Harvard Chan: This Week In Health

February 1, 2018 — In this week's podcast we share an in-depth conversation with Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the 20th Surgeon General of the United States. During a recent interview with Voices in Leadership, Adams outlined his strategy for addressing America's opioid epidemic and shared how his family's own experiences with addiction have informed his work.

January 25, 2018 — Researchers are now harnessing vast amounts of information to assess what works in medicine and public health. In this week's podcast, we explore why this approach holds promise—but why it also comes with potential risks. You'll hear from Miguel Hernan, Kolokotrones Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, who is a leading expert in the field of causal inference, which includes comparative effectiveness research to guide policy and clinical decisions. We discussed how researchers are using big data to answer important questions about health—and the safeguards that need to be in place to avoid misleading results. Learn more Read Miguel Hernan's free book on causal inference Enroll in the free HarvardX course, Causal Diagrams: Draw Your Assumptions Before Your Conclusions

In May 2018, the U.S. government will be rolling out broad new menu labeling regulations. As part of the Affordable Care Act, restaurants and other food outlets with more than 20 locations will be required to post calorie counts right on their menus. And new research shows those rules may already be having an impact before they even go into effect. A study led by Sara Bleich, professor of public health policy, shows that many large chain restaurants have started removing higher calorie items from their menus. In this week's episode, we speak with Bleich about what these changes could mean for America's fight against obesity—and how policy changes can be used to alter the country's unhealthy food environment.

January 11, 2018— Basic science is at the heart of many of our greatest health advances. And in this week's episode we speak with two scientists who are asking fundamental questions about how our bodies work. The answers could help crack the secrets of diseases ranging from diabetes to dementia. For the past three-plus years those two scientists,  Robert Farese and Tobias Walther, have done something almost unheard of in public health: run a joint lab. Their work largely focuses on understanding how our cells store and then synthesize fat—a process known as lipid metabolism. It's work that has wide-ranging implications for a variety of diseases. During an in-depth conversation Farese and Walther shared insight on their work, the joys and challenges of running a lab together, and the importance of basic scientific research. Learn more Science by a power of two (Harvard Chan School news) Bob and Tobi's Excellent Adventure (Harvard Public Health magazine)

Each year in sub-Saharan African more than a million women and newborns die during childbirth—or shortly thereafter. One key to preventing these deaths is making sure women deliver in high-quality health care facilities. But in many areas—such as Nairobi, Kenya—women are faced with an overwhelming number of choices of where to give birth, with few high-quality options. In this week's episode, we'll take a look at how researchers are using lessons from behavioral economics to see if they can influence women to give birth at the higher quality facilities—and in turn receive better care. We'll speak with Jessica Cohen, associate professor of global health, about her research, which draws on knowledge about human psychology to better understand how people make decisions. The key question at the center of her new study: Can behavioral "nudges" in the form of cash transfers lead to better maternity care? Later in the episode, you'll hear from Roman Pabayo, research fellow in the Department of Social and B

Eating several small servings of nuts each week may significantly lower your risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In this week's episode we speak with Marta Guasch, a research fellow in the Department of Nutrition, and author of the study—which is one of the largest to date on the health benefits of nuts. We'll discuss what differentiates this study from other research on nuts, how many you should be consuming each week, and simple ways to include more nuts in your diet. Later in the episode, we’ll tell you about research examining the effectiveness of strategies to increase physical activity on a large scale. Learn more Nuts for the Heart (Nutrition Source) Community-wide intervention and population-level physical activity: a 5-year cluster randomized trial (International Journal of Epidemiology)

ovember 30, 2017 — Around 30 million Americans will be affected by an eating disorder in their lifetime, but these psychiatric disorders are not regularly tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That's why a coalition led by Harvard’s Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) is asking the CDC to monitor eating disorders as a part of national disease surveillance efforts. In this week's episode, we speak with Bryn Austin, professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and director of STRIPED, to learn how better data on eating disorders could improve treatment and prevention. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Fact sheet on eating disorders (PDF) CDC Eating Disorders Health Monitoring Project

