Come one, come all to learn of the miraculous news we’re buzzing to share with you at this limited time, low price offer. If you’ve been troubled by aches and pains, sores and sneezes, look no further than this very special episode - good for whatever ails you. Brimming with historical detail and outlandish claims, we’re marching through the wild west of patent medicines in the 19th century. We begin with the widespread rejection of professional medicine in the 1820s (sound familiar??) and continue through the century as quack doctors and snake oil salesmen proliferate and hawk their fraudulent goods across the landscape. Fueled by a lack of regulation and the eternal desire for a cure-all, these fraudsters grew ever wealthier and more daring in the claims they made. When consumer protections finally kicked in at the turn of the 20th century, it left people wondering: did the snake oil salesman truly die or did he just take on a new disguise? Tune in to learn that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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A diagnosis of dementia of any kind is devastating. For those with the hereditary form of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), it could mean an entire family is destined for the same fate. In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, award-winning author Robert Kolker paints an intimate portrait of one such family in The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia. Through Kolker’s compassionate and incisive writing, readers learn about FTD alongside this family and gain a unique insight into the painful and complex decisions the siblings face. Kolker also presents a scoping view of the history and possible future of dementia research, one that may allow fate to be rewritten. Tune in for all this and more.

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, has long mystified the medical community and brought tremendous sorrow to those impacted by the condition. But to tell the story of ALS as one solely of tragedy would do a disservice to those who have long fought to develop an effective treatment or raise awareness. Because it is through their tireless efforts that those with ALS will eventually be able to rewrite their own ending. In today’s episode, we attempt to convey the full picture of ALS: from what we know about its causes to the earliest medical descriptions, from the baseball player whose impassioned speech captured the public’s hearts to the promising research on the horizon. Tune in for all this and more.

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Shortly after birth, many newborns are given vitamin K to help their blood clot properly and reduce the chances of hemorrhage. Increasingly, especially here in the US, parents are refusing this life-saving intervention, leaving these babies more likely to develop deficiency bleeding which can lead to life-long brain damage and death. In this episode, we explore the many dimensions of vitamin K: how it acts in our bodies as an essential compound, when we discovered the clotting properties of this vitamin and applied that knowledge to prevent catastrophic bleeding in newborns, and why some people are turning away from this life-saving injection. You’ve seen the headlines, now tune in for the full story.

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Imagine yourself as a 17th century English peasant or merchant or noble. Let’s say you’re dealing with some intense stomach pain or a cut on your leg that won’t heal. Where do you turn to for help? Today’s book club episode reveals that the answer depends on your medical needs, your wealth, your social standing, and your gender. But one thing’s for certain: you had some options up your sleeve. In The Surgeon, The Midwife, The Quack: How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England, Dr. Alanna Skuse, Associate Professor at the University of Reading, takes readers through the layered world of Renaissance medicine and the many different healers (both licensed and self-professed) that occupied it. As Dr. Skuse demonstrates, people have always sought experts to help them return to or remain in good health, and this has in turn fueled the growth of new medical professions as people carved out their healing niche. How did this era set the stage for the birth of modern medicine? Tune in to find out.

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This week, we’re picking up where we left off last episode in our exploration of ECT by examining how this therapy is administered, which conditions it’s used for, and what we know about why it works. To start off, we take you through the procedure step-by-step, including prep and what someone might experience in the days or weeks that follow. We then examine the situations for which ECT might be recommended as well as the barriers preventing its wider use, which include issues with both access and stigma. How on earth does an electric shock improve symptoms of depression or catatonia? That burning question is one we do our best to answer. To help us present an accurate and comprehensive perspective of this important but underutilized therapy, we bring on an expert. Dr. Leonardo Lopez, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and Vice Chair of Inpatient Services in the Department of Psychiatry, works alongside NewYork-Presbyterian to expand access to ECT across multiple hospitals (check out the Advances in Care podcast episode featuring his work, The Positive Impact of Electroconvulsive Therapy for Severe Psychiatric Illness). Dr. Lopez shares with us a remarkable story of a young girl whose rare condition (anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis) was treated in part with ECT (watch the video of her journey). He also shines a light on the current limitations facing ECT as well as his hopes for the future. Tune in for a truly fascinating episode!

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For many, a mention of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) conjures images of torture or mind control from popular media like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Requiem for a Dream. Comparatively few know that ECT is not only still used today but is an incredibly safe and effective treatment for an array of psychiatric conditions. In this and next week’s episode, we explore this stigmatized and misunderstood therapy from its questionable origins to its current uses. We start by diving into the history of ECT and placing its discovery in the broader context of psychiatric medicine and leading notions of the causes of mental illness. We learn that ECT’s troubling reputation is not entirely unearned but is a relic of the past, as substantial advancements in safety and administration have established this as a truly powerful therapy that has stood the test of time. Tune in for a big picture view of one of our oldest and most effective psychiatric treatments.

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Already this summer, heatwaves are causing thousands of deaths across the world, catastrophic flooding threatens millions, wildfires rage across enormous swathes of the globe, many regions face extreme drought conditions, and a very strong El Niño is predicted for later this year, leading to further climate chaos. It’s a lot to take in. The devastating consequences of climate change can be measured any number of ways, and in this week’s book club episode, we delve into some of the more insidious and less explored impacts: those on our cognition, our mental health, our brains, and our behavior. In The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes our Brains, author Clayton Page Aldern, neuroscientist and journalist who leads the data journalism program at Grist, presents a compelling and sweeping examination of the many unseen ways that climate change is changing us. Why do we have a shorter fuse when it’s hot outside? How are our memories and language impacted by our changing climate? What pathogens pose a greater threat to our brains as the climate warms? And most importantly, how can we begin to process these effects on our inner selves? Tune in to find out.

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