Health & Safety

What happened when a doctor only ate ultra-processed foods for a month

4:35pm July 25, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

As part of NPR's Living Better series, we look at what happened when a doctor decided to swap his healthy diet for one filled with ultra-processed foods for a month.

Ammon Bundy, center, who led a protest at a Boise hospital last year, stands on the Idaho Statehouse steps in Boise, Idaho, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020.

Ammon Bundy ordered to pay $50 million. But will the hospital ever see the money?

2:53pm July 25, 2023

by Kirk Siegler

A jury as ordered Ammon Bundy and an associate to pay more than $50 million in damages to Idaho's largest hospital after armed protests last year led to a security lockdown.

A new study finds a gap in excess deaths opened between Republicans and Democrats in 2021, after vaccine access was widened to all adults. Here, a Walgreens worker prepares vaccine shots for school staff in Dayton, Ohio, in February 2021.

A political gap in excess deaths widened after COVID-19 vaccines arrived, study says

2:17pm July 25, 2023

by Bill Chappell

After vaccines became widely available in 2021, "the excess death rate among Republican voters was 43% higher than the excess death rate among Democratic voters," Yale researchers say.

John Shambroom and Loose Ends volunteer Jan Rohwetter examine the rug Shambroom's wife, Donna Savastio, couldn't finish due to symptoms of Alzheimer's.

Health & Safety

When illness or death leave craft projects unfinished, these strangers step in to help

1:38pm July 25, 2023

by Martha Bebinger

It can be heartbreaking to let go of a hand-made rug or sweater that a loved one didn't quite finish. A group of volunteer knitters, quilters and other crafters offer some closure.

Health & Safety

NCDHHS marks one-year anniversary of 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline debut

10:48am July 25, 2023

by Neal Charnoff

State officials are lauding the success of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, one year after its debut.&n

Virginia is investigating if it's safe to eat fish caught from waterways with PFAS

7:54pm July 24, 2023

by Roxy Todd

With PFAS, the forever chemicals, showing up in drinking water, researchers in Virginia want to know if they're building up in fish as well.

Queue Listen Now

The counter at Glass Chamber smoke shop in West Palm Beach, Fla., features an ad for Feel Free, a tonic sponsored by the athletic departments of the University of Texas, Florida State University and the University of Southern California. The ad doesn't mention that Feel Free contains kratom, a controversial herb linked to fatal overdoses.

Herbal supplement kratom targeted by lawsuits after a string of deaths

6:16pm July 24, 2023

by Peter Haden

Millions of Americans use kratom, which is sold at gas stations, vape shops and bars. It can act like an opiate on the body. The FDA warns against using kratom, but most states don't regulate it.

Queue Listen Now

WeightWatchers and Noom to offer prescription weight loss drugs

4:29pm July 24, 2023

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Fortune senior writer Maria Aspan about her reporting on WeightWatchers providing prescription weight loss drugs.

Queue Listen Now

Stone countertop workers are getting sick and dying due to exposure to silica dust

4:29pm July 24, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

A new study from UCSF/UCLA looks at the toll of silicosis on stone workers. Dozens of young Latino men in California have developed severe lung disease and at least 10 have died.

Dr. Chris van Tulleken took part in a month-long experiment. He ate 80% of his calories from ultra-processed food. He explains what happened in his new book, Ultra-Processed People.

An ultra-processed diet made this doctor sick. Now he's studying why

2:48pm July 24, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

A diet composed of 80% ultra-processed foods led one British doctor to gain weight and feel unwell. Now he's trying to nail down the health effects of this type of diet, which many Americans eat.