PodcastDX

Fatigue is more than feeling tired—for many people living with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), it can mean overwhelming physical and mental exhaustion that affects even the simplest daily tasks. Chronic pain, disrupted sleep, and difficulties regulating heart rate and blood pressure can all contribute, making fatigue a complex and often misunderstood part of life with EDS. In this episode of Podcas...

This week we will discuss product recalls and your health.  According to WEBMD:  A product safety recall happens when a consumer watch group or a manufacturer finds problems with a product. Lots of items can be recalled. Some products that are commonly recalled include: Food products, like meat or vegetables Medication and medical devices Children's products, like safety seats Car parts ​ If an it...

Our guest today is a physician, author and activist.  The topic this week is "Stage 4 Cancer as an ER Doc".   Dr. J ames Maskalyk  practices emergency medicine at St. Michael's, Toronto's inner-city trauma hospital, is Associate Professor and  award -winning teacher and  academic  at the University of Toronto. He has written two books so far, the international bestseller " Six Months in Sudan " an...

This week on PodcastDX, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar joins Lita, Ron, and Jean Marie to discuss AI and robotics in medicine—from surgical robots and rehabilitation technology to hospital automation, patient safety, and the importance of keeping human judgment at the center of care. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar was the first surgeon to perform a robotic cervical cerclage in the city of Memphis on a outpatient basis lead...

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Master Chief Petty Officer Jack Clifford joins PodcastDX to share how severe chronic angina once limited even everyday activities and left him facing the possibility of triple-bypass surgery. After researching options and advocating for a referral, Jack began Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP), a noninvasive outpatient therapy in which timed leg cuffs inflate and de...

In this episode of PodcastDX, we speak with Allany Muniz , founder of Diary of an Epileptic, about the realities of living with epilepsy beyond what most people see. Allany shares how her diagnosis changed her life and led her to create a platform built on honest storytelling, awareness, and connection. Together, we explore the many ways epilepsy can affect memory, confidence, relationships, menta...

Memory Villages explores the promise and the questions surrounding dementia villages—care communities designed to feel more like neighborhoods than institutions. We discuss how familiar surroundings, routine, meaningful activity, and freedom of movement may support dignity and engagement, while also examining the important concerns: cost, access, staffing, evidence of benefit, safety, and ethics....

In this PodcastDX episode, Lita and Jean Marie unpack Ebola as a severe but  not casually spread viral disease, explaining that infection requires direct contact with blood or other body fluids or contaminated materials, not simple proximity or everyday social contact. They outline key facts about animal reservoirs (likely bats), how spillover into humans occurs, and why understanding zoonotic ori...

In this week's episode of PodcastDX, Lita and Jean Marie break down why sunscreen is about far more than avoiding a bad sunburn—it's everyday cancer prevention. They explain how UV damage happens while driving, walking the dog, or sitting by a window, and why "broad spectrum" protection against both UVA (aging, deeper damage) and UVB (burns) really matters. The episode covers the newly FDA‑approve...

In this solo PodcastDX episode, Lita introduces the concept of the vagus nerve and explains why it has become such a focus in wellness, neurology, psychiatry, and online health spaces. She describes the vagus nerve's path from brainstem through neck, chest, and abdomen, highlighting its role in heart rate, breathing patterns, digestion, and the body's stress response, and explains that most people...

" When Seconds Matter " is a strong, urgent PodcastDX episode.  It is a personal story about emergency response and the critical minutes before help arrives. It's focused on recognizing danger early, calling911 fast, starting CPR, and using an AED when needed. When Seconds Matter  explores what to do in a true medical emergency, when every moment can determine whether a person survives. Drawing fr...

After a heart attack, the story doesn't end in the arteries. In this episode of PodcastDX, Lita and Jean Marie explore new science showing how the heart, brain, and immune system talk to each other during and after a heart attack—and how that three-way conversation can either protect the heart or make damage worse. We break down a "triple‑node" loop discovered in recent research, where vagus‑nerve...

