Dr. Joseph Hobbs

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses investigations into how COVID-19 is impacting the brain, causing loss of taste, smell, and some cognitive functions. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses how COVID-19 is leading to strokes in young, healthy people with no other known risk factors.

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses the surprising role of heavy social media use in the development of cardiovascular disease in otherwise healthy adults. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses research into controlling the excess cholesterol production that contributes to a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system in children. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses a push to study a group of genes that may hold the key to finding better therapies for women with a rare, aggressive uterine cancer.    

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses some potential good news for women with cervical cancer who make a lot of antibodies against the sugar that coats cancer cells.   

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses how mathematical modelers are helping health care providers develop effective strategies for managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses an immune molecule used by fetuses during gestation that may help transplant patients prevent organ rejection. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses new research that has uncovered a way tumors protect themselves from attacks by our immune system.    

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page

 In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses biological causes for “gender dysphoria”, a source of torment among transgender individuals.  

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses the role a lack of folic acid in our diets can play in gastrointestinal problems. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

 In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses how fat around the organs in our abdomen impacts our ability to think, learn and remember.  

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses the mechanics behind hypertension that is caused by our kidneys retaining too much salt.  

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses the limitations of sophisticated brain imaging when it comes to diagnosing criminal insanity.

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

When you jab a finger in your eye, it hurts, but it can also injure the epithelial cells on the surface of your cornea: the clear, front of the eye.

The cornea works a lot like the skin for our eyes, serving as this frontline protection. It’s also essential to light getting into our eyes so we can see.

Fecal incontinence is a problem that affects about 40 million of us women, often because of childbirth trauma, and for others of us it comes with age.

Currently there are not great, noninvasive treatments for this common problem that is associated with social isolation, anxiety, depression, and even increased mortality.

We’ve talked about nanometer-sized suitcases called “exosomes” which carry cargo like proteins and fats that our cells swap.

Well now there’s evidence that one thing “exosomes” may help deliver after a stroke is worse damage. Scientists have found that after a stroke, the usual smooth label that indicates where an exosome is headed, becomes sticky.

There’s evidence that there may be a connection between mental health and the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Inflammation is a factor in both conditions, and people who don’t get mental health treatment, may not be getting good treatment for their cancer either.

Scientists working to develop a comparatively easy, inexpensive way to give patients with bladder cancer a better idea of likely outcome and best treatment options, found that sophisticated new molecular subtyping techniques designed to do that provide no better information than long-standing pathology tests. They looked at several datasets of cancer specimens from patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer, a high-grade cancer associated with high mortality.

We’ve all heard the term “STAT.” In hospitals and clinics, lab tests often are ordered “STAT” … because of a health emergency, like a patient with chest pain. But sometimes it’s primarily for the convenience of the patient and/or doctor. In fact, it’s common for too many tests to get ordered “STAT” … which can overwhelm a clinical laboratory so that almost nothing gets done quickly. Researchers say a better solution is to reduce the time it takes to do most tests, from the common complete blood count to a test for a protein released by a damaged heart in that patient with chest pain.

Obesity rates in children have more than tripled since the 1970s, putting young people at an increased, earlier risk for health problems like heart disease. Investigators looking to reduce these risks led a study where, for 8 months, a group of 8 to 11 year olds with excess weight either exercised for about 40 minutes after school or played sedentary craft or board games. There were some health benefits to the exercisers, like a higher good cholesterol level. But other factors, like the stiffness of their big arteries … a key, early indicator of cardiovascular health … did not improve.

Transcription factors are molecules that help control gene activity. Now scientists have found a factor that aids neuron function also appears to help a recurrent form of prostate cancer become even more deadly. Prostate cancer is a common, hormone driven cancer so, much like breast cancer, hormone therapy is typically a frontline therapy for these patients. Still as high as 40 percent of patients develop a more aggressive, tougher to treat cancer within a few years … and may receive a still more aggressive hormone therapy.

Sexually transmitted disease rates in our nation are soaring. The first study of syphilis rates in patients with kidney failure indicates those rates are even higher. Neurosyphilis, in which the brain and entire nervous system are impacted, was the second most common syphilis type they found in these patients. The neurosyphillis finding prompted the researchers to suggest that whenever a dialysis patient develops confusion, which is fairly common because of problems like an electrolyte imbalance, a syphilis test be part of the evaluation. The researchers say people with kidney failure may not realize they are at increased risk for sexually transmitted disease because of a higher incidence of associated infections like HIV and hepatitis. Caught early, a single dose of penicillin can cure syphilis.
 

Scientists are examining what internal, nanometer-sized suitcases called “exosomes” are carrying when they arrive at the scene of an acute kidney injury. These injuries can result from a car accident or even a severe infection. While many people fully recover, others are left with permanent kidney damage or worse. Tubules, where our kidneys absorb needed items like water and salt, before passing liquid waste along to the bladder, are a major site for acute kidney damage. Scientists have found exosomes are key to both construction and repair of tubules. They are looking at how, where and how many exosomes are produced, what cargo they carry and which content aids recovery. The goal is to one day pack a recovery suitcase for our kidneys.

There is good evidence that chronic stress, like a bad marriage or financial problems, generates inflammation in our bodies, where it contributes to problems like hypertension. Inflammation can also affect our brains, even destroy the connections between our neurons called synapses. We have evidence that inflammation is a major factor in depression. Yet anti-inflammatory drugs don’t help many patients. So scientists want to know more about how chronic stress contributes to depression. They theorize that stress activates our fundamental innate immune response, then immune cells in our brain start making a lots of a protein called “complement 3”, which can inflame the brain and start whittling our synapses. Scientists want to find a direct way to block that response and reduce depression in patients.

(11/30/19) In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses how an enzyme that usually helps our bodies cope with stress is used by liver cancer to multiply, spread, and thrive. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 18 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the GPB Augusta SoundCloud page.

(11/23/19) In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses a new discovery about how lung cancer is able to prevent its own destruction when treated with chemotherapy.

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 18 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the GPB Augusta SoundCloud page.

(11/09/19) In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses how suppressing one particular enzyme could aid in the battle against some forms of brain cancer.  

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 18 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the GPB Augusta SoundCloud page.

(11/02/19) In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses a new technique that helps the brain better weather the lack of oxygen and blood that occurs with a stroke. 

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 18 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the GPB Augusta SoundCloud page.

(10/26/19) In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses the impact of high glucose levels on the functioning of our internal body clock.

The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 18 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the GPB Augusta SoundCloud page.