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Beating the odds: Patients, perspective and possibility

What's Health Got To Do With It Logo

An Alzheimer’s diagnosis is met with courage, curiosity and determination to change the “D-word." Then, after competing in multiple marathons and Ironmans, a Navy vet faces his toughest challenger yet.

Mike Zuendel, an Alzheimer's patient, turned the life-changing diagnosis into a movement.

After learning he has mild cognitive impairment, Mike Zuendel transformed fear into purpose, launching a national effort to remove words like "dementia" and "demented" from medical language and replace the terms with words that honor dignity.

His nonprofit, Initiative to Change the D-Word, seeks to reduce the words' stigma, increase early detection and treatment, and increase accuracy around cognitive impairment.

On "What's Health," he reveals how early Alzheimer's reshaped his daily life, why he chose to go public with his diagnosis and the importance of redefining what it means to live with cognitive impairment.

Then, after competing in multiple marathons and Ironmans, a Navy veteran faced down his toughest challenger, yet.

Retired Cmdr. Robert "Navy Bob" Roncska recounts an early morning medical emergency. What began as a strange ringing in his ears unraveled into a stroke diagnosis that exposed a hidden hole in his heart.

Roncska, founder of Leading With Love, takes us back to that morning, discussing the minimally invasive procedure that saved his life and how the experience reframed his life's purpose.

"What's Health Got to Do with It?" is a talk program from WJCT in Jacksonville that examines the intersection of health care and daily life.

The host is Dr. Joe Sirven, a Jacksonville neurologist.

Click on the Listen button above to hear the program.

Copyright 2025 WJCT News 89.9

WJCT - Jacksonville
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