PodcastDX

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...

Promising new cancer screening methods are pivoting toward multi-cancer early detection  (MCED) blood tests  (liquid biopsies) and AI-enhanced imaging , which aim to detect multiple cancer types from a single, non-invasive sample, often before symptoms arise. These technologies, including the  Galleri test  and  Novelna's protein-based tests , analyze DNA, proteins, or methylation patterns to iden...

Chronic illness is now the norm, not the exception, and our healthcare system is scrambling to keep up. ​In this episode, "Chronic Illness Isn't Rare Anymore: Why The System Is Trying To Catch Up," we dig into why so many adults are living with at least one chronic condition, how the current system was built for short-term, acute care, and what that mismatch means for people trying to manage compl...

FROM SURVIVAL TO QUALITY OF LIFE: WHY OUTCOMES ARE BEING REDEFINED THE FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN MEDICINE For decades, medicine measured success through a singular lens: survival. Did the patient live? Did the procedure work? While these metrics remain important, healthcare is undergoing a profound transformation that redefines what "winning" actually means[1]. The new standard is no longer just extend...

AI in medicine is best understood as a powerful  tool  and a conditional  partner  that can enhance care when tightly supervised by clinicians, but it becomes a problem when used as a replacement, deployed without oversight, or embedded in biased and opaque systems. Whether it functions more as a partner or a problem depends on how health systems design, regulate, and integrate it into real clinic...

Medicine has transitioned due to massive tech adoption (Electronic Health Records EHRs, Artificial Intelligence AI, Telehealth), shifting patient expectations (consumerism, convenience), the rise of value-based care, new treatments (precision medicine), and increased focus on population health and prevention, all while grappling with rising costs, data security, and persistent access/equity gaps,...

​ This week we discuss stem cells.  Having great therapeutic and biotechnological potential, stem cells are extending the frontier in medicine. Not only replace dysfunctional or damaged cells, the so-called regenerative medicine, stem cells may also offer us new perspectives regarding the nature of aging and cancer. This review will cover some basics of stem cells, their current development, and p...

This week we will discuss the topic of "functional fitness"  With the new year upon us many people want to add fitness or getting healthy as goals and we are here to help! Functional fitness is a simple, effective way to keep your body moving and reduce restlessness. It focuses on exercises that help you perform everyday activities more easily and safely—like getting up off the floor, carrying gro...

By the end of the first week of the new year , nearly 77% of New Year's resolutions have already failed (Norcross, 1988). That's discouraging—but it doesn't mean you should stop trying. It means most of us are setting resolutions in ways that don't work. You aren't weak or lazy. More often, the problem is a misaligned system —one that relies too heavily on willpower and short-lived motivation. Mot...

The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is one of the components of the circulatory system, and it serves a critical role in both immune function and surplus extracellular fluid drainage.  Components of the lymphatic system include lymph, lymphatic vessels and plexuses, lymph nodes, lymphatic cells, and a variety of lymphoid organs. The pattern and form of lymphatic channels are more variable an...

This week we are talking about Pancreatic cancer.  This is a type of cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the pancreas. The pancreas lies behind the lower part of the stomach. It makes enzymes that help digest food and hormones that help manage blood sugar. The most common type of pancreatic cancer is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This type begins in the cells that line the ducts that ca...

This week we discuss d iabetes mellitus, a group of diseases that affect how the body uses blood sugar (glucose). Glucose is an important source of energy for the cells that make up the muscles and tissues. It's also the brain's main source of fuel. The main cause of diabetes varies by type. But no matter what type of diabetes you have, it can lead to excess sugar in the blood. Too much sugar in t...