Elderhood In The Time Of Covid-19
Listen now to our show on 5/18/20 @KPFA.org—94.1FM for a conversation with Geriatrician Dr. Louise Aronson on elders during this deadly pandemic.
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=333776
The CDC reports that 80% of coronavirus deaths are people 65 and older.
Research is showing that adults 60 and older, especially those with preexisting medical conditions, are more likely to have severe coronavirus infection than other age groups. One way to reduce the risk of older family members catching the virus is to limit in-person visits—but there are also consequences to this strategy. Social distancing doesn’t have to mean isolation or loneliness. We need a society that cares about elders!
Dr. Louise Aronson is a geriatrician, writer, educator, and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the author of the New York Times bestseller Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life. A graduate of Harvard Medical School and the Warren Wilson Program for Writers, Dr. Aronson has received the Gold Professorship in Humanism in Medicine, the California Homecare Physician of the Year award, and the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award. Her writing appears in publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, Discover Magazine, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Her work has been featured on CBS This Morning, NPR’s Fresh Air, Politico, LitHub, Kaiser Health News, and Tech Nation. And recently we heard that Elderhood was one of 4 finalists for the General Nonfiction Pulitzer Prize! Find out more at https://louisearonson.com/
Uncertainty, Anxiety, and Resilience
Listen now to 5/4/20 show on About Health (KPFA.org–94.1FM)
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=333031
With the Covid-19 Pandemic, anxiety about our health, safety, and future is high! It’s hard to relax when there is so much uncertainty. For many people it’s particularly challenging. Under normal conditions anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults in the US age 18 and older, and is thought to be the most common mental health problem in the US.
Call us with your concerns and questions: 1-800-958-9008
Jennifer Shannon, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist and a Certified Diplomat in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy specializing in anxiety. She has over thirty years of experience treating children, teens and adults. She is the author of five books, including Don’t Feed The Monkey Mind, The Anxiety Survival Guide for Teens, and Monkey Mind Workbook for Uncertainty to be published August of this year. She is coming out with a kindle book this month called The Anxiety Virus, Five Essential Practices to Build Immunity to Uncertainty. She speaks regularly at national conferences and has been featured on radio programs, in magazines and newspapers. She co-authors her books with her husband Doug, a gifted illustrator. Find out more about Jennifer Shannon at www.jennifershannon.com
Staying Healthy During Covid-19 Pandemic
Listen now to the show we did 4/20/20 on About Health KPFA.org—94.FM
We discussed things to do (and to avoid) to build a strong immune system and stay healthy.
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=332221
We know that basic things like eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and exercising are all key ingredients to good health, but during a pandemic things get more complicated.
Are you having trouble sleeping? Do you find yourself looking in your refrigerator for foods high in fats, carbs, and sugar too often? Is your anxiety about the future getting the best of you? And are you worried about an underlying medical issue, but not sure if you should call your doctor?
Harry McIlroy, MD, is an integrative physician certified with the Institute for Functional Medicine. Before medical school and completion of residency at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, he had a background in nutrition and obtained a Master’s degree in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Dr. Harry strives to provide patients with health tools that empower them to improve their well being. Some of his specialities include Medical Cannabis, Chronic Pain, Digestive Health, Regenerative Medicine, and Insomnia. He serves as a volunteer clinical faculty member for the UCSF Medical School, and mentors and teaches medical residents at the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, which provides medical care to underserved populations.
Facing The Climate Emergency
Listen now to “About Health” on 94.1FM, @KPFA.org (4/6/20)
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=331164
Can we face the truth about the Climate Emergency, during this time of the deadly unprecedented Covid-19 global health crisis?
For both of these emergencies we can face our fears and deep despair…and we can join together now to make significant changes to save lives and resources. My guest, Margaret Klein Salamon can guide us in doing this.
“Scientific consensus says a climate emergency and an ecological crisis threatens everyone on this planet. This clear, and yet rarely-spoken truth, has the power to motivate rapid and far reaching change, IF we can tap into it.” —The Climate Mobilization
Margaret Klein Salamon, PhD, is a clinical psychologist turned climate warrior whose work helps people to face the deeply frightening, painful truths of the climate emergency, and transform their despair into effective action. She is the founder and executive director of The Climate Mobilization, which advocates an all-hands-on-deck, whole society mobilization to protect humanity and the living world from climate catastrophe. She helped pioneer the Climate Emergency Declaration campaign, which has led more than 1400 global governments to declare a Climate Emergency. She is the author of the new book, Facing the Climate Emergency: How to Transform Yourself with Climate Truth a radical new self-help guide for the climate emergency.
Shaken Brain
Listen now to my interview on KPFA 94.1FM, on 3/9/20, to an interview with Dr. Elizabeth Sandel, author of the new book, Shaken Brain, The Science, Care, and Treatment of Concussion.
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=329548
There is much misinformation about how concussions occur, symptoms, the best treatments, and what some long term consequences may be. Athletes are often associated with traumatic brain injuries, but all people are at risk of concussions from falls, car and bike accidents, intimate partner violence, and military service. It’s difficult to predict how long recovery will take, and more education is needed so people get the treatments they need.
Guest:
Dr. Elizabeth Sandel is a physician with decades of experience caring for people with brain injuries and other neurological disorders in health systems in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California, including as Medical Director of the Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo, California. Dr. Sandel is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and brain injury medicine. She is a medical director for Paradigm, a care and case management company for injured workers based in Walnut Creek. She has served on the faculty of the University of California/Davis School of Medicine for more than twenty years. Her late-career mission is to educate the public about science and medicine, using clear explanations and storytelling. Her website supplements her book, Shaken Brain: The Science, Care, and Treatment of Concussion (Harvard University Press, 2020): www.elizabethsandelmd.com