Tag Archives: Multi-vitamins

Fighting Future Flu Outbreaks

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This weekend on YOUR HEALTH® Adam and guest co-hosts Dr. Jonathan Fricke and Laurel Sisler welcome Dr. Lisa Koonin—deputy director of the CDC’s Influenza Coordination Unit and adjunct assistant professor in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health—about fighting future flu outbreaks.Dr. Lisa Koonin

You can catch the episode on: 

WCHL 97.9 FM

  • Saturday, August 25 at 9 a.m.
  • Sunday, August 26 at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • Monday, August 27 at 6 p.m.

KKAG Retro Radio 88.3 FM

  • Sunday, August 26 at 7 a.m.

Listen to the show!
Download the episode from the Carolina Digital Repository

Monitoring Marijuana Use as Attitudes, Behaviors and Legislation Change

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This weekend on YOUR HEALTH® Adam & guest co-host Bob Gwyther talk with Dr. Alejandro Azofeifa, epidemiologist with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about monitoring marijuana use as attitudes, behaviors and legislation change.

Dr. Alejandro Azofeifa

Please tune in! The show will air:

WCHL 97.9 FM

  • Saturday, January 21, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • Sunday, January 22, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, January 23, at 6 p.m.

KKAG Retro Radio 88.3 FM

  • Sunday, January 22, at 7 a.m.

Listen to the show!
Download the episode from the Carolina Digital Repository

  • Research That Matters (min 0-9:26) Television cooking shows overlook safe food handling practices; Social networking by doctors may save patients’ lives; Giving more pregnant women thyroid medicine may reduce risk of complications; White coat hypertension may indicate risk for heart disease in some people
  • Conversations with Dr. Alejandro Azofeifa (min 9:26-29:46)
  • House Calls (min 29:46-40:00) How do I keep my newborn healthy until he is vaccinated since there are so many other parents not vaccinating their children?; When should I talk to my daughter’s pediatrician about her anxiety over flying?; If I eat healthy and have good lifestyle habits, is there any benefit to taking a daily multivitamin?; What questions should I ask when getting a second opinion about a hip replacement?

You may also like:

Marijuana and Mental Illness (YOUR HEALTH Radio, Research that Matters, September 29, 2018)

The Media’s Portrayal of Mental Illness (YOUR HEALTH Radio October 2016)

Do YOU really need multi-vitamins?

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It seems that many (if not most) of our patients are taking multi-vitamins, a multibillion dollar proposition.  The quest that we have is simple: Do most people need them? Do most people derive any benefit from a daily vitamin? Or, are multi-vitamins pretty expensive placebos- not harmful maybe but of questionable effectiveness?

A very nice new study begins to provide some answers.  Research in the American Journal of Epidemiology looked at the relationship between multi-vitamins and heart disease and cancer.

Are multi-vitamins protective against the two most common killers of people in developed countries?  The study looked at 180,000 people, 80,000 men and 100,000 women, over an 11 year period, an exceedingly large, rigorous and important study.  The results showed that in fact there was no positive association between using multi-vitamins and lowering your risk at heart attack or cancer.

The researchers didn’t find any particular medical harm in taking a multi-vitamin, but when you think about their cost, supplements can easily range from a few to hundreds of dollars, month after month, year after year.  That’s a significant enough amount of money, and at this point at least, we don’t have any proof that the multi-vitamins make a difference for preventing cancer or heart attacks.

This study is just another contribution to an emerging body of evidence that if you eat a balanced diet, and unless you have some type of deficiency or other real reason for taking them, multi-vitamins may not be helpful.

Charles Cairns Discusses Emergency Medicine

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Charles Cairns

This weekend, Adam and Cristy talk with Dr. Chuck Cairns joins YOUR HEALTH to discuss emergency medicine. Dr. Cairns is Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Cairns attended medical school at UNC and completed his emergency medicine residency and emergency medicine/cardiology research fellowship at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.  He is active as a clinician, educator and researcher in emergency and critical care medicine.

Listen to the show!

Download the episode from the Carolina Digital Repository