The People's Pharmacy

Many couples struggle to conceive. Even healthy young couples may be less likely to have success with conception than is commonly believed. Without using protection of any kind, such a couple might expect to conceive in one cycle out of five. While most healthy couples do manage a pregnancy over the course of a year, many do not. Problems with Infertility What are the sources of fertility problems...

More than 30 million Americans have trouble hearing as well as they would like. Some assume there is nothing that can be done to help them, while others imagine that their hearing loss is not so great that it needs to be addressed. Are they mistaken? Hearing aids are expensive and somewhat mysterious. Technological Advances to Help Us Hear But technological advances may soon make it relatively eas...

For decades, Americans have been warned to step away from the cheese and leave the butter untouched. Saturated fat was believed to clog the arteries and lead to heart attacks and early death. But what was the basis for those admonitions? Where’s the science? The science of the popular prescriptions for a low-fat diet is surprisingly slim. Many of the recommendations that have become policy d...

Dishonesty in Health Care Health care, it seems, is not immune to the dishonesty that prevails in many other parts of society, whether it is the polite lie that someone looks good (despite a hospital pallor) or a more serious deception or omission, such as a provider’s financial relationship with a drug or device manufacturer. Conflicts of Interest What can be done about conflicts of interes...

Gluten has become a household name in the last few years, with many crackers, cereals and other food products advertised as gluten free. What Is Gluten, and Should You Be Avoiding It? In the past, the only people who paid much attention to gluten were those with celiac disease. This condition was thought to be common in Europe, but rare in the United States. Careful research published ten years ag...

Playing a sport, leading an active lifestyle or taking an unexpected tumble can lead to joint injuries such as a sprained ankle or a torn rotator cuff in the shoulder. Sometimes joints just start complaining because of accumulated wear and tear. Sports medicine specialists often need to evaluate the best methods for overcoming pain and restoring the function of injured joints. Are there ways to al...

More than a million Americans suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are usually considered autoimmune conditions, although it is not necessarily clear what may trigger the immune system to attack the lining of the digestive tract. Find out about the symptoms of IBD and how it is distinguished from IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. What role do micr...

Most of us have experienced the frustration of a phone tree that seems designed to keep us from speaking to the person who could actually do what needs to be done. Have you ever considered the impact of an insurance pre-authorization requirement on a physician’s work day? We speak with Dr. Danielle Ofri about a particularly difficult experience. How have you been able to manage the maze of i...

Most people are familiar with tick-borne diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or Lyme disease. But other diseases transmitted by ticks and fleas and biting flies may be flying under the radar. One such organism is called Bartonella . More Than Cat Scratch Fever Bartonella is known as the cause of cat scratch fever, but its significance is much greater. New research suggests that it may un...

People often hold fast to their favorite dietary dogma and get annoyed if it is challenged. But lately there has been a great deal of controversy about the best diet for good health, especially for people with diabetes or heart disease. One sign of a possible paradigm shift is the publication of three different articles in The New England Journal of Medicine this week. Although all were focused on...

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station , or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. What does a diagnosis of ALS mean, and how do doctors and patients work together to improve the quality of life for people with this condition? We hear from a pati...

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station , or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: Hot summer temperatures can be uncomfortable for anybody, but for some folks they may be downright dangerous. Which drugs require extra caution because they make a person more vulnerable to heat? What medicines might make someone more susceptible...

What can we learn from people who have experienced spontaneous remissions of serious cancers? Doctors recognize that such remissions sometimes occur, but they rarely study them. The problem is that remissions are uncommon and unpredictable, and consequently difficult to study. The Research Psychotherapist Kelly Turner interviewed more than a thousand people who had undergone a documented radical r...

Do you take antibiotics for granted? Many of us do. After all, these drugs have been saving lives for decades, serving as magic bullets against deadly infections such as pneumonia, gangrene or blood poisoning since the middle of the 20 th century. Superbugs Sneer at Antibiotics: Unfortunately, the bacteria that cause infections have been evolving and many have developed resistance to common antibi...

Susannah Meadows’s son was only three years old when he developed terrifying symptoms of a disabling disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis. His parents were frantic to help him feel better, but conventional medicine was slow to go into effect. Could a Leaky Gut Have Activated His Immune System? They decided to explore an alternative approach as well. Could dietary changes have an impac...

Over the last several months a number of studies have found that multivitamins are not an effective way to prevent Alzheimer’s or heart disease. But are they really a waste of money, as one editorial suggests ? We talk with Dr. Tieraona Low Dog about the evidence base for vitamin use. How Scary Is Aspirin? Similar doubts have now been raised about aspirin.  The FDA has recently warned that p...

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station , or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: The new guidelines brought forth by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology call for a large proportion of senior citizens to take statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs, almost regardless of their cholesterol levels...

Tinnitus, often referred to as ringing in the ears, can be a terrible problem. The sufferer hears a sound that no one else perceives, whether it is hissing, booming, buzzing, chirping or clicking. Treating tinnitus effectively is very difficult. People are rarely able to get the sound to stop and some victims find it is so intrusive it is difficult to function. Treating Tinnitus: Over the last sev...

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station , or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: Worldwide attention has been riveted on the fate of a Malaysian Airlines jet with 239 people on board. Since flight 370 disappeared on March 8, more than 16,000 people have died as a result of health care harm. Why aren’t we paying more att...

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station , or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: A number of foreign drug firms have been cited by the FDA for poor quality control (and in some cases data manipulation). Perhaps in response, the agency has decided to establish a new Office under its jurisdiction. The Office of Pharmaceutical Q...

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station, or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: We rarely hear about bladder cancer, but it is the fourth most common cancer of men in the U.S., and the toll it takes is underappreciated. We hear from a survivor about his story, and we talk with a leading physician about advances in the treatme...

Summer vacation is right around the corner. We hope you have delightful travel plans, whether they will take you across the country, around the world, or just beyond the back yard. What can you do to stay healthy while on vacation? Pack Your First-Aid Kit: What are the best first-aid items to tuck in your luggage? We’ll provide some practical advice for common ailments you might encounter on...

How do you handle the fever of flu? Many people turn to OTC flu remedies for symptom relief, but nearly all of them contain a fever reducing medication such as aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen. While these may help you feel better temporarily, such medicines may prolong the infection or help it spread. The Benefits of Fever: A century ago, before aspirin became popular, the old wives held to th...

Summertime offers great opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, but sometimes there are risks that might be hard to avoid. Chiggers, ticks and mosquitos can make you miserable. What can you do to avoid them or manage the itch that results? Summertime Remedies: This summer has broken heat records in many places. Is your medication putting you at risk for heat stroke? We’ll find out how to recogn...

Sugar for Wounds: Sugar seems like an improbable treatment for hard-to-heal wounds. But the ancient Egyptians used honey and animal fat for battle scars. How does that treatment hold up under modern scrutiny? Holiday Remedies: When friends and family gather for the holidays, little mishaps may happen. What home remedies can help ease minor problems and make the celebrations smoother? Colds and Flu...