Latest Showmethescience Podcast Episodes
Newly approved drug may slow progression of Alzheimer’s
Show Me the Science - August 04, 2023 19:31 - 20 minutesIn this episode, Washington University researchers discuss the Food and Drug Administration’s recent full approval of the drug Leqembi (lecanemab) and what it could mean to the future of Alzheimer’s disease treatments. The drug is approved for use in people with mild dementia from Alzheimer’s di...
Can psychedelic drugs help treat mental illness?
Show Me the Science - June 30, 2023 19:42 - 21 minutesIn this episode, we discuss new research into psychedelic drugs as potential therapies for psychiatric illness. Several studies have suggested that drugs, such as psilocybin, may be useful in treating problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and depression. Psychiatry researche...
Advocating for science and truth
Show Me the Science - June 02, 2023 14:12 - 21 minutesIn this episode, we hear from two physician-scientists who have been leaders in the U.S. effort to deal with two medical crises that emerged almost 40 years apart: HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Anthony S. Fauci, MD, the recently retired director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Dise...
Making connections through storytelling
Show Me the Science - May 15, 2023 19:49 - 17 minutesIn this episode, we visit a recent event sponsored by the Becker Medical Library at the School of Medicine. Called “In Our Words: Connection,” the storytelling event brought together 12 faculty members, medical students, residents and fellows who told stories about how their lives have been affe...
Maternal mortality rates are spiking. How can the trend be reversed?
Show Me the Science - April 17, 2023 17:43 - 15 minutesIn this episode, we report on the disturbing spike in maternal mortality rates in recent years. Although rates of maternal death have long been higher in the U.S. than in other wealthy countries, the rate recently reached its highest level since 1965. The number of deaths of mothers has risen fr...
International effort aims to help those at risk for serious psychiatric illness
Show Me the Science - March 13, 2023 19:32 - 16 minutesIn this episode, we report on a major international study involving psychiatry researchers from the School of Medicine who are working to identify causes and effects of the early stages of schizophrenia in young people — an illness characterized by significant changes in thoughts, feelings and b...
Recognizing, caring for dementia patients in the emergency department
Show Me the Science - January 31, 2023 21:49 - 20 minutesIn this episode, we head to the emergency department. Doctors in most emergency departments around the country are dealing with fewer COVID-19-positive patients than before, but they continue to be faced with a different epidemic of sorts: the 20% to 30% of patients with dementia-related cogniti...
Brain-related issues can linger after patients recover from COVID-19
Show Me the Science - December 21, 2022 20:00 - 19 minutesIn this episode, we learn more about one of the leading problems associated with long COVID-19. Those who have been infected with the virus are at increased risk for a range of neurological conditions in the first year after an infection. Research conducted at the School of Medicine and the Vete...
Treating the whole patient all at once
Show Me the Science - November 22, 2022 16:32 - 17 minutesIn this episode, we visit the team at the Washington University Living Well Center. It was launched to improve outcomes for patients with orthopedic issues. For example, if someone needs hip-replacement surgery, that person also can receive help losing weight, stopping smoking and taking other ...
Updated boosters and progress toward a nasal vaccine
Show Me the Science - October 19, 2022 20:14 - 17 minutesAs we get deeper into autumn and winter approaches, we discuss COVID-19 vaccines. New boosters have been developed to rev up the immune system not only to fight the original strain of the virus but also to boost the immune system against more recent omicron strains of SARS-CoV-2. In this episode...
What if it’s not COVID-19?
Show Me the Science - August 30, 2022 15:23 - 19 minutesIf you were coughing, running a fever and felt short of breath, what would you think? Those are common symptoms of COVID-19. But not everyone with such symptoms is infected with the virus. In this episode, we tell the story of a Michael Moffitt, a young man who grew up in St. Louis but was bee...
New COVID-19 variants causing re-infections
Show Me the Science - August 03, 2022 20:50 - 19 minutesInfections and hospitalizations are rising again. During this latest wave of COVID-19 infections, many fully vaccinated people are getting sick, as are people who previously were sick with the virus, even those infected in the very recent past. The new strains of omicron — BA.4 and BA.5 — have s...
Giving stroke patients a hand
Show Me the Science - July 18, 2022 19:40 - 20 minutesBrain-computer interfaces connect activity in the brain to an external device by means of a computer. Research has shown it’s possible to use such interfaces to move robotic arms and perform other tasks. Almost 30 years ago, Washington University researcher Eric Leuthardt, MD, a professor of neu...
Long COVID-19 a lasting battle for many
Show Me the Science - June 22, 2022 15:13 - 18 minutesAs many as 30% of those who get COVID-19 will continue to have problems in the weeks and months after their infections. Long COVID-19 is defined as a condition in which issues persist for at least three months. But for many, the difficulties last much longer. Extreme fatigue, shortness of breath...
