400th Episode Celebration: Ask Us Anything, Hot Ones-style
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Release Date: 04/16/2026
Can We Prevent Cognitive Decline in Aging? Multi-Domain Trials with Laura Baker and Ellen Binder
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Can we prevent age-related cognitive decline, and perhaps even head off Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias before they start? Pharmaceutical companies are spending billions searching for a magic bullet pill to answer that question. But what if the solution requires more than a single drug? What if real prevention demands a multi-domain approach that combines targeted diet, exercise, social engagement, and vascular risk factor management among other things? On today’s episode, we explore multi-domain interventions for cognitive risk reduction with two leading experts: Laura D....
info_outline
When to Start or Stop Statins in Older Adults: Tim Anderson, Rita Redberg, Mike Rich
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
In 1987, lovastatin became the first FDA-approved statin in the United States. Four decades later, statins are among the most frequently prescribed medications nationwide, with atorvastatin topping the overall list. Now, updated guidelines have expanded statin eligibility to cover nearly every older adult. On today’s episode, we are joined by experts Tim Anderson, Rita Redberg, and Mike Rich to discuss when to start, and when to stop, statin therapy in older adults. Topics we talk about on starting and stopping statins in older adults include: Updates and changes for statin use in older...
info_outline
Hot New Drugs in Palliative Care: Max Stevenson, Alex McPherson, and Nisha Iyer
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
When you think of palliative care pharmacotherapy, you probably think about the tried-and-true mainstays of our field like morphine, haloperidol, and senna. But the landscape of palliative symptom management is rapidly evolving, with hot new drug classes and rediscovered old-school opioids (and not just buprenorphine!) On today’s episode of the GeriPal Podcast, we sit down with three expert palliative care clinical pharmacists, Max Stevenson, Alex McPherson, and Nisha Iyer, to talk about 5 hot new drugs (or rediscovered): Suzetrigine: It works for bunions (at least as well as opioids,...
info_outline
Interactive Maps of Aging: Judy Salerno and Lindsay Goldman
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Love the story Judy Solerno tells at the start of this podcast. The story is about how mapped out cases of Cholera in London in the year 1854. He was able to identify a concentration of cases near a neighborhood water pump. Simply removing the handle from the pump halted the outbreak. This is one of the earliest recorded uses of maps for public health purposes. Our guests today, Judy Salerno (President Emeritus of the ) and Lindsay Goldman (CEO of ) have done some wonderful work creating detailed, in-depth, interactive maps of aging in New York City. Go to and try it...
info_outline
Flu, COVID, RSV, & Shingles Vaccines in Older Adults: Ken Schmader and Sharon Brangman
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Just in time for respiratory virus season, this episode of the podcast breaks down essential vaccine guidance for older adults. From flu, COVID-19, and RSV to an added bonus deep dive into shingles, we cover everything you need to know to protect older adults this season. Our expert guests include: Kenneth Schmader, MD: A geriatrician and vaccine researcher who helped develop the zoster vaccine. Ken serves on the Working Groups for the Herpes Zoster, Influenza, COVID-19, RSV and General Adult Immunization Guidelines for the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on...
info_outline
Financial Mistakes and Exploitation in Dementia: Lauren Nicholas, Duke Han, Jason Karlawish
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Difficulty managing money is often one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, frequently appearing years before an official diagnosis. This loss of financial capacity leaves individuals vulnerable to costly mistakes and exploitation, threatening the financial security and quality of life of entire families. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Lauren Hersch Nicholas, Dr. Duke Han, and Dr. Jason Karlawish to examine the intersection of cognitive decline, financial decision-making, and patient protection. We covered a lot of topics, including these key ones: The...
info_outline
Weight loss, GLP-1s and Sarcopenia: A Podcast with John Batsis, Shen Dewar, Aruna Josyula
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
GLP-1 receptor agonists (the "Ozempics of the world") have been a truly revolutionary pharmacological advance in modern medicine. In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), these agents have been shown to do much more than just reduce weight, including significantly reducing cardiovascular events, lowering all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes, and even slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease. But as we see their use rapidly expand among older adults, we have to ask: at what cost? In geriatrics, weight loss is rarely simple. In older bodies, GLP1s carry increased risks,...
info_outline
Who Should Palliative Care See? Diane Meier, Bob Arnold, and Justin Sanders
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
As Diane Meier remarks to start today’s podcast, palliative care has come a long way from the days when we were the “brink of death” consult. We’re seeing patients earlier and earlier in the course of illness. In fact, the for specialist palliative care is arguably stronger in the outpatient setting than the inpatient setting. In some ways, as Eric remarked, we are a victim of our own success. We’ve pushed on the boundaries of seeing patients earlier in the course of illness, we’ve demonstrated remarkable value to our colleagues and health systems: now they want us to see...
info_outline
LATE vs Alzheimer’s: Biomarkers, Mixed Dementia, and Clinical Realities with Nate Chin & Sterling Johnson
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Up until just a couple years ago, an 85-year-old patient presenting with gradual, amnestic memory loss was almost automatically presumed to have Alzheimer’s disease. However, new biomakers and the recognition of conditions like Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) are reshaping our understanding of cognitive decline in older adults. It’s looking more clear that pure Alzheimers dementia is rare in older adults, and co-occurring pathologies that may include Alzheimer's, LATE, Lewy Body, and vascular neuropatholigies, are the rule rather than the exception. In...
info_outline
Video-Enhanced Advance Care Planning: Joshua Lakin and Kei Ouchi
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Can simple, evidence-based video decision aids—paired with structured clinician training—improve Advance Care Planning (ACP) documentation and goal-concordant care? That’s the question we pose in this week's podcast with Dr. Joshua Lakin and Dr. Kei Ouchi. We break down the methodologies behind two major clinical trials in which they were involved that implemented this video-enhanced approach. The f was a multicenter, parallel randomized trial of 598 seriously ill older adults in emergency departments (EDs). It tested whether watching a 5-minute video and having a short, 10-minute...
info_outlineLynn Flint and Anne Kelly join as hosts in a reprise of last year’s ask us anything format. Thank you for sending in your terrific questions! Lynn and Anne condensed them to about 20, and we ran through them rather rapid fire. Also on fire? Our mouths. As with our 300th episode, we did this Hot Ones-style. Every few questions, we had to eat a chicken wing slathered in hot sauce. The hot sauces got progressively hotter, though as we discovered, the ordering may have been a littttttle bit off. Still, by the time we hit the really hot ones, our mouths were on fire, we were blowing our noses, gulping down milk, and terrified of what the next hot wing would bring…
We covered so much in this podcast, including:
-
Coffee or tea? What jokes do you make with patients?
-
Where do we see ageism?
-
Why are we still advocating for advance care planning?
-
Concerns about expansion of medical aid in dying
-
Should doctors reveal that they’re using AI in clinical care (thanks for the question mom!)
-
The future of geriatrics and palliative care
-
What we’d do differently about the podcast if we could start over, or what we could do that is new going forward. Surprises in terms of who is listening, our audience.
-
Ideas for others to build community as we do at GeriPal
-
Influence of our own spirituality and religion on our clinical practice
-
Lasting practice changes from prior podcasts, or from Covid experience
-
Why PC in the ED hasn’t taken off
-
And more!
Looking back on 10 years and 400 podcasts, Eric and I are filled with gratitude for you, dear listeners. You sustain us. You keep us going. Please stay involved, send us messages about show ideas, and introduce yourself to us at national meetings.
Thank you!
-Alex Smith