This week's episode does not have a guest, we are going to be discussing blood and tissue donations in medicine. ​ The Vital Role of Blood and Tissue Donation in Modern Medicine Blood and tissue donation are indispensable components of modern healthcare, providing life-saving resources for a wide range of medical conditions and emergencies. Blood donations are crucial for patients undergoing major...

Early colorectal cancer usually causes  no symptoms , which means the only way to catch it at a truly curable stage—or even prevent it altogether—is through regular screening, especially  colonoscopy . During a colonoscopy, doctors can not only find cancers earlier, when treatment is more effective and survival rates are much higher, but also  remove precancerous polyps on the spot , stopping many...

Today we're continuing our  Medicine in Transition theme with a topic that is deeply personal, professionally important, and long overdue.  This episode is titled "The Shift of Dementia Care: From Control to Connection." But we're not doing this one alone. We're joined by a special guest, Jennifer Stoner. Jennie is a retired professor from Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois, where she taught in...

In this week's episode, "Cancer Care in Transition: Precision Medicine, Immunotherapy, and Patient Choice," we look at how cancer treatment is changing at the exact moment when patients are trying to move from crisis mode into something like a new normal. Precision medicine now uses a person's genes, tumor markers, and even lifestyle to match them with targeted drugs or immunotherapies instead of...

The dark side of advocacy is that the same social media platforms that help health advocates reach millions can also expose them to relentless trolls, coordinated pile‑ons, and even threats to their safety and careers. Studies of physicians and public‑health advocates show that a large share—sometimes more than half—have been personally attacked online for speaking about vaccines, gun violence, or...

Various Types of Dementia This week on PodcastDX, we're stepping into the complex world of dementia—not as a single diagnosis, but as a family of conditions that affect memory, thinking, behavior, and independence in different ways. We'll introduce the most common types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and mixed dementia, w...

"Rethinking DX: A Digital DSM" looks at how the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) quietly shapes almost every part of mental health care—from who gets a diagnosis and insurance coverage to how people understand their own symptoms and identities. In this conversation, Lita and Jean Marie unpack what the DSM actually is, why the current DSM‑5‑TR matters, and how a future, f...

Over the next decade, medicine won't just add new gadgets—it will change what it feels like to be a patient. In this episode of PodcastDX, we explore how AI as a clinical co‑pilot, stem cells and regenerative medicine, genomics and precision care, wearables, and hospital‑at‑home models could reshape everyday care. We talk about the promise of earlier detection and more personalized treatment, the...

This week we are discussing the rise of a new type of health care where the patients play a vital role in their medical care.  Patients as partners in care are at the heart of shared decision making (SDM), a model where clinicians and patients deliberately work together to choose tests and treatments that fit both best evidence and the patient's values and life context. What shared decision making...

At a time when modern medicine is allowing people to enjoy longer, fuller lives, mortality is not always a chief concern. But when a serious illness occurs, the topic becomes unavoidable. This became especially clear during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when hospitals were overrun with patients, many with grim prognoses. "The pandemic gave all of us a sense that life can be short and the...

This week we discuss the current status of Mental Health Care.   Mental health care is changing, but most experts argue it is not  changing fast enough relative to the need, especially on access, equity, and workforce. Where change is too slow Unmet need is huge.  In the U.S., millions with a diagnosable condition still receive no treatment each year; a recent national report notes that many adult...

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into post-injury rehabilitation is transforming recovery paradigms by enabling personalized, adaptive, and efficient rehabilitation pathways tailored to individual patient needs. This podcast reviews the current advances in AI applications that facilitate assessment, monitoring, and optimization of rehabilitation programs following injuries. Through...

  The gut–brain revolution is about treating the digestive system and the nervous system as one  integrated  network instead of two separate organs that happen to share a body. The gut–brain axis is a bidirectional communication system: the brain influences digestion, motility, and gut sensation, while the gut and its microbiota send chemical, neural, and immune signals back to the brain that can...