In this week’s episode: It may be hard to have a truly healthy Thanksgiving, but we have some tips from Gary Adamkiewicz, assistant professor of environmental health and exposure disparities, to make your holiday feast more environmentally friendly. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Visit our archive page to listen to all of our past episodes. Learn more Sustainable eating tips Holiday meal recipes that prioritize plants

In this week’s episode: The science of Thanksgiving. Guy Crosby, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Nutrition, explains how you can use food science to cook the perfect holiday meal, plus he shares recipes for simple, delicious, and healthy side dishes. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Visit our archive page to listen to all of our past episodes. Learn more The Science of Flavor: How to perfectly roast Brussels sprouts (Nutrition Source) A complete guide to the benefits of Brussels sprouts (Nutrition Source)

In this week's episode we delve deep into our cells to talk about some exciting new basic science research coming out of the Harvard Chan School. We spoke with Quan Lu, associate professor of environmental genetics and pathophysiology, about a newly discovered cellular messaging mechanism that could have important implications for disease treatment—and may even change how public health researchers can track the impact of harmful environmental exposures, such as air pollution. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Cellular 'message in a bottle' may path to new way of treating diseases (Harvard Chan School news)

November 2, 2017 —According to preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 45,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016. On October 26, President Trump responded to the crisis by declaring it a public health emergency. In this week's episode we'll examine what that means, how we arrived at this point, and why that presidential election likely won't be enough to stem the tide of opioid addiction and overdoses. You'll hear from Howard Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, and Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Physicians’ opioid prescribing patterns linked to patients’ risk for long-term drug use (Harvard Chan School news) Changing the language of addiction (Harvard Chan: This Week in Health podcast)

In this week’s episode we speak with two leading experts on Zika virus—which grabbed international attention when it sickened a million people in dozens of countries more than two years ago. Marcia Castro is associate professor of demography in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard Chan School. She has extensively studied the lingering effects of Zika in Brazil—including how the virus has affected physical and mental health—as well as its effect on birth rates in the country. And Celina Turchi Martelli is professor of epidemiology of infectious diseases and a researcher at FIOCRUZ in Brazil. As the Zika outbreak began, Turchi worked closely with other scientists to track what was happening. Her research helped played a critical role in confirming that Zika did indeed cause microcephaly. Both Castro and Turchi participated in a panel discussion as part of Harvard Worldwide Week. The event, The New Era of Epidemics: Surveillance, Response, Impacts, and Challenges focused on lessons learned f

October 19, 2017 — In early October, President Trump took aim at the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with two proposed changes that could weaken the law. The President said that the government will stop making cost-sharing reduction payments to health insurance companies. These payments are intended to subsidize plans offered to lower income Americans under the ACA. And in a separate move, President Trump issued an executive order which would ease the rules and regulations for health plans offered under Obamacare and open the door for the creation of association health plans. The moves come just before the next ACA open enrollment period, running from November 1 to December 15. While the changes are not likely to affect plans offered during the upcoming enrollment, Benjamin Sommers, associate professor of health policy and economics, says the changes could lead to higher premiums and co-pays and potentially destabilize insurance markets over the long-term. Visit healthcare.gov to sign up for insurance beginning No

In this week's episode we discuss two decades of nutrition science with one of the leading experts in the field. Walter Willett, former chair of the Department of Nutrition, recently released an updated version of his book Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy , which compiles decades worth of evidence about the components of a healthy diet. During an in-depth conversation with Willett, we talk about what's changed in nutrition since the book was first released in 2000 and the topics that will dominate the field in the years to come—including obesity—and how climate change will force us to change how we eat. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Visit the Harvard Chan School's Nutrition Source Tips for sustainable eating (Harvard Chan School Nutrition Source)

