An expert in a crippling condition -- spinal muscular atrophy -- is enthusiastic about a potential cure. How this illness affects the body and how it can be treated are explained in this week's "HealthLink on Air" by child neurologist Ai Sakonju, who also discusses her analysis of the first three years of screening for the disease in newborns in New York state. She is an associate professor of neurology and pediatrics and chief of child neurology at Upstate, and spinal muscular atrophy is among her longstanding research interests.
Also on this week's show, cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that happen when a baby’s lip or palate (roof of the mouth) does not form properly. Dr. Arthur Bigsby explains this condition and how it can be treated. He is a maxillofacial prosthodontist -- a specialist in correcting problems of the mouth and face -- and a member of the Upstate Dental Clinic faculty. And, because many patients who don’t take their prescribed medication won’t get better and run the risk of being hospitalized again, some hospital pharmacies are focused on helping to make sure patients get – and take – their prescriptions when they go home.
Christina Hyde, the manager of pharmacy utilization and program development at Upstate, shares how the Upstate Outpatient Pharmacy helps patients afford medications and ensures they receive what they need.
Listen to Healthlink on Air every Sunday at 6 a.m. on WRVO.