Humans

Dr. Jessie Gaeta, chief medical officer of Health Care for the Homeless at Boston Medical Center, stands in a conference room that will soon be converted to a place where patients high on heroin or other drugs can be safely monitored.

Boston's Heroin Users Will Soon Get A Safer Place To Be High

9:58am March 01, 2016

by Martha Bebinger

Set to open within a few weeks, the room will not be a place to inject drugs or get high, say health providers. Instead, a nurse will monitor heroin users as they come down from the drug's effects.

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Adam Grant is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Originals.

Originals: How To Spot One, How To Be One

12:01am March 01, 2016

by NPR Staff

Adam Grant, author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, tells us what makes an original, how parents can nurture originality in their children, and its potential downside.

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Mosquito larvae fill the cup of stale water that entomologist Luis Hernandez dips from a stack of old tires in a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Races To Stop Zika's Mosquitoes Before Rains Begin

7:55am February 29, 2016

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is an old foe, spreading yellow fever and dengue on the islands long before Zika gained a foothold. How do you stop an insect that can breed in a teaspoonful of stale water?

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With CDC Help, Puerto Rico Aims To Get Ahead Of Zika

6:55pm February 26, 2016

So far, the U.S. territory has reported 117 Zika cases, including five pregnant women. But health officials say the real test will come when April and May rains bring more mosquitoes.

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Scientists say they still have a lot to learn about Zika before they'll have a vaccine ready for people.

Why Scientists Hope To Inject Some People With Zika Virus

6:55pm February 25, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

There's no vaccine yet, but Zika researchers are racing to find a good candidate. After testing it in animals, checking for effectiveness in humans might include injecting Zika into healthy people.

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Beam Me Up, Scotty? Turns Out Your Brain Is Ready For Teleportation

6:42pm February 25, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

The brain usually relies on our senses to navigate. But researchers found that when people experienced virtual teleportation, their brains still managed to keep them on course.

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Each year, between 8,000 and 9,000 people nationwide complain to the government about nursing home evictions, according to federal data. That makes evictions the leading category of all nursing home complaints.

Nursing Home Evictions Strand The Disabled In Costly Hospitals

12:57pm February 25, 2016

by Ina Jaffe

Federal rules mostly prohibit nursing homes from refusing to readmit residents after a hospital stay. But states rarely enforce the regulations. Some California families are now suing the state.

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Burnout and low pay can make it tough to retain counselors in the field of addiction services. "You take on your clients' pain," explains one former counselor.

Shortage Of Addiction Counselors Further Strained By Opioid Epidemic

4:30pm February 24, 2016

by Emily Corwin

Counselors in the field of substance abuse rehabilitation earn roughly $40,000 a year, surveys show, and the work can be emotionally draining. Employee turnover is high, and likely to get worse.

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Most women get prenatal care from the doctor they expect will deliver the baby, which can make it difficult if the doctor and hospital are far away.

More Rural Hospitals Are Closing Their Maternity Units

11:37am February 24, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Facilities for delivering babies are expensive to run and hard to staff. But when small rural hospitals close their birthing units, pregnant women must travel much farther for care.

Two More U.S. Cases Of Zika Virus Likely Shared Via Sex

8:55pm February 23, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

U.S. health officials say they have confirmed the two women had Zika. And their only risk factor was having slept with male partners who had recently traveled to places with active virus transmission.