MPR news medical commentator Dr. Jon Hallberg shares his insights and expertise on health and health care every week with All Things Considered host Tom Crann.
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Water-related diseases
Water is essential to health, but when it's not clean, it can cause serious diseases.
5/17/2016 • 4 minutes, 33 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: What's our goal for care?
Questioning what health care should accomplish is a tricky, complicated thing to do.
5/3/2016 • 4 minutes, 43 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Picking the right doctor
It can be tricky to find the right doctor and avoid the bad ones.
4/26/2016 • 4 minutes, 42 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Opioids
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now telling doctors to stop prescribing the addictive pain-killers for long-term pain management.
4/18/2016 • 4 minutes, 16 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The open-notes movement
A new movement called OpenNotes proposes that doctors open their personal notes so patients can read what they have to say about their individual health.
4/12/2016 • 4 minutes, 22 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Is sitting all that bad?
A recent study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine warns that sitting down can increase the risk of early death.
4/5/2016 • 4 minutes, 56 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: On happiness
Dr. Jon Hallberg discusses a Harvard health study on happiness that's now back in the public eye.
3/30/2016 • 5 minutes, 23 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The impact of Zika
A recent study in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine says Zika virus "infection during pregnancy appears to be associated with grave outcomes."
3/8/2016 • 4 minutes, 22 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Talking to your doctor
When was the last time your doctor said to you, "Can we talk?" And what difference would having a conversation really make?
2/23/2016 • 5 minutes, 15 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Concerns with acid reflux meds
There are concerns about the long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, which are used to treat acid reflux and other stomach problems.
2/16/2016 • 4 minutes, 46 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Winter maladies
It's cold and flu season, and for many of us, that means dealing with an epidemic of absences at work.
1/19/2016 • 5 minutes, 8 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Innovation that's not really new
Innovation in medicine doesn't always mean coming up with a new device or drug.
1/12/2016 • 4 minutes, 40 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Talking physical activity with your doctor
Dr. Jon Hallberg joined MPR News' Tom Crann to discuss why physical activity is so important and how to talk about it with your doctor.
1/5/2016 • 4 minutes, 52 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Hope in the cancer fight
Dr. Jon Hallberg joined Tom Crann to talk about the implications of former President Carter's announcement that drug treatments have left him cancer-free.
12/8/2015 • 5 minutes, 7 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The Undiagnosed Diseases Network
An effort at the National Institutes of Health seeks to provide an innovative approach to study mystery conditions and help patients with yet-to-be-diagnosed diseases.
12/1/2015 • 5 minutes, 12 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The end of pharmaceutical ads
A panel of physicians from the American Medical Association have voted in favor of a ban on what are called "direct-to-consumer" pharmaceutical ads.
11/24/2015 • 5 minutes, 6 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The doctor-patient relationship
At some point in your life, chances are you'll need a new primary care physician. Where should you start?
11/3/2015 • 8 minutes, 41 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Lowering blood pressure
A study on blood pressure was stopped more than a year early by the National Institutes of Health because the results were so clear to researchers.
9/15/2015 • 4 minutes, 35 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The meningitis vaccine
The annual return to school heralds another rite of passage for adolescents: the meningitis vaccine.
9/8/2015 • 4 minutes, 44 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: How much water should you drink?
Many of us have heard the recommendation to drink eight glasses of water a day, but a recent New York Times article says that's simply not true.
9/1/2015 • 4 minutes, 55 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: The shift toward universal HIV testing
Providers and health organizations -- including Mayo Clinic -- are now encouraging all adults to be tested for the virus at least once.
8/11/2015 • 4 minutes, 36 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: NSAIDs' hidden danger
The Food & Drug Administration is re-evaluating the relationship between drugs like ibuprofen and the risk of heart attack or stroke.
7/15/2015 • 10 minutes, 51 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Symptom-free carriers
A new study suggests the increase in whooping cough cases is largely due to a growth in asymptomatic carriers.
7/7/2015 • 13 minutes, 14 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Medical marijuana
A new study raises questions about the benefits of medical marijuana.
7/1/2015 • 15 minutes, 35 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: What? ... What did you say?
The noisy sounds of summer can pose a threat to your hearing.
6/24/2015 • 12 minutes, 51 seconds
Hallberg's Picture of Health: Prescribing pot
Minnesota's medical marijuana law is being implemented, and some say it's the most conservative in the country.