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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Health and Risk
Everyone takes different risks with their health. Learn how risk is relative - from activities like driving a car and breathing the air to eating a fatty diet and not exercising. Hear how we weigh risks every day, and how government regulates community risks, such as pollution. Also, what would you do, if you found out you had a genetic predisposition towards a disease? Join the March edition of Health Dialogues as we explore the many angles of health and risk.
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Host: Scott Shafer
Relativity of Risk
What's the risk you take getting into your car each day, or eating a fish that might have traces of mercury in it? How about flying a plane, or breathing the air, or eating French fries? If living near a port raises your risk of having cancer by .0005, what does that even mean?
Guests:
- Baruch Fischoff, professor of Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
- Nick Jewell, biostatistician, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
"I take the risk, because I love it."
Riding motorcylces allows Frank and Jennifer to live life more fully and be happier. They take safety precautions, but are firm believers that the benefits of bike riding far outweigh the risks.
Guests:
- Frank Morales, secretary, San Francisco Motorcycle Club
- Jennifer Bromme, motorcycle racer and owner of Werkstatt motorcycle repair shop, San Francisco
I Am Risk
Bringing down health care costs is supposed to rest, in part, on "personal responsibility." Yet, when it comes to getting health insurance, some of us have to pay more money or are denied coverage all together for just being who we are. Reporter Sarah Varney goes looking for an actuary to tell her why.
Genetic Testing
What would you do if you found out you were more likely to get a particular disease, say a form of cancer, because you have a certain genetic mutation? What would you do about that risk? Would you want to know? What is the state of regulation of genetic testing and counseling in California?
Guests:
- Dave Iverson, PBS Frontline correspondent and producer of a Frontline documentary on Parkinson's Disease, "My Father, My Brother and Me." Dave Iverson is also the Friday host of KQED's Forum.
- Dr. Robert L. Nussbaum, M.D., chief of Medical Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco
Quantifying Risk and Reducing It
What happens when risk is defined by premature deaths? Health Dialogues looks at air pollution in and around the Ports of Long Beach and San Pedro, where an estimated 1,200 deaths have been associated with diesel particulate matter in the air.
Guests:
- Dan Donohoue, chief of the Emissions Assessment Branch within the Stationary Source Division of the California Air Resources Board.
- David Pettit, senior attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Dr. Elisa Nicholas, M.D., pediatrician and founder of the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma.
