chance that each of us will suffer a concussion this year. More concerning yet, over 30% of those concussions will lead to a long-term, potentially permanent disability. Many studies have explored how the use of Omega-3 fatty acids may add some measure of resilience within the brain to withstand injury in those at significant risk.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough chats with Dr. Michael Lewis, founder of the nonprofit Brain Health Education and Research Institute about how the utilization of Omega-3 fatty acids may facilitate the concussion healing process and relieve symptoms.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes between 150 to 170 pounds of refined sugars every year. Excessive sugar consumption is linked to a long list of health problems, from obesity and cardiovascular disease to joint inflammation and ADHD, but most of us can’t seem to be able to stop eating sugar no matter how hard we try.

Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to address the growing threat of sugar addiction is health educator and wellness expert Dr. David Magnano.

Dr. Bob Arnot is an award-winning medical correspondent for NBC and CBS News and served as MSNBC’s chief foreign correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also worked as an Olympic physician and is a sports enthusiast who competes in Ironman events, triathlons, marathons, big-wall ice climbing, Himalayan climbs, the 100-mile Canadian ski marathon, 24-hour bike races, big wave surfing and stand-up paddling.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough sits down with Dr. Arnot to talk about his medical career and his involvement in endurance sports competitions. His broad experiences allow for unique insights into pain management, opioid addiction, and living and working through injuries.