Healthy Communities Online

What happens when music therapists and neuroscientists team up? Patients win, says Dr. Francis Collins. From adults with Parkinson’s disease to children with autism, music has the power to help people walk, talk, ease pain and so much more. Dr. Collins recently stepped down from his role as the longest-serving director of National Institutes of Health. As he faces a personal battle against prostate cancer, he’s exploring the promising impact that music and art therapy could hold for patients with…

Read More Read More

Originally published April 9, 2024 She’s received worldwide praise for singing at the Super Bowl, during a presidential inauguration and regularly for The Metropolitan Opera, but Renée Fleming is stretching her voice in new ways. She’s the editor of “Music and Mind,” a curated collection of essays from leading scientists, artists, creative arts therapists, educators and health care providers about the powerful impacts of music and the arts on health and the human experience. Renée shares how she discovered her…

Read More Read More

Originally published April 4, 2024 It’s about seven months to election day and our regular panel of health care journalists sees a lot of divisions in the electorate. Joyce Frieden, who’s in charge of MedPage Today’s coverage of Washington and health policy, says the debate over abortion is driving voter interest. Yet Ben Leonard, a health care reporter at POLITICO, notes that Republican voters place issues such as immigration ahead of health care. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Weixel, a health policy reporter…

Read More Read More

Originally published March 28, 2024 Medicare just announced that it will pay for weight loss drugs if patients using them also have heart disease and need to reduce the risk of future heart attacks and strokes. Medicare has already been covering the costs of the GLP-1 class of drugs to treat diabetes problems. However, Medicare Part D plans are still restricted by law from covering obesity medications used for chronic weight management alone. It’s a decision the American Diabetes Association…

Read More Read More

The recent death of former college football player Craig Roh from colon cancer at age 33 has brought attention to the “alarming” increase of colorectal cancer in young people. The American Cancer Society reports colon cancer is now the most common cause of cancer deaths in men under 50 and second for women under 50. Dr. Alan Venook at the University of California-San Francisco is one of the nation’s leading colorectal cancer researchers. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and…

Read More Read More

Originally broadcast on March 14, 2024 The family planning revolution has a new chapter and journalist Valerie Bauman is both documenting it and participating in it. She and others pursuing alternatives say they’re frustrated with fertility clinics because of the cost, what they call the discriminatory nature of the system and the lack of insurance coverage. Bauman explains how she met her sperm donor and why others like her say it makes sense for them. Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret…

Read More Read More