In the wake of a mass shooting on October 1 in Las Vegas that left at least 59 people dead and more than 500 injured, David Hemenway, professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, speaks with us about the public health approach to gun control. Hemenway discusses what made the Las Vegas shooting so deadly, how Australia effectively responded to a mass killing in 1996, and why restrictions on federally funded gun research hamper efforts to prevent violence. We also re-play a story on background checks and gun purchases from January, 2017. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app. Learn more Tackling gun control as a public health problem (Boston Globe op-ed) The Harvard Injury Control Research Center Even as more gun buyers undergo background checks, millions still don’t (Harvard Chan School news)

There are widespread power outages and shortages of food and water in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. The storm is being blamed for at least two dozen deaths. It also devastated the island’s infrastructure, destroying the power grid and leaving millions without electricity. According to estimates from the U.S. military, half of the island does not have access to clean drinking water. To get some perspective on the public health and medical challenges facing the island we spoke with Stephanie Kayden, vice-chair and chief of international emergency medicine and humanitarian programs in the department of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Kayden is also an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard Chan School. Kayden has delivered emergency medical care around the world—including constructing a field hospital for survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to

A recent report published in The Lancet finds that health systems in sub-Saharan Africa are largely unprepared to deal with that region's rapidly expanding epidemic of diabetes. According to the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission nearly a quarter of adults in some countries now have diabetes, but only half of those with diabetes are diagnosed, and of those, only 1 in 10 are receiving treatment. More than 90% of cases of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa are type 2 diabetes, suggesting that modifiable risk factors are major contributors to the burden of disease. In this week's podcast we'll speak with Rifat Atun, professor of global health systems at Harvard Chan School and one of three lead authors of the report. Atun will explain what's driving this rapid increase in diabetes and what health systems can do to respond effectively. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.

September 14, 2017 — More than 90,000 schools in the U.S. have participated in the Box Tops for Education program—one of the largest school-based brand marketing initiatives. The program was launched by General Mills in 1996, and participating schools can earn money by collecting Box Tops from select products. While eligible goods include paperware and office supplies, Box Tops are featured on a wide array of packaged foods and beverages. Because these products are not actually sold in schools, they're not subject to federal nutrition standards. But if they were, how would they stack up nutritionally? New research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MassGeneral Hospital for Children finds that less than a third of the products would meet federal "Smart Snacks" standards. In this week's episode we speak with Elsie Taveras, Division Chief of General Academic Pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and professor of nutrition at the Harvard Chan School, and Alyssa Moran, a doctora

September 7, 2017 — In Texas the focus is shifting from saving lives to recovery in the wake of Harvey. The storm is being blamed for at least 64 deaths and the devastating flooding caused billions of dollars worth of damage. The region faces a long and difficult recovery—one that will be complicated by Hurricane Irma. The category 5 storm has already caused widespread devastation across the Caribbean and is bearing down on Florida. In this week's podcast we're focusing on disaster recovery from two angles. First, Eric McNulty, director of research and professional programs at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School, will explain why the recovery from a disaster like Harvey is so difficult. And in the second part of the episode, we'll explore the best ways to help support the recovery effort. Julia Brooks, legal research associate at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, will explain why it's almost always better to donate cash, in

August 31, 2017 — Tropical storm Harvey has caused devastating flooding around Houston, Texas since making landfall as a hurricane on August 26. The storm has dumped nearly 50 inches of rain—and is being blamed for more than two dozen deaths—though that number is likely to rise. Houston is now assessing the damage as Harvey moves to Louisiana. In this week's episode we speak with Richard Serino, distinguished visiting fellow at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School and former deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Serino says that the focus in Texas and Louisiana right now is still on saving lives—then emergency responders can turn their attention to a recovery that is likely to take years. You can subscribe to this podcast by visiting iTunes, listen to it by following us on Soundcloud, and stream it on the Stitcher app.