This category examines the various aspects of medications and health concerns that affect individuals as they age, providing insights from experts and personal stories.
122
May 30, 2026

Failure to Treat: What American Medicine Won't Admit with Peter Kowey, MD

There is a particular kind of authority that comes only from having been inside something for fifty years — from having seen it at its best, trained its practitioners, published its science, and then watched it hollow itself out from within. Dr. Peter Kowey has that authority. He holds the William Wickoff Smith Chair in Cardiovascular Research at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, is a professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University, and spent years as...
118
March 22, 2026

AI in the Doctor’s Office: Is Your Physician Being Replaced? | Featuring Dr. Adam Rodman

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a tool of the future—it’s already in the exam room. In this episode of Specifically for Seniors, host Dr. Larry Barsh sits down with Dr. Adam Rodman, a Harvard professor and internal medicine physician, to discuss how AI is fundamentally changing the way doctors practice and how patients manage their health. From "AI scribes" that record visits to patients using ChatGPT for a second opinion, we explore the benefits, the risks, and the future of healthcare in...
117
March 8, 2026

"Our Patients Are More Frightened and Sicker Than Ever" with Dr. Robin Canada and Elizabeth Whidden

Host Dr. Larry Barsh sits down with two frontline Philadelphia healthcare providers to discuss the mounting health crisis driven by fear of immigration enforcement in immigrant communities. The conversation draws on a powerful New York Times op-ed the guests co-authored in February, titled "Our Patients Are More Frightened and Sicker Than Ever," and explores real patient stories, systemic failures, and what listeners can do to help. Dr. Robin Canada - Professor of Clinical Medicine, University...
March 1, 2026

You Can't Retire From Purpose - What 40 Years of Cardiology Taught Dr. Alan Rozanski About Living

You Can't Retire From Purpose Dr. Alan Rozanski on the Six Domains of Health and What It Really Means to Age Well In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Alan Rozanski — cardiologist, lifestyle medicine physician, professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a founding pioneer of behavioral cardiology. With nearly 300 published articles, Dr. Rozanski has spent 40 years studying how our physical and mental behaviors shape heart health. What We Cover The Aha Moment. Forty years ago,...
109
Oct. 26, 2025

Addiction Doesn’t Retire: Substance Misuse and the Aging American with Dr. Lee Tannenbaum

In this episode of Specifically for Seniors, host Laurence I. Barsh sits down with Dr. Lee Tannenbaum, a physician and healthcare leader whose career has been devoted to improving addiction treatment across the lifespan. Together, they confront a growing but often invisible crisis: substance misuse among older adults. While addiction in the United States is frequently portrayed as a youth-driven epidemic, this conversation reveals a more complex and urgent reality—one in which seniors are increa...
104
July 13, 2025

Episode 104: Memory Lane TV, calming videos for dementia management, with Alban Maino

I don’t usually invite a sponsor on to a podcast, but today I’m going to do just that because I think it's important for you to hear what my guest has to say about his product. Regular listeners to Specifically for Seniors realize that I have accepted a sponsor for the podcast and, hopefully, it will help keep us on the air. I’ve held off because I wanted to make sure that any product or service that we recommended was validated by clinical research. Memory Lane TV was that product. I know man...
22
June 30, 2024

Real Talk About Hospital Stays with Monique Nugent, MD, MPH

An unfortunate fact of life at our age is that sooner or later we are going to face a hospital admission whether due to an illness, an injury or pain, and that can be confusing and frightening. Many of us need help in preparing for an Emergency Room and/or hospital visit. Once in the hospital learning how to navigate hospital care and advocate for ourselves is essential So I called on Dr. Monique Nugent, author of Prescription for Admission: A Doctor's Guide for Navigating the Hospital, Advocat...
17
Feb. 19, 2024

Services for Older Adults in Massachusetts with Elissa Sherman, PhD

There is an organization in Massachusetts that is focused on caring for an aging population, that develops services that meet older adults’ needs and preferences and advocates for us. I had not heard of this organization before so we invited Elissa Sherman, the President of LeadingAge Massachusetts. to explain it to us. Dr. Sherman has worked in aging policy for more than 30 years, beginning her career in state government as an analyst for the Massachusetts state legislature’s Joint Committee o...
15
Feb. 4, 2024

Living with a disability with Lisa Iezzoni, MD

As many of us age we develop physical problems, we have difficulty seeing, hearing and mobility. We require a walker, wheelchair or motorized device to get around. And we feel that our physicians don’t understand our problems. So we asked Dr. Lisa Iezzoni to be a guest on the podcast to help us work through the challenges we face. Lisa I. Iezzoni, MD, MSc is Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and based at the Health Policy Research Center, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hos...
12
Jan. 14, 2024

What to Expect as You Age - a gerontologist's viewpoint with Rosanne Leipzig, MD

Our guest today on Specifically for Seniors, Dr. Rosanne Leipzig is internationally recognized in the field of geriatrics. Dr Leipzig is the Gerald and May Ellen Ritter Professor and Vice Chair, Emerita of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Dr. Leipzig’s latest book, Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life, describes what to expect physically, psychologically, functionally, and emotio...
5
Oct. 29, 2023

