Intention to Treat

This episode examines Covid-19 variants that are currently circulating, recommendations for booster shots, and new treatments in the pipeline. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2311327.

This episode examines the need for and promise of xenotransplantation, considering first the plight of patients and then the progress being made by researchers. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2309946.

This episode explores the current state of research on the multiple likely mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease as well as promising treatments and diagnostics. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2309944.

Host Rachel Gotbaum talks with a patient with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and two dementia experts about frustrations with the current state of Alzheimer’s care. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2309485.

This episode explores long Covid, an often-disabling but unexplained syndrome of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2. How is it affecting millions of people, and what is being done about it? A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2309483.

This episode peers into U.S. schools to examine a widespread but non–evidence-based approach to preparing children and staff for gun-violence incidents. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2308309.

In this episode, a patient with narcolepsy describes her rough, long road to diagnosis and treatment, and a researcher elucidates both the condition and a new therapeutic direction. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2308308.

Cardiologists now recognize that heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) may be caused by obesity. This episode of “Intention to Treat” examines new evidence that treating obesity can prevent HFpEF.   A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2307349.

People living with HIV have increased risk for cardiovascular disease (and other diseases of aging) earlier in life than those without HIV. In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” researcher Steven Grinspoon describes a new strategy for preventing collateral damage. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2307347.

Some types of pain have proven resistant to all available medications. In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” Rachel Gotbaum talks with a patient with neuropathic pain and a researcher exploring new sodium-channel blockers that offer promise for such patients. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2305759.

What is driving U.S. physicians out of primary care — and keeping trainees from going into it in the first place? In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” host Rachel Gotbaum explores the breakdown of the system and possible ways to save it. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2305758.

This episode of “Intention to Treat,” explores the crisis in primary care in the United States, as increasing numbers or primary care physicians leave the field — driven out by corporatization, growing time pressure, and the inability to form the relationships that enable good care. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303852.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” host Rachel Gotbaum explores the story of a teenager who’s now in remission from previously relapsed lymphoblastic leukemia and talks with the investigator who developed the “off-the-shelf” CAR T cells that made her treatment possible. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303851.

“Intention to Treat” host Rachel Gotbaum talks with patient Awilde Peña and oncologist Deb Schrag about a new approach to treating rectal cancer that sidesteps the need for radiation, thereby avoiding long-term side effects and preserving fertility. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303850.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” Drs. Harvey Fineberg and Eric Rubin take stock of the failures and successes of the Covid-19 response and elucidate their lessons for combating the next major public health threat, whatever it may be. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303615.

This episode of “Intention to Treat” tells the story of the Freedom House Ambulance Service — a group of Black laypeople in Pittsburgh who underwent intensive training to become the first paramedics in the United States. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303614.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” host Rachel Gotbaum talks with patient Robert Schlamberg and Doctors Oladapo Yeku and Oliver Sartor about the option of watchful waiting in the care of men with early prostate cancer. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303613.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” Maia Hightower and Isaac Kohane join host Rachel Gotbaum to explore the promise and hazards of artificial-intelligence and machine-learning tools for both clinical and administrative uses in medicine. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2301939.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” Anthony Fauci sits down with host Rachel Gotbaum to discuss his long career in infectious disease and public health, what has motivated him, and the lessons he has learned and taught along the way. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300938.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” some of the people who have worked closely with “America’s Doctor,” Anthony Fauci, offer insights into his character, values, accomplishments, and adventures over his decades of service at the NIH. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300937.

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” a study participant and a long-time investigator of hallucinogenic drugs for psychiatric conditions illuminate the effects of psilocybin in patients with depression. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300936 .

In this episode of “Intention to Treat,” host Rachel Gotbaum takes us to Tennessee and Ohio, where new abortion bans are already harming patients and threatening their physicians.   A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300935.

In this first episode of “Intention to Treat,” NEJM editor-in-chief Eric Rubin and his colleague at the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee, Paul Offit, consider the achievements, limitations, and expectations of Covid vaccines.   A transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300222.

From the New England Journal of Medicine, welcome to “Intention to Treat,” a podcast exploring the most complicated, perplexing, and fascinating issues facing medicine today. From groundbreaking research, to clinical advances, to personal stories from doctors and their patients, we give you a behind-the-scenes look at discoveries that are changing medical practice and provide you with the knowledg...