Originally published in Current, Sept. 16, 1996
By Geneva Collins
What would you do if a bug crawled in your ear and you couldn't get it out? That was a recent teaser posed by Body Talk's resident ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr. Victor VerMeulen. (Listeners had to wait until the end of the show to learn the answer.)
Perhaps you tuned in while massaging your aching hamstrings after your Saturday three-mile run. Or maybe you regularly listen to another public radio health program, Sunday Rounds, while fixing Sunday supper, choosing heart-healthy recipes like linguine in clam sauce that you pick up from a third program, Dr. Zorba Paster's weekly house call.
Aging boomers and anxious retirees--you folks who know not just your total cholesterol but your HDL and LDL numbers and your resting and active pulse rates, too; you folks who ogle the Rogaine and Retin-A at your pharmacy, who pop more than three types of vitamins a day and who switched to skim milk five years ago--public radio knows you're out there and has a cure for whatever ails you.
"Physician advice shows are a win-win situation, because the public is eager to have this kind of content and physicians are eager to have these public education messages broadcast," said Everett M. Rogers, chair of the Communications and Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico. "My study found that the first and fundamental fact when the American public is asked what they want more of on radio and TV, their highest priority is health."
In a 1980s study for the Kaiser Family Foundation, Rogers examined the messages conveyed by more than 90 TV and radio physicians; he now focuses on how Third World countries use broadcast media to convey public health information.
There are at least a half-dozen 30-minute to two-hour health shows fed by satellite to public radio stations, plus a handful of short syndicated modules on health topics. And other stations originate their own health shows. Natural Living With Gary Null is aired by WBAI in New York and distributed on tape by Null himself.
Okay, but what do you do when a bug crawls in your ear?
Each show's format varies slightly from the others, and each show's team will argue passionately why theirs is the best. With the exception of Null, all the shows embrace mainstream Western medicine with an occasional nod to the more tested alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and meditation.
"Gary deals strictly with alternative methods. We feel there's enough programming on conventional methods and everybody covers that," said Null's producer, Vicki Hughes of WBAI.
Null, who has a Ph.D. in human nutrition and has written some 50 books, described his show in a demo tape as "talking about issues you usually don't hear talked about-- and the scientific evidence to back them up." (He was out of town and unavailable for an interview with Current.)
Recent topics on Null's shows have included shark cartilage as a cancer treatment; herbal preparations for maladies ranging from autism to shingles; and dishonesty as a cause of many stress-related illnesses.
A host not afraid to air controversial opinions, Null has used the radio pulpit to criticize the lack of hygiene in Chinese restaurants and describe circumcision as "sexual mutilation." He's also against fluoridation.
Fine. But how do you get a bug out of your ear?
One of the most popular health shows is run by a pharmacologist and medical anthropologist, which sounds deadly dull on paper but is quite sprightly on the air in the form of husband-wife team Joe and Terry Graedon. On The People's Pharmacy, the Graedons trade banter like radio couples from the '50s and invite medical experts to field calls from listeners.
Empower the patient
"One of our guiding principles is that we really want to empower people to make intelligent health decisions," said Joe Graedon. The Graedons, authors of a best-selling series of medical consumers' guides and a syndicated newspaper column, admit to times of sheer panic doing a live call-in format. The couple recounted a show on human sexuality in which a little old lady with a deep Southern accent called in to say, "I've never had the opportunity to ask this, but I've always wondered how homosexuals make love."
"Luckily, our guest, without pause, answered the question in a very thoughtful and sensitive way," said Joe Graedon. "But it was one of those moments in live radio when you're not sure whether to hang up or forge ahead."
Wisconsin family physician Zorba Paster is not afraid to take on all callers either. On Zorba Paster and Your Health, he and co-host Tom Clark try to sound as irreverent as possible to one another (promotional materials liken the program to Car Talk) but become serious and compassionate when listeners ask Paster for his views on hepatitis vaccines for teenagers, cancer risks from hair dyes, and taking calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure.
Has anyone asked this Dr. Paster how to get a bug out of your ear?
Paster, an M.D. who's also a university professor and clinical researcher, is a practicing Buddhist with a strong interest in Eastern medicine. (The Dalai Lama is Paster's house guest when visiting Wisconsin.)
Asked how he handles questions of alternative treatments he deems flaky, Paster responded, "Usually the person is not a flake but is simply wondering whether something he's heard about works. For example, chelation therapy is fake therapy. Scientific studies have shown it doesn't work [to detoxify the body] ... but there are lots of charlatans out there selling it to people. If someone called in, saying a friend was using chelation therapy, I'd ask, 'How sick is your friend? What else has he tried? Oh, really, nothing's worked? How many times has he had this treatment?' If it's only been once, I might try to discourage him from going back. If he's been doing it three times a week for a while and spending a lot of money--say he has end-stage cancer or heart disease, which this is often used for--I might say, 'Hey, I think your friend might be better off spending that money taking a trip somewhere.' "
Though some other health programs rely on specialists to address medical questions, Paster vehemently defends the family practitioner. Specialists may be better able to speak to professionals, but not to non-medical people, he said.