The One and Only Robert Klein

Our guest on specificallyfor Seniors this week, MT Connolly unfortunately had to cancel her podcast at the last minute but MT wIll be on later in the year. MT Connolly is the architect of the federal Elder Justice Act, founder of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, a MacArthur “genius” grant awardee, and author of the 2023 book, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life But we thought it would be fun to revisit a very early podcast from ...
4
Oct. 22, 2023

Hearing Loss and Treatment with Brian Taylor

One of the most common problems that older adults have is hearing loss and the inability to hear conversations clearly in a group setting especially when there is a lot of background noise even when they are wearing their hearing aids So we asked Brian Taylor, AuD, the senior director of audiology for Signia to come on Specially for Seniors to talk about the problem and the solution.Brian is the editor of Audiology Practices, a quarterly publication of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, and a...
30
Sept. 24, 2023

You need a nurse, here's how to find one with Courtney Hogenson

Courtney Hogenson, is a Registered Nurse, Advanced Legal Nurse Consultant, Patient Advocate and Life Care Manager with more than ten years of experience in elder care and healthcare worker empowerment. She is also the founder of Call-Light, an innovative healthcare platform that enables patients and nurses to directly negotiate private in-home care engagements anytime, anyplace. In our discussion, Courtney and I tackle the difficult problems involved in elder care including advocacy for hospita...
27
Aug. 27, 2023

Food and Brain Health with Tina Reilly and John Ralston

This is the fourth episode in Specifically for Seniors podcasts in conjunction with Hebrew Senior Life and Orchard Cove's kseries on cognitive fitness, In the first episode we spoke with Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone on Brain Health and Cognitive Fitness. In the second episode of the series, we reviewed the relationship of physical exercise and brain health, in the third we discussed challenging your brain and learning new things. John Ralston has been the Director of Culinary Services at Orchard Co...
44
May 9, 2023

Sorell Schwartz, PhD - What you must know about the meds you are taking

Sorell Schwartz, PhD is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center, Senior Pharmacology Advisor at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has had advisory appointments at the National Library of Medicine, the FDA, the EPA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the FTC, the U.S. House of Representatives, OSHA, the Department of Defense, the FBI and WHO. Dr. Schwartz explains the confusion between the FDA and CDC and their roles, the importance in taking our med...
41
April 13, 2023

William Giannobile, DDS, DMSc - Dentistry as a healthcare profession

Dr. Giannobile and I discuss the importance of dentistry as an integral part of overall health and the integration with physicians as part of the healthcare team. We talk about the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the training that students receive that differs from other dental schools. Dr. Giannobile and I then address specific needs of senior adults and the problems dentists can encounter when dealing with older adults. We also chat about what the future holds for dentistry.
18
May 19, 2022

Yasmin Hurd, PhD - Opioid Crisis and Cannibis

Biography Podcast Dr. Hurd and I discuss the causes and potential solutions to the opioid crisis in the United States. We talk about the differences in marijuana in the 1960's and now and the benefits and problems with the use of THC and CBD in senior adults
8
March 24, 2022

Robert Klein - Iconic Comedian, and Actor

Robert Klein Bio, podcast and transcript Robert and I talk about his career, medicine and dentistry, Johnny Carson, SNL, his family, quitting smoking, politics, health and even the pictures on the wall behind us.
7
March 11, 2022

Podiatric Problems of Seniors with Lanny Rubin, DPM

Lanny Rubin, DPM Bio, transcript If you are having foot problems, ths is one episode you should not miss. Dr Rubin and I talk about common foot problems in older adults, nail care and the best way to choose your shoes.
4
Feb. 15, 2022

Food Safety with Ed Sherwin, CP-FS, FMP

About Ed and questions from listeners Ed Sherwin has been recognized as one of the country's top food safety trainers. We talked with Ed about everyday food safety, MacDonald's Hamburger University, what it was like working with Hooters and his extensive baseball cap collection. Stay to the end to find out what keeps him up at night.
3
Feb. 11, 2022

Sleep & Jaw Joint Problems with Barry Glassman, DMD

About Dr. Glassman Dr. Glassman and I talk about dentistry's role in sleep medicine, treating people with head and face pain, teaching and his passion for acting. Barry played Morrie Schwartz in Mitch Albom's play Tuesdays with Morrie - his take on the role should not be missed
2
Feb. 5, 2022

Financial Advice for Seniors with Altair Gobo, CFP

Altair Gobo, CFP Bio, transcript We talk with Altair Gobo, CFB who is a a founding partner of U.S. Financial Services, Altair is a thought leader in developing the process that promotes people to enjoy wealthier, healthier, and happy lives. Together with his partners, he is proud to have built an incredible team and designed a premier wealth management firm in the tri-State area. We talk about managing finances in turbulent times and Al answers questions about the job of a financial planner, pl...