Medically Speaking Episodes

Learn how even when a body is broken, a life — rich with skill, love, memory, flavor, and collaboration — can still be fully, fiercely lived. Supporting links 1. Yewande Komolafe [Wikipedia] 2. Yewande Komolafe [Amazon] 3. Sickle cell disease [Wikipedia] Contact That's Life, I Swear Visit my website: https://www.thatslifeiswear.com Twitter at @RedPhantom Bluesky at @rickbarron.bsky.social Email us at https://www.thatslifeiswear.com/contact/ Episode Review Submit on Apple Podcast ...

Learn how you can plan your life with precision—and still lose control of the outcome. What you never lose is how you respond. Supporting links 1. Alzheimer [Alzheimer’s Association] 2. Home Care Options [Aging Care] Searching for Medicare Related Options? [AARP] Contact That's Life, I Swear Visit my website: https://www.thatslifeiswear.com Twitter at @RedPhantom Bluesky at @rickbarron.bsky.social Email us at https://www.thatslifeiswear.com/contact/ Episode Review Submit on Apple...

Learn how Health care access shouldn’t depend on your ZIP code, your income, or the politics of your state. This story is a reminder that when ideology drives health policy, it’s everyday people — not politicians — who pay the price. Supporting links 1. 759 hospitals at risk of closure, state by state [Becker’s Hospital Review] 2. Rural US town outraged as only hospital forced to shut [Guardian] 3. First responders detail the deadly cost of rural hospital closures [ABC NEWS] 4. The C...

Cancer is capsizing Americans' finances. It’s bad enough to be diagnose with cancer, but to then be slapped with the immense cost of medication required to help you stay alive is another. supporting links 1. Cancer, bankruptcy and death: study finds a link [Fred Hutch Cancer Center] 2. Medical Debt and Cancer [American Cancer Society] 3. She was already battling cancer, then the bill collectors came [NPR] 4. How to Fi...

A growing body of evidence suggests our mental outlook on aging plays a far more significant role in our longevity than previously recognized. 1. Becca Levy, PhD [Yale School of Medicine] 2. How positive age beliefs can support positive health [AMA] 3. Why do the Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world? [Observatoire Prevention] 4. Life Expectancy in Japan: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study [Oxford Academic] 5. Why Are Americans So Bad at Getting Old? [Oprah Daily]...

As a neurosurgeon, their expertise rests on precise skills and advancing neurological insights, but true mastery goes beyond technique to shape their impact and empathy. 1. The Making of a Neurosurgeon [American University of Antigua] 2. So, You Want to Be a Surgeon [American College of Surgeons] 3. Neurosurgeon [Cleveland Clinic] 4. History of Neurology and Neurosurgery [Wikipedia] Contact That's Life, I Swear Visit my website: https://www.thatslifeiswear.com Twitter at @RedPha...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast The effects of AI in drug development are expected to dramatically reshape the entire healthcare industry. supporting links 1. Terray [company website] 2. Recursion Pharmaceuticals [company website] 3. Schrödinger [company website] 4. Isomorphic Labs[company website] 5. Revolutionizing Drug Discovery with Generative AI [YouTube] 6. What AI-Desi...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Learn how a doctor, facing the end of his life, chose to teach the most important subject of all: That the heart of medicine is about people, connection, and honoring every patient's humanity. Supporting links 1. Dr. Bryant Lin [Stanford Medicine] 2. A doctor, his cancer journey and a uniquely teachable moment [Stanford Medicine] 3. Stage 4 lung cancer [Medical News Today] 4. Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education [Website] Co...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast To help prevent elderly Dementia, adopting healthy habits, regardless of age, could yield significant dividends as individuals grow older. supporting links 1. Healthy habits help preserve brain health, despite genetics [University of Mississippi Medical Center] 2. What is Dementia? [World Health Organization] 3. Types of Dementia [Alzheimer's Association] 4. Sleep Apnea [Mayo Clinic] 5. Fit Women 90% Less Likely to Develop Dementia [America Aca...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Vaccine debates are as much about ideology as they are about science. The challenge moving forward is finding ways to balance public health imperatives with respect for personal freedom. This negotiation has shaped—and will continue to shape—American public health policy. Supporting links 1. Measles Makes a Comeback: What Parents Need to Know [Cedars Sinai] 2. Anti-vaccination in America [Smithsonian] 3. The Long, Strange History of Anti-Vaccination ...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Today, we are designing life-saving proteins on demand, reshaping medicine as we know it—thanks to artificial intelligence. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in October of 2024 celebrates just that! 1. DeepMind [Wikipedia] 2. All Nobel Prizes in Chemistry [Noble Prize Organization] 3. Protein Folding Problem [Scientific American] 4. Protein Folding [Wikipedia] 5. How AI is saving millions of years of human research time [TED] Contact That's Life...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast What if you do live forever? That means you'd outlive everybody you'd ever known on the planet. You'd watch your children and grandchildren and all your friends die before you. What would that be like? 1. "Here's My Honest Take on Bryan Johnson” - Dr Andrew Huberman [YouTube] 2. Bryan Johnson YouTube site [YouTube] 3. Immortality [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] 4. More People Are Living to 100 Than Ever Before [Technology Networks] 5. U.S...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Just when Europe thought it was clear from its nightmare with COVID, a single case of Mpox in Sweden reignited fears of a potential outbreak across the continent. supporting links 1. Virulence differences of Mpox [PNAS] 2. Mpox (monkeypox) [World Health Organization] 3. Deadlier strain of mpox spreads to multiple African countries [Science] 4. The Swedish Government’s efforts to fight Mpox [Government Offices of Sweden] Contact That's Life, I ...