Pandemic fuels use of alcohol, opioids
Show Me the Science - May 17, 2022 18:00 - 19 minutesIn this episode, we discuss issues that were problems long before anyone ever heard of COVID-19: alcohol use disorder and opioid overdose. Both seem to have gotten worse during the pandemic. Alcohol sales rose during the early days of lockdown, and they’ve remained high. Laura J. Bierut, MD, th...
As 'Show Me the Science' turns 2, we look back at 2 years of a pandemic
Show Me the Science - April 26, 2022 17:56 - 19 minutesBut for this episode, we’re sticking with COVID-19. In 2020, when the pandemic shut down much of the country, our very first guest on “Show Me the Science” was Steven J. Lawrence, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He also was our first guest of our second season ...
As ‘Show Me the Science’ turns 2, we look back at 2 years of a pandemic
Show Me the Science - April 26, 2022 17:56 - 19 minutesBut for this episode, we’re sticking with COVID-19. In 2020, when the pandemic shut down much of the country, our very first guest on “Show Me the Science” was Steven J. Lawrence, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He also was our first guest of our second season ...
Long COVID can affect every organ system in the body
Show Me the Science - April 01, 2022 16:07 - 19 minutesThe death toll isn’t the only staggering statistic from the first two years of the pandemic. What’s become increasing clear is that some COVID-19 patients don’t get well right away. Since the earliest days of the pandemic, we’ve heard of survivors who continue to experience shortness of breath, e...
Adjusting the nation's COVID-19 response
Show Me the Science - March 08, 2022 16:28 - 19 minutesWith the pandemic death toll approaching 1 million people in the United States, Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a Washington University alum, visited Washington University School of Medicine on March 2 and March 3, 2022. As ...
Adjusting the nation’s COVID-19 response
Show Me the Science - March 08, 2022 16:28 - 19 minutesWith the pandemic death toll approaching 1 million people in the United States, Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a Washington University alum, visited Washington University School of Medicine on March 2 and March 3, 2022. As...
Can we communicate more effectively about vaccines?
Show Me the Science - March 01, 2022 17:59 - 18 minutesMore than 900,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19, and over the last year, almost all of those deaths have been among unvaccinated people. Still, many people remain unvaccinated, and many say they are not sure whether they can trust the things public health officials say about C...
Fighting burnout in health care
Show Me the Science - February 16, 2022 23:31 - 20 minutesWith U.S. hospitals crowded with COVID-19 patients for almost two years, the pandemic’s relentlessness has pushed many doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals to the brink. Many have decided to leave the field or question whether to remain. Researchers at Washington University School ...
Highly contagious omicron is a roller coaster
Show Me the Science - February 02, 2022 21:37 - 20 minutesThe omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 arrived in the United States around Thanksgiving. Within a few weeks, it was the dominant variant in the country, and hospitals suddenly were crowded with COVID-19 patients again. More patients were hospitalized in the St. Louis region as the omicron wave hit tha...
Why the omicron wave is different
Show Me the Science - January 26, 2022 19:16 - 18 minutesWhen SARS-CoV-2 first arrived, it was as if a raging wildfire had been blown by a strong wind through dry, flammable timber. So says Ali Ellebedy, PhD, an immunologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. As a population, he says, we were completely vulnerable to the virus be...
Hospitalized patients with COVID reach record levels
Show Me the Science - January 12, 2022 18:33 - 19 minutesAlthough there seems to be evidence that infections with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 are somewhat milder, you wouldn’t know that from the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. A post-holiday spike in cases has seen the number of inpatients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Chil...
Another pandemic holiday season
Show Me the Science - December 20, 2021 16:41 - 19 minutesThe omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is here, but it’s the delta variant that has been driving a rapid increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in recent weeks as people get out into the world more, antibody responses from vaccines wane, and families travel and gather in larger groups. As cases surge a...
Omicron has arrived
Show Me the Science - December 09, 2021 15:35 - 20 minutesA few weeks ago, no one had heard of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Since its recent discovery by scientists in South Africa, infections with the variant have been found in dozens of U.S. states and countries around the world. Scientists are scrambling to understand whether the new variant, w...
What's up with boosters?
Show Me the Science - November 18, 2021 16:00 - 21 minutesOver a million kids ages 5 to 11 have had the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and a growing number of older people are getting booster shots. Although the official recommendation limits the booster to those over age 65, with weakened immune systems or who have jobs that put them at high risk ...
What’s up with boosters?
Show Me the Science - November 18, 2021 16:00 - 21 minutesOver a million kids ages 5 to 11 have had the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and a growing number of older people are getting booster shots. Although the official recommendation limits the booster to those over age 65, with weakened immune systems or who have jobs that put them at high risk...
Vaccines approved for younger kids
Show Me the Science - November 03, 2021 17:39 - 17 minutesCOVID-19 has killed more than 5 million people around the world, with more than 740,000 dead in the United States. Although the virus is far more deadly in older people than in children, more than 650 kids have died of COVID-19 in the United States. Meanwhile, during the surge caused by the delta...
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