March 04, 2011

Your Heart, Your Health

Are you at risk for a heart attack? We talk to a top heart doctor who says that most don't even know the number one symptom that could tell you that one is right around the corner. Then, here's a shocking statistic: the high school graduation rate is 20% lower in the city than it is in the 'burbs. We uncover the underlying reasons for this huge gap.

Episode Segments:

InfoTrak: Heart Attack Warning Signs More than 1 million people have new or recurrent heart attacks every year. Dr. Curtis Rimmerman, MD author of Cleveland Clinic Guide to Heart Attacks talked about the most common misperceptions about heart attacks. He also discussed the effectiveness of preventative measures, such as diet and exercise changes, quitting smoking and dietary supplements.
Embed Code
InfoTrak: The Graduation Gap Christopher Swanson, PhD is director of the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, a Maryland-based non-profit organization. A recent nationwide study by Dr. Swanson’s group found that the average high school graduation rate in the nation’s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in the suburbs. He discussed the underlying reasons for this startling gap, and offered ideas on how communities can address it.
Embed Code
InfoTrak: The Greatest Inventions Alex Hutchinson, PhD, contributing editor at Popular Mechanics magazine, and author of Big Ideas: 100 Modern Inventions That Transformed Our World consulted 25 experts at 17 museums and universities to determine the 100 greatest inventions of the modern era. He talked about the long-term trends of scientific research and government’s role in it.
Embed Code

Links to Related Websites:

The Cleveland Clinic Guide To Heart Attacks Keep Your Heart Healthy and Preserve the Quality of Your Life! The statistics are staggering: More than 1 million people have new or recurrent heart attacks every year. Don’t become a statistic. Make the decision today to educate yourself about keeping your heart healthy. In The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Heart Attacks, Dr. Curtis Rimmerman, one of America’s foremost authorities on heart health, reveals important information for patients and their families on how to avoid a heart attack or survive and thrive after one.

Big Ideas: 100 Modern Inventions That Have Transformed Our World From the polio vaccine to the Post-It, the personal computer to Prozac, these are the scientific and technological innovations that have transformed our world. Award-winning author Alex Hutchinson unveils the 100 greatest inventions of the modern era—starting with the discovery of the transistor in 1947—complete with original photographs and anecdotes about their creation. For example, a candy bar melting in a scientist’s pocket during an experiment led to the invention of the microwave oven.

Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Alex Hutchinson Alex Hutchinson is an award-winning author and a contributing editor at the Popular Mechanics magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Oxford and did post-doctoral research in nano-electro-mechanics at a National Security Agency lab outside Washington, D.C. Alex's Blog

Curtis Rimmerman Curtis Mark Rimmerman, MD, MBA, is the initial holder of the Gus P. Karos Endowed Chair in Clinical Cardiovascular Medicine. He is a staff cardiologist in the Section of Clinical Cardiology, the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, at the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Prior to this he was Medical Director for the Cleveland Clinic Westlake, Lakewood, and Avon Pointe Family Health Centers. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and the subspecialty of cardiovascular diseases. He is also certified by the National Board of Echocardiography and the American College of Physician Executives. His specialty interests include clinical cardiology, valvular heart disease, electrocardiography, coronary artery disease, preventive cardiology, echocardiography, and stress echocardiography. More About Dr. Rimmerman

Christopher Swanson Christopher Swanson is the director of the EPE Research Center, a division of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week. In this capacity, he oversees a staff of full-time researchers and interns who conduct annual policy surveys, collect data, and perform analyses that appear in the Quality Counts, Technology Counts, and Diplomas Count annual reports of Education Week. Prior to joining Editorial Projects in Education in 2005, Swanson was a senior research associate at the Urban Institute, where he focused on issues of federal policy and urban high school reform involving small-school restructuring. While at the Urban Institute, he led several evaluation and research projects sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and other funders. Swanson was also the co-principal investigator of a large five-year evaluation of an extensive high school reform initiative being implemented in the Baltimore City Public School System. During the past few years, much of Swanson’s research has examined the implementation of accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act; in particular, the challenges associated with accurately measuring high school graduation rates. He has been called on by the U.S. Department of Education as well as the Government Accountability Office to advise on issues related to graduation rates. In addition, Swanson has served on advisory panels for such groups as the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and has provided guidance to a variety of professional and membership organizations. Swanson’s research has been presented at national conferences, profiled in the national media, and published in leading scholarly journals. The Alliance for Excellent Education