Let's ask a specialist
One of those specialist-dominated shows is Body Talk, in which a family practitioner, orthopedic surgeon, pediatrician, cardiologist, ob-gyn, and ear, nose and throat specialist take turns behind the microphone, answering calls in their areas of expertise. The show has recently been revamped, with a new producer, Colleen Condron, and new host, Michelle Galiun, director of telemedicine at Ohio State University and a onetime local TV anchor.
Condron says the show is gradually shifting from a call-in to a newsmagazine format but may not eliminate the feature entirely.
"Phone calls are one-on-one. If somebody's complaining that their toe is hurting and you the listener don't have a toe that's hurting, you might not continue to listen. We can help more people by opening up to other topics," she said.
Bob Seaquist, producer of A Matter of Health, denounces call-ins a little more bluntly: "I find them to be a great sharing of misinformation. You tend to get bizarre things that are not fully explored."
Like how to get a bug out of your ear?
On A Matter of Health, emergency room physician Ben Wedro interviews experts on various medical conditions in a show that's taped and edited.
There are also no call-ins on The Health Show, hosted by journalist Beth Engeler and David Carpenter, an M.D. and dean of the School of Public Health of the State University of New York. The two hosts introduce pre-taped segments in a newsmagazine format.
"I feel I can convey more information by condensing a 20-minute interview with an expert into a three- to four-minute report," said Engeler.
At two hours, Sunday Rounds weighs in as the longest of the health programs. It's hosted by John Stupak, a broadcast journalist who has a second career as a medical negligence attorney.
"Explaining complex medical issues to juries helps you explain things to radio listeners," said Stupak. He and a guest devote an hour to a single topic, such as laparoscopic surgery or menopause, with a handful of call-ins. Two topics are discussed each week.
"Because we're not taking questions on everything, we can focus in-depth on one topic," said producer Michelle Stupak, the host's wife. Sunday Rounds likes to note that it has been endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Weekend or daily strip
Most stations seem to run these health advice shows on weekends, when listeners trade their NPR news fixes for lighter chat. But some stations "strip" a health show lineup across the weekdays. One is WBAA-AM in West Lafayette, Ind., where David Bunte, program coordinator, runs the first hour of Sunday Rounds at 1 p.m. on Monday and the second hour on Wednesday, with People's Pharmacy on Tuesday, Body Talk on Thursday and Zorba Paster on Friday.
Bunte said he used to carry Null's show but dropped it. "I felt the approach of the other shows was somewhat better received in our community."
WTXK-FM in Texarkana, Tex., carries four shows during the week and a local doctor call-in show on Thursdays, said General Manager Steve Mitchell. The local show, Doctors on Call, "evolved from carrying the national shows," said Mitchell. "We had a group of 50 doctors who approached us about doing a local show and were willing to donate their time," he said. Mitchell is a co-host with Dr. Joseph Greenspan and a local guest expert.
"On the national shows, it's harder for our listeners to get on," said Mitchell. "This gives our listeners a chance to talk to a local physician."
"I think the appeal of these shows is that everyone is interested in medicine. It's a chance to see a specialist for free. You have to be a good consumer about your health. We used to put doctors on a pedestal, but now we're trying to demystify them. And there's nothing like this available on commercial radio," said Mitchell.
Enough already. Tell me how to get a bug out of my ear!
The solution, according to Dr. VerMeulen, is to lie on your side and pour plain cooking oil in your ear. That will smother it. Wait a few minutes, then drain your ear.
For a second opinion
- Body Talk. Journalist Michelle Gailiun quizzes specialists, some call-ins. One hour. WOSU, Columbus, Ohio. Carriage: 37 stations.
- The Health Show. David Carpenter, M.D., and Beth Engeler introduced pretaped segments. Half-hour. WAMC, Albany, N.Y. 79 stations.
- A Matter of Health. Ben Wedro, M.D., chats with specialists. Half-hour. WLSU, LaCrosse, Wis. 18 stations.
- Natural Living with Gary Null. Nutritionist Null explores alternative medicine with experts. One hour. WBAI, New York, and Gary Null & Associates. Carriage figures not available.
- The People's Pharmacy. Joe and Terry Graedon banter with experts, take calls. One hour. WUNC, Chapel Hill, and Mir Productions. 100 stations.
- Sunday Rounds. John Stupak interviews experts, fields some calls. Two hours. Consultant Radio Network, Woodstock, Md. 74 stations.
- Zorba Paster and Your Health. Paster and Tom Clark take calls on anything. One hour. Wisconsin Public Radio and PRI. 62 stations.
Carriage figures, from producers, do not include repeater stations.
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