Text us your thoughts on the podcast Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. Something about her caused people to react in a way she didn’t understand. Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected, she was a sociopath. supporting links 1. Patric Gagne, PhD [website] 2. Patric Gagne, PhD [Instagram] 3. Psychopathy Is [website] 4. Sociopath: A Memoir/author’s book [Amazon] 5. Antisocial personality disorder [Wikipedia] 6. Sociopa...

The complexities of modern family dynamics are changing. We're exploring a seismic shift in our society—a surge in only-child families. Supporting links 1. 4 Tips for Only-Child Caregivers [Brain & Life] 2. Guide To Caring For Your Aging Parent As An Only Child [Morada] 3. Caring for aging parents when you’re an only child [Bayshore Healthcare] 4. How Being an Only Child Defined My Entire Life [AARP ETHEL] 5. Taking care of my extremely difficult elderly mom [AARP] Contact Tha...

Today we explore the depths of human experience, and confront a subject that touches us all but often remains elusive in our daily discourse: death. supporting links 1. Palliative care [Wikipedia] 2. How to Become Less Afraid of Death [Time] 3. Here’s what people in their 90s really think about death [The Conversation] 4. Ageing and the mortality alarm [The Guardian] 5. Finding out you are dying [Cancer Research UK] Contact That's Life, I Swear Tweet us at @RedPhantom Listen ...

Now here’s something you may not know. A lot of us think about suicide. The problem is we’re afraid to speak to each other about it. The lack of knowledge about the prevalence of ‘suicidal ideation’ has hampered suicide prevention. If you liked this episode, please leave a rating/review on my website or iTunes. · I welcome your feedback on my episodes, and I would like to hear what topics you might be interested in future episodes. · Feel free to leave me a voicemail on my website. Look...

There’s a movement happening to make workplaces ‘Menopause Friendly.’ A best practice for women in the work environment. That’s right, you heard me. Various companies in the U.S. are now, or should I say, finally; adopting such practices due to getting guidance from across the pond, as they say. Yes, the British are coming. supporting links 1. Introduction to Menopause [John Hopkins Medicine] 2. Leaders: We have an issue impacting nearly half of the global workforce [Fast Company] 3. Me...

Recent studies have discovered the staggering cost of Menopause for women in the work force. Some are taking sick days. Others are cutting back their hours. Still others end up quitting altogether. Why must women deal with these hurdles? It’s flat out not right! supporting links 1. Introduction to Menopause [John Hopkins Medicine] 2. How Long Do Symptoms of Menopause Last? [Healthline] 3. Menopause Age Calculator: Can You Predict It? [Peanut] 4. The Menopause Friendly Accreditation [...

For anyone living with mental health problems, talking about it with anyone, let alone a mental health professional, may seem scary if not damn difficult. Even intimidating. Men have been told all their lives to “man up” and “be strong” that accessing mental health resources can seem to go against cultural expectations. supporting links 1. 30 B.S. Excuses for Why Guys Don’t Do Therapy [Men’s Health] 2. Why Men May Struggle to Communicate Their Feelings [Psychology Today] 3. The Fear Fac...

The science is precise: COVID vaccines are a safe and effective way to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death from the coronavirus, and vaccine mandates effectively promote widespread vaccinations. Still, we battled in the United States to inoculate the nation against the coronavirus. Yet, conspiracies and defiant attitudes made a recovery daunting. Why? supporting links 1. Who isn’t getting vaccinated, and why [Vox] 2. The political fight over vaccine mandates [NPR] 3. Benefits...

In this episode, we talk about some common reasons men choose not to see their doctor for annual checkups. The list of reasons varies, but most common is embarrassment or discomfort with discussing specific issues and fearful of being told they have a troubling diagnosis. Your host was one of those individuals and now shares his story. supporting links 1. Why are men less likely to see a doctor? [WebMD] 2. Top 5 reasons men should see a doctor [Shelter Island Reporter] 3. Men, it's time t...