Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Sherwin Ho, MD Guest: William J. Bryan, MD In many regions of our country, summer weather means more outdoor activities, competitive cycling among them. Though cycling is great exercise, our patients must take proper caution to limit their injury risk. Host Dr. Sherwin Ho talks with Dr. Bill Bryan, former medical doctor for the United States cycling team and an avid cyclist, about a range of cycling injuries, from carpel tunnel syndrome to the typical joint pains. What advice can you give your patients t help them avoid injury?

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Roni Zeiger, MD Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welsomes Dr. Roni Zeiger, product manager of Google Health and primary care physician, to discuss the controversial realm of physician ratings and how Google will enter this arena.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Roni Zeiger, MD Google Health seeks to do for medical patients what it does for general search. What does Google Health offer our patients now, and what does it seek to provide in the future? Discussing Google Health - focusing around both privacy and possibility - with your host, Dr. Bruce Bloom, is Dr. Roni Zeiger, product manager of Google Health and primary care physician.

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP Guest: Jill Grimes, MD The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated that 19 million Americans — including one in four teenage girls — are infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD). As physicians, we know that these diseases are far more common than most people think. But are we doing our best to educate our patients and provide appropriate screening measures? How can physicians work to debunk common public misconceptions about STDs? Dr. Jill Grimes, a practicing family physician in Austin, Texas, and author of Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STDs, addresses a series of erroneous beliefs about STDs and offers counsel on the most effective ways for physicians to help tackle this critical public health problem. Dr. Jennifer Shu hosts.

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP Guest: Jill Grimes, MD More than five million Americans struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. How can you determine if your patients' moments of forgetfulness are an early sign of this illness? How can you help families make tough decisions about independent living? Dr. Jill Grimes, a practicing family physician in Austin, Texas, and author of the chapter on Alzheimer’s in the 5-Minute Clinical Consult textbook, joins host Dr. Jennifer Shu to share her insight on diagnosing, caring for and counseling our Alzheimer’s patients. What adjustments can we make to our practice to best assist patients and their families coping with the burdens of Alzheimer’s?

Host: Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA Guest: Howard Wetsman, MD With hypertension research, researchers typically look for reductions in blood pressure numbers as target outcomes. Chronic pain management, by comparison, usually calls for measures of subjective experiences of pain. But what are we looking for as target outcomes for addiction? Join Dr. Stu Gitlow in speaking with guest Dr. Howard Wetsman about advances in addiction research and current views on assessing outcomes from this field.

Host: Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA Guest: Howard Wetsman, MD What are the facts and stereotypes of addiction? New Orleans based psychiatrist and author of QAA: Questions and Answers on Addiction, Dr. Howard Wetsman discusses addiction in general, including the labels and treatments, with host Dr. Stuart Gitlow.

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD Guest: Peter Baquie, MD The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing introduced unique health risks and preparation needs for athletic teams from participating nations. Dr. Mary Leuchars is joined by guest Dr. Peter Baquie, Medical Director for the 2008 Australian Olympic Team. They will discuss unique measures undertaken by the Australian medical personnel to protect the health of elite athletes in Beijing. Learn about infectious disease risks and vaccination priorities, food-borne illness precautions, and climate exposure considerations enhancing team safety.

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD Guest: Peter Baquie, MD Dr. Mary Leuchars is joined by guest Dr. Peter Baquie, Medical Director for the 2008 Australian Olympic Team. They will discuss unique measures being undertaken by the Australian medical personnel to protect the health of elite athletes abroad. What are some of the challenges inherent in overseeing the "medical home" of a traveling team, or in tending to the diverse spectra of health problems among athletes from every sport discipline? Learn more from this interesting discussion.

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD Guest: Ken Fitch, MD Dr. Mary Leuchars is joined by guest Dr. Ken Fitch, past-Chairperson of the Australian Olympic Committee's Medical Commission and current member of the Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee. The topic is asthma in elite athletes, and Dr. Fitch shares insights on how the Australian Olympic team's physicians assess, treat, and prepare their top competitors to perform in Beijing's hot climate conditions.

