Health & Safety

'Becoming Nicole' Recounts One Family's Acceptance Of Their Transgender Child

5:04pm October 19, 2015

When Kelly and Wayne Maines adopted identical twin boys in 1997, they didn't anticipate raising one of their sons as a daughter. They tell their story, with author Amy Ellis Nutt, in Becoming Nicole.

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Abstaining while pregnant is the easiest way to reduce the risk of physical, intellectual and emotional problems in the baby, doctors say.

Pediatricians Say Absolutely No Drinking While Pregnant

2:33pm October 19, 2015

by Nancy Shute

Ten percent of pregnant women say they drink, even though doctors have spent decades saying that birth defects and developmental delays from alcohol can be prevented completely by abstaining.

A production facility that created lead paint and other lead products once stood at Almond and Cumberland Streets, across Aramingo Avenue in Philadelphia.

Health & Safety

Calls Continue For EPA To Clean Up Former Lead Production Site In Philly

2:13pm October 19, 2015

by Carolyn Beeler

A recent federal study found between 11 and 13 percent of children in the neighborhoods surrounding an old factory site in Philadelphia had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

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Jockeys ride wooden plows in the traditional sport of buffalo racing in Bali.

The Richness Of 'Poor' Places, From National Geographic's Photo Contest

1:41pm October 19, 2015

by Malaka Gharib

The pictures capture racing buffalo in Bali, climbing kids in Burkina Faso and high-wire electricians in Bangladesh.

Health & Safety

Forget Last Year's Hiccups, Go Get Your Flu Shot

5:32am October 19, 2015

by Patti Neighmond

Last year, public health officials were taken by surprise when new strains of the flu virus appeared. Not so this year and they advise everyone six months or older to get vaccinated against the flu.

Lessons From A Fight To Fix Flint's Water Supply

6:50pm October 18, 2015

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha talks to NPR's Michel Martin about her fight to get politicians to fix the water supply in Flint, Mich., after kids started testing positive for higher levels of lead exposure.

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Prakash Amte, pictured with his dog, founded a clinic and a school in a remote jungle in the center of India.

What Makes A Do-Gooder Do Good? And How Come We Sometimes Resent Them?

6:44pm October 18, 2015

by Amy Costello

In her new book Strangers Drowning, Larissa MacFarquhar looks at the motives and methods of people who help others — and the reaction of the less altruistic crowd.

Health & Safety

The Uniting Power Of Sharing Patient Progress Online

10:38am October 18, 2015

by Stina Sieg

For those who are ill, Facebook helps friends and family keep up with a patient's progress. But when that patient is a very ill child, the challenges of how to navigate social media are different.

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Kamala in front of her menstruation shed.

A Girl Gets Her Period And Is Banished To The Shed: #15Girls

8:25pm October 17, 2015

When a teenage girl in rural Nepal gets her period, an ancient tradition may drive her to sleep outdoors. But one 15-year-old is trying to break the taboos around menstruation.

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Alan Hoffman, shown with his wife Nancy at their home in Dumfries, Va., found that his Parkinson's symptom improved when he took a cancer drug.

Can A Cancer Drug Reverse Parkinson's Disease And Dementia?

5:29pm October 17, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

People with Parkinson's and related forms of dementia improved dramatically when they took a leukemia drug called nilotinib. Researchers say the drug seems to help brain cells eliminate toxins.