Health & Safety

How A Beauty Queen With Diabetes Found Her 'Sugar Linings'

4:31pm July 31, 2015

by Miriam E. Tucker

She didn't know that sporting an insulin pump on her bikini at a beauty pageant would make her an Internet sensation. Sierra Sandison is trying to use that to help others with Type 1 diabetes.

The Ebola vaccine from a trial in Guinea needs to be kept at a temperature of minus 60 degrees Celsius, the World Health Organization says. Storage devices use jet fuel to keep the right temperature for up to five days in the field.

New Ebola Vaccine Has '100 Percent' Effectiveness In Early Results

1:09pm July 31, 2015

by Bill Chappell

The trial of the VSV-EBOV vaccine was called Ebola ça Suffit — French for "Ebola that's enough." Researchers say it's both effective and quick, with no new Ebola cases 6 days after vaccination.

Hey, I'm not texting. Surely this is safe.

Teens Say They Change Clothes And Do Homework While Driving

12:48pm July 31, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

So they do seem to get that texting is dangerous. But putting on makeup and contact lenses at 65 mph? No problem. Researchers in Oregon are trying to train teenagers on the risks of multitasking.

Enrollment counselor Vue Yang (left) reviews health insurance options for Laura San Nicolas (center), accompanied by her daughter, Geena, 17, at Sacramento Covered in Sacramento, Calif., in February.

Health & Safety

More Previously Uninsured Californians Got Coverage Under Obamacare

10:06am July 31, 2015

by Lisa Aliferis

More than two-thirds of Californians who didn't have health insurance before the Affordable Care Act took full effect in 2014 have it now. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey documents the changes.

After Debra Jarvis went through cancer treatment, she didn't want to be labeled only as a cancer survivor.

What Does It Mean To Be A "Cancer Survivor"?

9:36am July 31, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Debra Jarvis had breast cancer, but it doesn't define her, she says. Jarvis explains how clinging to the identity of "survivor" sometimes stifles personal growth.

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"We have 21st-century medical treatments and drugs to treat cancer, but we still have 20th-century procedures and processes for diagnosis," says Jorge Soto.

What's A Better Way To Detect Cancer?

9:36am July 31, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

We often discover cancer after it's too late to treat. Jorge Soto is in the process of creating a simple, fast and cheap method for early cancer detection and all it takes is a few drops of blood.

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"The goal of me as a cancer doctor is not to understand cancer ... the goal is to control cancer," says Dr. David Agus.

Is Our Narrow Focus On Cancer Doing More Harm Than Good?

9:36am July 31, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Dr. David Agus believes that current research is too narrowly focused on the specifics of cancer. Instead, he thinks broader, more interdisciplinary methods are needed to control and treat it.

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Healthy diets help prevent, even reverse, some health conditions. Dr. Dean Ornish believes it can also do the same for cancer.

Can Healthy Eating Reverse Some Cancers?

9:36am July 31, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Dr. Dean Ornish studied how lifestyle changes could help people with chronic heart disease; he wanted to figure out if there was a way to do the same with some types of cancer.

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A teenage girl gets a shot of HPV vaccine, which protects against a virus that causes cervical cancer.

Low-Income Teens Have Best Shot At Getting HPV Vaccine

8:31am July 31, 2015

by Ina Yang

Doctors have a hard time getting teenagers vaccinated, but they're making progress, according to data from the CDC. Low-income teens are most likely to get the first shot of HPV vaccine.

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, (left) poses with his uncle, Philip Lee, and father Peter Lee (seated) at the younger Peter Lee's home in Pasadena, Calif., in 2013.

Meet The California Family That Has Made Health Policy Its Business

6:24pm July 30, 2015

by Stephanie O'Neill

On Medicare's 50th birthday, two brothers who helped get it off the ground tell their stories. A younger member of the Lee family is at the helm of Covered California, the state insurance exchange.

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