The Scope Radio

Someone in a restaurant has a severe allergic reaction to something they’ve just eaten and can’t breathe. Would you know what to do? Emergency room physician Dr. Troy Madsen explains the signs and symptoms of severe allergic reactions and lists the steps to take in this potentially life-threatening situation.

In a growing trend to improve health care, smaller community hospitals have begun partnering with larger urban ones for access to specialists, providing employee training and gaining other support in a cost effective manner. Sometimes, these partnerships also allow patients to remain in their own communities instead of traveling long distances for treatment. We examine the benefits of such formal affiliation agreements by looking at the newly developed relationship between Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., and University of Utah Health Care in Salt Lake City.

Advanced heart failure can be as deadly as many cancers. Fortunately, technology has improved significantly since the first artificial heart was implanted at the University of Utah in 1981. Dr. Tom Miller sits down with heart transplant surgeon Dr. Craig Selzman to talk about how far the devices have come. They also discuss what kinds of technologies patients with failing hearts can expect in the coming years.

When your child has a fever, it can be difficult to tell whether it’s serious enough to see a pediatrician. Listen in as Dr. Cindy Gellner goes over some myths and facts about fevers in children and babies, including how to tell low-grade and high-grade fevers apart and how to treat each. She also gives some hints about fevers that will help you keep calm while your child is ill.

In the body, a skin cell will always be skin, and a heart cell will always be heart. But the first hours of life, cells in the nascent embryo are totipotent: they have the incredible flexibility to mature into skin, heart, gut, or any type of cell. New research by University of Utah professor of oncology, Brad Cairns, Ph.D., provides surprising insights into how, and when, cells acquire this magical ability. His work was published on May 15 in the journal, Cell Stem Cell. Dr. Cairns explains his findings and their implications in understanding mechanisms that drive cancer, and the beginnings of life.

You want to learn more about protein, but after some research on the Internet you’re just confused. How much protein do you really need? Do you need more if you’re trying to build muscle? The answers might surprise you. Dietitian Stacie Wing-Gaia discusses some myths about protein and nutrition.

They say arguments and conflicts make a relationship better, but should you argue with your child in the room? Clinical social worker Mary Talboys talks about some ways to handle arguments that may arise in front of the family. She also discusses some tips for handling disagreements with your partner or spouse in a healthy way.

You’re hiking and you see a clear stream with what seems to be drinkable water. The question is, do you drink it? Emergency room physician Dr. Troy Madsen tells you his views on drinking water directly from any babbling brook. He also tells you the one thing to bring in case you’re that unlucky person who got poisoning from bad water.

Choking is the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in children. What do kids choke on the most? Ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Jeremy Meier explains why choking is such a common issue. He also tells parents about some precautions to help prevent their child from choking.

We’ve all noticed someone with sever tremors whose hands are uncontrollably shaking. Fact is, everybody has the potential to experience tremors in some form. Dr. Tom Miller talks with movement disorder specialist Dr. Lauren Schrock about the two main types of tremors and how to identify the differences between them, possible causes, and when to be concerned.

Transforming health care has become a major topic, but what does it really mean? Dr. Linda French of the University of Toledo discusses what changes we will see, what they mean for both health care professionals and patients, and what could be done to solve many problems in the health care system now.

MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) is a respiratory illness with around a 30 percent mortality rate. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. However, protecting yourself from the virus might be easier than you think. Infectious disease expert Dr. Adi Gundlapalli tells you about the one simple thing you can do to help protect yourself against MERS.

Mental obstacles can be as challenging as physical ones for athletes, preventing them from accomplishing their best. To perform at peak levels athletes must learn to overcome mental obstacles. Listen in as sport psychologist Nicole Detling discusses the two biggest mental obstacles faced by athletes of all ages and skill levels and how they and other mental blocks can be overcome.

There are many guidelines and laws about child safety in a passenger vehicle, including the latest information on rear-facing car seats. Dr. Cindy Gellner talks about car seats and how to keep your children as safe as possible on the road.

Medical students must make the best impression on their attending physicians that they can, but doing so without being overbearing and in a short amount of time can be difficult. First-year med student Kara Arnold gets some tips from fourth-year Bob Chestnut about things you can do and shouldn’t do to create a good impression to get the recommendation you want.