Electronic cigarettes, like Juul, have been in use in the United States for over a decade now, so what’s up with the sudden spike in e-cigarette related illnesses? SPOILER: We wish we knew more.

What is alternative medicine? Does alternative medicine work? The University of Toronto recently stirred up a bit of controversy by uncritically offering a class on "Alternative Medicine." When people looked at the coursework, which...

Research is telling us that those with Type 2 diabetes don't need to be testing for blood glucose levels at home and that doing so is a waste of money and a strain on the health care system.

Amazing health effects of texting people with significant cardiovascular disease! This is Healthcare Triage News.

Aside from whatever a visit to the doctor costs you in money, it also costs you in time. A lot of it. Can we make that better? That's the topic of this week's Healthcare Triage.

Aaron and his wife both work. When one of their kids wakes up complaining of a sore throat, they begin a ritual staredown to determine which of them is going to have to wait for the doctor's office to open, call them, wait on hold,...

Studies report that hundreds of thousands of people die from preventable medical errors in the US each year. But is that right? This week we talk about times when smart people come to different conclusions from the same facts. It makes...

In previous episodes of Healthcare Triage, we've discussed how people often misunderstand risk and how it affects them. We've also talked about how you can calculate the explicit metrics of numbers needed to treat and harm. But people...

We've already discussed drug names, generic and "brand" ones. But are there differences beyond the words? That's the topic of this week's Healthcare Triage.

The latest and greatest gadget from Apple, the Watch Series 4, has doubled down on the health monitoring game, and is sporting an electrocardiogram, or ECG, function. But how useful is this thing? Does it make sense to monitor lots of...

American healthcare spending is still WAY higher than pretty much all other industrialized countries. But not that long ago, things were different. The US didn't spend nearly as much in this realm. What changed? Demographics? More...

I read a study a few weeks ago on blood pressure treatment for nursing home residents, and I almost ignored it. There are so many like it. But it's just ridiculous that this kind of stuff continues, and that we can't seem to do anything...

The idea behind cost-sharing in healthcare costs goes something like this: If the patient is responsible for some part of the cost of their care, they'll be more judicious in their choices of treatment, and healthcare spending will...

A huge meta-analysis came out recently looking at how effective antidepressants actually are. It turns out, the results are complicated, and we had a hard time reducing all the stuff in this study to a headline. So, the title's a...

Study after study affirms that doctors treat their patients differently, depending on the patient's race. Minority patients get different diagnoses, different treatments, and are often subject to being stereotyped by their physicians.

When someone gets a diagnosis, they should get lots of time with their doctors and nurses to talk and learn about the condition. This isn't always possible. Sometimes, it can be useful to talk to patients who have also been through the...

The drug approval process in the United States is complicated. There are many stakeholders and varying agendas when bringing a drug to market, and profit motives often are as big a factor as helping patients. The loopholes and shortcuts...

We really need good treatments for Alzheimer's. But Biogen's very expensive and maybe not that effective drug Aduhelm is not the treatment we're looking for. Today we look at the saga of Adulhelm's approval and it's road to acceptance...

If you've had coronavirus, are you immune or can you catch it again? What's this I hear about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome? And does hydroxychloroquine work or not? Aaron talks you through the studies and facts about some of the...

Tuberculosis had a big impact on George Orwell's life and on his novel "1984." Drawing parallels between Orwell's struggle with TB and the themes of isolation, surveillance, and control in the novel, it delves into how Orwell's personal...

This video tackles the question of whether teenagers should take paid work alongside their education. Based on Steinberg et al.'s (1982) findings, this video challenges the notion that teenagers should use their free-time for financial...

New and lethal strains of TB are emerging worldwide which cannot be treated by conventional drugs. One estimate puts the number of new MDR TB cases per year as high as 400,000. After 40 years without any research into new drugs, the...

This year alone, eight million people will become infected with tuberculosis. Like the common cold, TB spreads through the air when sufferers cough, sneeze, spit, or just talk. One needs only to inhale a few germs to catch it. This...

Kala-azar, the common name for visceral leishmaniasis, is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, substantial weight loss, swelling of the spleen and liver, and anemia. If left untreated it is almost certainly fatal. This program...