Bob Barrett

There are times when you listen to The Health Show and every feature flows into the next with a clear theme and obvious plan.  Well not today.  On today’s Health Show it’s four different feature on four different topics, none of which have anything to do with the other.

First we’ll hear about the growing tread of males becoming family care givers.

Then advise from the NIH: get up and do something...anything.

We’ll hear how many people in our gadget obsessed culture need a digital detox.

And commentary from our friend Judah

When you switch on your computer in the morning, what’s the first page you see.  For millions, that home page is Google...and the first thing they notice is the Google Doodle.  Now students are being asked to design there own Google Doodle for a nice scholarship. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll get details of the contest.

We’ll also hear how budget cut backs have changed the lives of some teachers in Chicago, attend a training session for emergency room personnel and spend an academic minute learning about a rare condition that affects a child’s coordination.

Here’s one of those statements of indisputable fact that you love so much: nobody’s eye sight gets better as they age.  There have been recent advances in eye care research that are helping more people keep their sight longer.  On today’s Health Show, a talk about your eyes.

We’ll also learn how being born deaf affects your sense of touch.  And we’ll visit with a pain specialist who has some very good advice about concussions.

Many of us are still trying to make some kind of sense out of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  Perhaps that’s impossible.  But in the days after the shooting people swarmed into the town to try and help. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from a Red Cross volunteer who went to Newtown the day after the shootings.

We’ve had nasty flu seasons before...but this year is turning out to be something especially gruesome.  The season started about a month early and there is now widespread flu in 47 states.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll talk to a flu expert from the Mayo Clinic about this years strain of the flu, and what you can do to stay healthy.

And while we’re talking about seasons...we’re in the heat of the football playoff season, so it’s a good time to hear from a doctor and author who says you should treat your health care like a team sport.

Remember correspondence schools?  That’s when you used to be able to take courses through the mail for complete a diploma or learn a trade.   Well people don’t use the mail for much anymore...they use the internet.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll learn about virtual schools and how a northeastern state preparing for their growth.

We’ll also hear from a student who’s welcoming everyone to her personal jungle in her new a book.  Then it’s off to California for a visit to a traditional Mexican music school.  And we’ll spend an academic minute with out of tune banjos.

Most of the time on this program, I feel like I can hold my own in most discussions.  There are some topics however.  Take menopause.  Whenever we talk about this part of a woman’s life I feel like half the audience is saying “yeah, what do you know about it”.  That’s why I call on smart people to help me.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll talk about menopause, or, most accurately, perimenopause.

Little green men.  Robots with ray guns on their arms.  Klingons!  These are just a few examples of fictional life in outer space.  But, if you were given all the facts and numbers about another world, could you come up with a story about what life would be like up there?  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll talk to some student short story authors who turned facts and a good imagination into prize winning stories.

We’ll also spend an academic minute in a place we have a few more facts about...the oceans.

Nobody has ever won an election by saying that Medicare is bad.  In fact, people who say that tend to lose elections by large numbers.  So, it’s no surprise that in a recent survey, 98 per cent of adults 18 or older said that Medicare is important to American’s health in retirement.  But what about the health of Medicare itself?  On today’s Health Show, we are going to be joined by two representatives of  A.A.R.P.  and  talk about the future of Medicare and Social Security...and what A.A.R.P.  is doing to support their members.

Anybody in the mood for an old fashioned, year-end best of show?  Good, because you’ve just tuned into one.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll take another listen to some of our most interesting stories of the past year.

We’ll learn about a school in Brooklyn that uses Applied Behavioral Analysis to help teach children with autism.  Hear the frustrations of teachers trying to advance their careers in a tough political and economic climate.  And find out about a computer that is making to move from games shows to clinical labs.