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD Guest: Ken Fitch, MD Host Dr. Mary Leuchars speaks with Dr. Ken Fitch, past-Chairperson of the Australian Olympic Committee's Medical Commission and current member of the Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee. Their topic of conversation is sports medicine and the differences in clinical care of athletes between American and Australian health systems. They will discuss how these differences may separate care plans and rehabilitation efforts for athletes representing the American and Australian Olympic teams respectively.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Arlin Rogers, PhD Arlin Rogers, PhD, chief of comparative pathology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, details a new genome study which is helping to explain why men are saddled with liver cancer more often than their gender counterparts. Dr. Rogers aims to raise awareness for the influence of hepatitis B and C, and the role of an important cell mediator, in this disease trajectory. Find out more with host Dr. Maurice Pickard.

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Geoffrey Joyce, PhD The individual's healthcare in the last 12 months of life costs about 25% of total healthcare costs for that person's life. Should policy makers’ better control end-of-life costs? This is just one of many questions addressed in this segment about weighing the effectiveness of treatment vs. cost. Join us as host Dr. Bill Rutenberg interviews Senior Medical Economist of the Rand Corporation, Geoffrey Joyce PhD.

Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH Guest: Joseph Hill, MD, PhD Dr. Joseph Hill, Chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, talks to host Dr. Matthew Sorrentino about the changes that occur in the myocardium when the heart begins to fail. They explore more specifically autophagy, a new concept of cardiac remodeling that may be both beneficial and detrimental to cardiac function.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Samantha Collier, MD Quality measurement is becoming more known with grades of hospitals, nursing homes and doctor groups becoming more prevalent. But how about prescription drugs? Dr. Samantha Collier, the chief medical officer of HealthGrades, one of the nation’s largest independent healthcare ratings companies, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about ranking prescription drugs, the latest effort in rating medical care.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Samantha Collier, MD Everybody from the government to large employers are getting in the business of quality measurement. But what does one of the major commercial enterprises involved in health grades think of this movement? Dr. Samantha Collier, chief medical officer of HealthGrades, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen how one of the nation’s largest independent healthcare ratings companies fits into the crowded field.

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Richard Salvi, PhD Dr. Richard Salvi, professor in the department of communicative disorders and sciences, and director of the Center for Hearing Deafness at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine, outlines potentially fertile areas of research in our pursuit of more effective treatment regimens for tinnitus with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill. We are still working toward a cure for the condition, but there have been major advances in our treatment of the physiologic and psychologic triggers for the condition. What are the most important investigational issues in the future of tinnitus research?

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Richard Salvi, PhD Major advances in tinnitus research are making investigators very optimistic about our ability to treat the condition now and in the future. What are the most effective therapeutic measures for tinnitus? What are the specific mechanisms behind our various treatment options? Dr. Richard Salvi, professor in the department of communicative disorders and sciences, and director of the Center for Hearing Deafness at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine, details our ongoing pursuit of optimal treatment strategies for tinnitus with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill.

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Richard Salvi, PhD We're learning more about tinnitus at a steady clip, as researchers use newer imaging modalities to help us understand the origin of the condition, and consider lifestyle and behavioral modifications that may limit its effects. Host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill explores the main causes of tinnitus with Dr. Richard Salvi, professor in the department of communicative disorders and sciences, and director of the Center for Hearing Deafness at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine.

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Richard Salvi, PhD A neurological condition that can be highly distressing, tinnitus affects as much as fifteen percent of our population, according to some surveys. How should medical professionals counsel their patients on this condition? Are we moving closer to understanding the basic triggers of tinnitus? Dr. Richard Salvi, professor in the department of communicative disorders and sciences, and director of the Center for Hearing Deafness at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine, joins host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill to discuss the impact of tinnitus on the daily lives of our patients.