April 14, 2012

Battling High Blood Pressure

It’s a silent killer, its on the increase, and you could have it and not even know it. We’ll get the latest medical advice on high blood pressure, and it could save your life. Then, is your daughter on the edge? A shocking number of girls are falling into a pattern of obsessive and self-destructive behavior. We have advice that every parent needs to hear.

Episode Segments:

InfoTrak: Blood Pressure 101 Nearly 1 in 3 Americans suffer from high blood pressure. Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health in Seattle, believes that high blood pressure is a neglected disease and that the government should do more to encourage better education and more aggressive treatment. He explained how simple it is to diagnose and treat, and the dangerous consequences if it is left untreated.
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InfoTrak: Girls on The Edge Dr. Leonard Sax, author of Girls on the Edge: The Four Factors Driving the New Crisis for Girls-Sexual Identity, the Cyberbubble, Obsessions, Environmental Toxins said many of today’s young girls are having serious difficulties in developing their own identity. As a result, they are at greater risk of anxiety, depression, and self-destructive behaviors. He explained how constant online activities such as texting and social networking can distort a girl’s self-image. He also offered advice for parents on how to recognize problems and help their daughters become confident, fulfilled women.
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InfoTrak: Take Charge of Your Cardiac Health Joseph C. Piscatella, cardiac health expert, and author of Positive Mind, Healthy Heart!: Take Charge of Your Cardiac Health, One Day at a Time is the longest surviving survivor of triple bypass surgery. He talked about the mental aspects of dealing with heart disease, and why optimism and self-motivation must be a part of any heart health plan.
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

David W. Fleming David W. Fleming, M.D., is Director and Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County, a large metropolitan health department with 1900 employees, 39 sites, and a budget of $296 million, serving a resident population of 1.8 million people. Department activities include core prevention programs, environmental health, community oriented primary care, emergency medical services, correctional health services, Public Health preparedness, and community-based public health assessment and practices. Prior to assuming this role, Dr. Fleming directed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Strategies Program. In this capacity, Dr. Fleming was responsible for the creation, development, and oversight of cross-cutting programs targeting diseases and conditions disproportionately affecting the world's poorest people and countries. He oversaw the Foundation's portfolios in vaccine-preventable diseases, nutrition, newborn and child health, leadership, emergency relief, and cross-cutting strategies to improve access to health tools in developing countries. Dr. Fleming has also served as the Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While at CDC, Dr. Fleming led efforts to develop the agency's scientific and programmatic capabilities, and served as the principal source of scientific and programmatic expertise in CDC's Office of the Director. He provided oversight of CDC's global health portfolio through its Office of Global Health, and also oversaw the Director's offices of Minority Health, Women's Health, and the Associate Director for Science. Dr. Fleming has published scientific articles on a wide range of public health issues. He has served on a number of Institute of Medicine and federal advisory committees, the Boards of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, as President of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and as the State Epidemiologist of Oregon. Dr. Fleming received his medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He is board certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine and serves on the faculty of the departments of public health at both the University of Washington and Oregon Health Sciences University. Learn More about Dr. Fleming

Joe Piscatella Author Joseph C. Piscatella has been a keen observer of American eating habits since 1977, when emergency open-heart surgery at the age of 32 forced him to recognize the intimate connection between dietary habits and overall health. His successful recovery and determination to make adjustment in his own lifestyle and diet inspired a new career as an active proponent of healthy lifestyle changes. As president of the Institute for Fitness and Health, Inc. in Tacoma, Washington, he lectures extensively to a variety of clients, including medical organizations, corporations and professional associations, and is a consultant on major wellness projects for Fortune 500 companies, the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. Cited in Time for their practicality and effectiveness, his seminars deal with the management of lifestyle habits to increase health, longevity and productivity. Mr. Piscatella is the only non-medical member of the National Institute of Health Cardiac Rehabilitation Expert Panel, which develops clinical practice guidelines for physicians. He is also a member of the Association for Worksite Health Promotion, the American Association of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, and the National Wellness Association. Click here to visit his website

Dr. Leonard Sax After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in biology, Dr. Leonard Sax began the combined M.D.-Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Penn in 1986 with a Ph.D. in psychology and the M.D. degree. He went on to do a 3-year residency in family practice at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Since completing that residency in 1989, he has been in full-time clinical practice as a family physician. In 1990, he launched a practice in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland, about 30 minutes northwest of the District of Columbia. He's been there ever since. Dr. Sax enjoys a unique perspective on children. As a Ph.D. psychologist, he is familiar with the academic literature on child development. In fact, he has continued to publish scholarly papers since starting his practice. But he is no ivory-tower academic. Instead, as a family physician, he has an unusually intimate relationship with about 2,000 children (his total practice includes over 5,000 active patients). Because he is both a family physician and a research psychologist, Dr. Sax has attracted many families with "problem children" to his practice. Over the years the word has spread, so that now Dr. Sax's practice includes many children with a variety of psychological problems -- as well as a healthy share of perfectly normal kids and high-achieving kids. Unlike most other experts writing on child development, Dr. Sax has experience with kids from every segment of society and every kind of classroom: straight-A students from elite private schools in Bethesda and Potomac, as well as kids struggling with remedial reading in the public school system. Dr. Sax's unusual background -- being both a family physician (M.D.), as well as a Ph.D. psychologist -- has led him to recognize the importance of gender differences in how children learn, and to a belief that those gender differences are neglected or minimized in American public schools. Click here to visit his website