The Scope Radio

There are two components to Utah's inversions. We can see one of them: the pollution that causes the nasty-looking air. The other is the meteorological conditions that trap the pollution. We asked Eric Crosman, an atmospheric sciences researcher, to help us better understand the weather factor to inversions (also known as cold air pools.) Crosman answers common questions about what causes the wintertime haze, how it forms, if it’s worse in some places than others and what researchers like him hope to learn about it and why it matters.

You see it happening but just can’t get there fast enough to stop it—your child falls or gets hits in the head. Dr. Cindy Gellner says the first thing to do is not to panic. Head injuries are common in active kids and there are three main types: scalp injury, skull fracture and concussion. In this episode, Dr. Gellner tells you what the most dangerous head injury is and what to do at home if it happens to your child. She also talks about signs to look out for after a head injury that would require a follow-up with your pediatrician.

Health care communicators should always be asking if our messaging methods are achieving the intended objective. In this episode of the Health Care Insider, we examine targeted messages, tailored messages and stories to see which is more effective at getting patients to schedule a colonoscopy appointment. Communication researcher Jakob Jensen explains why his research suggests stories are the best method. He also gives tips on how to best structure your stories to get the behavioral outcome you desire.

Bacteria help build babies' immune systems. During a natural birth, the passage through the birth canal allows mom’s bacteria to colonize the baby. But what about babies born by cesarean section? Data suggest C-section babies may have more autoimmune diseases such as asthma and type 1 diabetes. So should C-section babies be gauzed with mom’s vaginal bacteria during the first few minutes of life? Dr. Kirtly Jones talks about this hot topic for moms-to-be and whether or not she thinks vaginal microbial transfer should be on the list of concerns going into labor.

Fewer than 20 percent of heart attack victims discuss with their doctors when it’s OK to have sex again. As a result, some patients worry about when is too soon and whether something bad happen. Cardiologist Dr. John Ryan offers some reassurance and says there’s a simple test you can do on your own to determine if your heart is ready. Find out the real deal when it comes to returning to sex after a heart attack, if enhancement drugs change things and what you need to know if you have a pacemaker.

With so many tasks vying for your attention, why spend precious time sending out short 140 character Twitter messages? Sara Yeo, Ph.D. (@sarakyeo), assistant professor of communication, explains the advantages of communicating via Twitter, who you can expect to reach, and how you can use it to your advantage.

There are many treatment options for pancreatic cancer—from resection to radiology to surgical de-bulking. But for some rare types of cancer, like neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas, more dramatic treatments may be necessary. Surgeon Dr. Thomas Chaly speaks on how a pancreatic transplant can be used as a treatment and potential cure for pancreatic cancers when other treatments have failed.

Neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors are dangerous because they might be potentially cancerous but can go relatively unnoticed for a long period of time. Dr. Tom Miller speaks with pancreatic transplant surgeon Dr. Thomas Chaly about these dangerous ninja cancers and how to treat them.

Thumb sucking is a common comforting habit in younger children. Because a baby’s desire to suck their thumb is essential for life, Dr. Cindy Gellner actually discourages trying to stop thumb sucking during the first few years before permanent teeth come in, usually around 4-5 years of age. But thumb sucking into a child’s school years can lead to behavioral issues. For children who refuse to let go of their thumb sucking habits, Dr. Gellner has some tips on how to get them to stop.

One of the latest trends in health care is precision medicine, a medical model aimed to tailor customize care along with medical practices and decisions to the individual patient. Dr. Kyle Bradford Jones talks to Dr. Will Dere, director for the Program for Personalized Health at the University of Utah, about what it takes from medical teams to provide precision medicine, and why it’s important for patients to understand what precision medicine can do for their health care.

One thing a mother-to-be should never have to worry about is a dangerous cancer growing inside her at the same time as a (hopefully) healthy new fetus. Luckily, cancer during pregnancy is uncommon, occurring in only about 1 out of 1,000 pregnancies. But even with those slim chances, you don’t want to take the risks. In this episode, Dr. Kirtly Jones talks about the cancers that are most common in pregnant women, as well as which ones are caused by pregnancy itself. And for women who are pregnant with cancer, Dr. Jones talks about options to care for the baby while treating the cancer.

Dr. Travis Maak used to volunteer on the ski patrol. He says everyday after 3:30pm is when the injuries start happening. But what makes 3:30pm different than 10am? Is it conditions or conditioning, or a bit of both? Listen as he identifies the factors he thinks contribute to those late in the day, last run injuries and has some advice for skiers to avoid ending the day in a bad way.

Medical advances have improved outcomes for heart attack patients, even for the sickest patients who undergo cardiogenic shock, a condition where the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. Yet a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reveals that over half of all heart attack patients either die or are rehospitalized within one year after being discharged. Among those who experienced cardiogenic shock the outlook is particularly poor within the first 60 days after initial treatment, with 34 percent of these patients either dying or returning to the hospital within that period. Study author Rashmee Shah, M.D. , assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, talks about what these findings mean, and what needs to happen next.

Traditionally, a liver used for transplant came from a deceased donor. Now, a handful of hospitals in the United States have the ability to do what’s called a “living donor” liver transplant. It’s a very complex procedure where a piece of the donor’s liver is put into the recipient. After a short time, the segments in the donor and the recipient naturally increase in size and serve as two functional livers. It is a way to provide patients with a liver before they get really sick. To learn more about this procedure, we asked Dr. Robin Kim, executive medical director of transplants at University of Utah Healthcare, about how it’s done, what makes it complicated and how safe it is for the donor.

Even though hundreds of thousands of LASIK procedures are performed safely every year, it can still be scary. Dr. Mark Mifflin at the Moran Eye Center finds that when patients know what’s going to happen, much of that fear goes away. In this podcast, he walks you though the procedure so you know what to expect. He also addresses a few of the common concerns patients have and some of the technology used that make it very safe.