Food and sweet treats are everywhere this time of year. So, how can you navigate the holidays if you have diabetes? UPMC dietitian, Jacquelyn Klunk, MS, RDN, LDN discusses how you can take care of yourself while enjoying some of your favorite holiday foods.

Navigating The Holidays with Diabetes

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) can be a life-threatening condition. Ulka Sachdev,  MD, Co-director of the Vein Center at UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute,  discusses causes, the warning signs and what you should discuss with your doctor.

What You Need to Know about DVT

Are you someone who tosses and turns all night?  UPMC pulmonologist, Blair Stone, MD, discusses things you can do to get a better night’s sleep and how to tell it’s time to get some professional help.

Keys to a Good Night’s Sleep

A healthy self-image can be an important part of breast cancer recovery. Lori Stofman, licensed  aesthetician  with UPMC, discusses the process and art of 3D nipple tattooing to help patients feel their best.

3D Nipple Tattooing

Back pain can be debilitating, but it doesn’t have to take over your life. Christopher Standaert, MD, medical director, UPMC Program for Spine Health, discusses options available to patients without medications and surgeries to improve pain and live a better life.

UPMC HealthBeat Podcast: Healing Your Spine

Being in the hospital can be frightening and stressful for a child. Certified Child Life Specialist Kelly Gavel from UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh explains how medical play can make a big difference in easing concerns for the entire family.

Kelley Gavel on Medical Play | UPMC HealthBeat

Coping with the suicide of a loved one is an emotional subject. Kelly Monk, BSN, RN from UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital talks about steps family members can take to begin the healing process.

Suicide and Grief with Kelly Monk | UPMC HealthBeat

Losing a significant amount of weight can be life changing for a person, but it can also bring about new challenges. Peter Rubin, MD, Director of the UPMC Life After Weight Loss program, discusses the plastic surgery options available to patients to deal with excess skin and other issues.

Life After Weight Loss with Dr. Rubin | UPMC HealthBeat Podcast

A dementia diagnosis can be devastating to a family. Bereavement Counselor, Elizabeth Schandelmeier, LCSW from Family Hospice, Part of UPMC, discusses ways both the patient and caregivers can cope with emotions during this difficult journey.

Grief, Loss, and Dementia  |  UPMC HealthBeat Podcast

 This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical care or advice. Clinicians should rely on their own medical judgments when advising their patients. Patients in need of medical care should consult their personal care provider. - So, maybe your child doesn&#39;t like going to the doctor&#39;s, or there&#39;s an upcoming medical procedure they may be worried about. There are things you can do to help get them ready. Hi, I&#39;m Tonia Caruso. Welcome to this UPMC HealthBeat podcast. And, joining us right now is Maureen Heneghan. She&#39;s a certified child life specialist in the cardiac intensive care unit at UPMC Children&#39;s Hospital. Thank you so much for joining us. - You&#39;re welcome. I&#39;m so happy to be here. - All right. So, let&#39;s just first talk in general about your work in the hospital and how that can help kids get through medical issues. - Absolutely. As a child life specialist, we have a unique role, especially in the inpatient units. So, my day-to-day can look different every single day. I would say, just to highlight a few of the big things that I do every day, you&#39;ll often hear child life specialists referred to as &quot;the play people.&quot; But play oftentimes in the hospital is an intervention for us, right? So, bringing toys to a patient who&#39;s inpatient to normalize the environment. So, a lot of the toys you&#39;ll see in our playrooms at Children&#39;s Hospital is toys that kids play with every single day at home. And it helps normalize the environment, especially for our younger kids who may be feeling scared, unsure of the people around them, the room around them. So, play is a big one. It really helps normalize the environment. We also do a lot of medical preparation, medical play. So, kids have these procedures, these shots, or &quot;pokes,&quot; as we like to call them. And sometimes kids come into the hospital for the first time, and they just have no idea what&#39;s going on. They&#39;re kind of shocked. So, a big thing we can do is talk to them at a level they can understand. So, using developmentally appropriate language to talk them through a procedure, using words that feel less scary, words they&#39;re used to hearing every day. So, we try to just make the hospital environment less scary through play, and then we can talk to them about upcoming procedures. We can support them through procedures they&#39;re awake for. So, IV starts is a big one. MRI scans, things like that, we can take them down and be with them. We answer questions, things like that. We also organize fun events for the kids at the hospital. Our pet friends come in, and kids come down from their rooms and hang out in the atrium with these dogs. So, we do a lot of fun things to keep the hospital environment, you know, feel normal. - Right. So, a lot of fun things to really get the kids used to what they&#39;re going to go through. - Absolutely. - What can you do, what of these can transfer to home

UPMC HealthBeat Podcast: Getting Your Child Ready for a Doctor's Visit

David Rometo, MD,  Clinical Director of the UPMC Center for Obesity Medicine, discusses a shift in mindset when it comes to weight loss, and approaches that can benefit a patient’s overall health.

Treating Obesity as a Chronic Disease

Kelly Gavel, MS, Certified Child Life Specialist, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh discusses the importance of summer camp and the many options available for children with dealing with medical conditions.

Summer Camps for Medically Fragile Children

Advance care planning is important for everyone, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Eric Horwith, MSM, LSW from UPMC Home Healthcare and Family Hospice explains how to get started in ensuring your medical wishes are honored in the future.

LGBTQIA+ Advance Care Planning

When was the last time you had your eyes checked? Ellen Butts, OD, Director of Optometry and Contact Lens Service at the UPMC Vision Institute,  explains why it’s important to do so even if you have perfect vision.

The Importance of Eye Exams

Pediatric Endocrinologist, Katherine Vu-Boast, MD with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh discusses ways parents and families can help a child who’s living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Supporting a Child with Diabetes

Puneet Sood, MD, Medical Director, UPMC Kidney and Kidney Pancreas Transplant Program,  discusses some of the misconceptions about living-donor organ transplantation and explains the process for both donors and recipients.

Myths and Facts About Living-Donor Organ Transplantation

Chronic pain can be isolating and debilitating. Susan Jarquin, PhD from the Division of Pain Management at UPMC discusses how pain psychology can be a useful tool for patients in their treatment plans.

Pain Psychology

Caring for a loved one who is sick can be both physically and mentally challenging. Elizabeth Schandelmeier LCSW, from UPMC Family Hospice discusses ways caretakers can take care of themselves while helping others.

Caretaking and Chronic Disease

Guy Stofman, MD, FACS, Certified Plastic Surgeon with UPMC  discusses how the pandemic helped to spark an increased demand for cosmetic treatments and what you should consider before any procedure.

Can You Start Cosmetic Treatments Too Soon?

UPMC Cardiologist, Katie Berlacher, MD  explains why members of the LGBTQ+ community may be at higher risk for cardiovascular problems and shares steps UPMC is taking to connect more patients to care.

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