Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Social Media Has Become A Place To Talk About Mental Illness. But Is That Helpful?

6:01pm November 13, 2019

by Jen Tribbet

On social media, young people post about their mental health by adding "#OCD" or "#bipolar" to posts. But there's not a lot of established wisdom on how best to share such consequential stories.

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Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are examining how states regulate abortion clinics. From right are Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

House Oversight Committee Democrats To Examine Regulation Of Abortion Providers

4:18pm November 13, 2019

by Sarah McCammon

The hearing on Thursday will use Missouri — where the last remaining clinic that provides abortion could close over a dispute with health regulators — as a case study.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria — rod-shaped bacteria in this tinted, scanning electron microscope image — are found in soil, water and as normal flora in the human intestine. But they can cause serious wound, lung, skin and urinary tract infections,

How Best To Use The Few New Drugs To Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Germs?

2:02pm November 13, 2019

by Richard Harris

Infectious disease specialists debate whether it's better to give the strongest antibiotics all at once for drug-resistant germs or save the most innovative medicines for use as a last resort.

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A stylized illustration representing how CRISPR targets the ability of a virus to replicate.

Molecular Scissors Could Help Keep Some Viral Illnesses At Bay

12:13pm November 13, 2019

by Joe Palca

A new technique uses the CRISPR molecule to snip away at the part of RNA viruses that allows them to spread infection by making copies of themselves.

"The profession we love has been taken over," psychiatrist and novelist Samuel Shem tells NPR, "with us sitting there in front of screens all day, doing data entry in a computer factory."

Novelist Doctor Skewers Corporate Medicine In 'Man's 4th Best Hospital'

9:00am November 13, 2019

by Mara Gordon

Samuel Shem's 1978 novel, The House of God, was a sardonic look at U.S. medicine through a young doctor's eyes. Shem's new fiction checks in with the same crew in the age of medicine by smartphone.

Research Predicts Hexavalent Chromium Levels Above State Guideline In Piedmont

4:35pm November 12, 2019

by Bethany Chafin

A new study from Duke University estimates that over half of drinking wells in the Piedmont have levels of a chemical compound above the state's health advisory level.

Mothers and their babies in Nigeria wait at a health center that provides vaccinations against polio. Vaccination rates lag in the middle-income country.

When Countries Get Wealthier, Kids Can Lose Out On Vaccines

4:27pm November 12, 2019

by Pien Huang

Childhood vaccines are often subsidized in the poorest countries. But not for those moving up the wealth ladder.

A new book by anthropologist and physician Kimberly Sue tells the stories of women navigating opioid addiction during and after incarceration.

Opioid Addiction In Jails: An Anthropologist's Perspective

5:00am November 12, 2019

by Emily Vaughn

In Getting Wrecked: Women, Incarceration, and the American Opioid Crisis, a Rikers Island doctor says drug treatment in U.S. jails and prisons is often shaped by societal prejudice, not science.

A Myth Of Masculinity: The Truth About Testosterone

1:27pm November 11, 2019

You really don't know as much about the hormone as you think.

To deal with chronic pain, Pamela Bobb's morning routine now includes stretching and meditation at home in Fairfield Glade, Tenn. Bobb says this mind-body awareness intervention has greatly reduced the amount of painkiller she needs.

Meditation Reduced The Opioid Dose She Needs To Ease Chronic Pain By 75%

10:22am November 11, 2019

by Allison Aubrey

For some patients in pain, opioids are still part of the long-term solution, doctors say. But by adding meditation, hypnosis or other treatments, the opioid dose can be reduced.

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