Humans

"It shouldn't have happened," says Nicole Smith-Holt of Richfield, Minn., gazing at the death certificate of her son Alec Raeshawn Smith.

Insulin's High Cost Leads To Lethal Rationing

6:41pm September 01, 2018

by Bram Sable-Smith

Alec Raeshawn Smith was 23 when diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and 26 when he died. He couldn't afford $1,300 per month for his insulin and other diabetes supplies, so he tried to stretch the doses.

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Rosy does dishes. Getting the 2-year-old involved in chores did lead to the kitchen being flooded and dishes being broken. But now she is still eager to help.

Health & Safety

How To Get Kids To Do Chores: Does The Maya Method Work?

7:01am September 01, 2018

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Inspired by Maya families where kids happily pitch in, correspondent Michaeleen Doucleff tries to get her 2-year-old daughter to become a household helper.

Petrochemical facilities in the Houston area are assessing their hurricane preparedness after Hurricane Harvey. This oil refinery reinforced storage tank roofs with geodesic domes — the gray caps on some of the white tanks in the photo — to better wi

Industry Looks For Hurricane Lessons As Climate Changes

10:32pm August 31, 2018

by Rebecca Hersher

Hurricane Harvey was a wake-up call for petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast to rethink plans for major floods. Some companies are starting to prepare for storms that are larger and more severe.

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Drew Calver, a high school history teacher and swim coach in Austin, Texas, had a heart attack at his home on April 2, 2017. A neighbor rushed him to the nearby emergency room at St. David's Medical Center, which wasn't in the school district's health pla

His $109K Heart Attack Bill Is Now Down To $332 After NPR Told His Story

7:22pm August 31, 2018

by Chad Terhune

"I don't feel any consumer should have to go through this," says Drew Calver, of the huge surprise bill he got from an Austin hospital after his 2017 heart attack. He's worried about other patients.

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A thick layer of smoke from the Carr Fire settles over California's Central Valley in a view from a jet earlier this summer. Fine particulate matter from drifting wildfire smoke mixes with industrial ozone and can become trapped between the mountain range

Noxious Mix of Smoke And Pollution Stresses Health In California's Heartland

5:06pm August 31, 2018

by Ana B. Ibarra

Low-income residents living near highways and agricultural and industrial zones are getting hit with a "double whammy" as wildfire smoke drifts to areas where the air is often polluted already.

The harvest is bad for German farmers this year as the country has experienced the hottest summer on record and months without rainfall.

German Farmers Struck By Drought Fear Further Damage From Climate Change

4:32pm August 31, 2018

by Esme Nicholson

High temperatures and a severe drought have hit food production in Germany and left many farmers there wondering what they can do to survive climate change.

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"We put on perfumes, we cover up our holes with anything that excretes or is moist we don't want anything to do with."

'Gross Anatomy' Turns Humor On Taboos About The Female Body

5:46pm August 30, 2018

Author Mara Altman got tired of hiding her hairy, sweaty self from the world, and set out to reframe the shame in her latest book of essays — part memoir, part scientific exploration, part manifesto.

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Florence, Italy, Europe 01 July, 2011 The long nose of a liar pinocchio

Science

Can You Handle The Truth?

5:00pm August 30, 2018

This week on the Hidden Brain radio show, we explore why people often avoid telling the truth — to others, and to themselves.

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Some research suggests that having multiples increases a parent's risk of mental health concerns â like depression and anxiety â before and after the children are born. Don't be afraid to admit it, parents advise. Emotional support can help.

Pssst: Parenting Twins Can Be Depressing

10:11pm August 29, 2018

by Juli Fraga

Expectant parents of twins and other multiples may be ready for the joy and extra physical demands of caring for more than one baby. But few know the risk of depression and anxiety runs higher, too.

The recommendations say physicians should look for these risk factors: "a history of depression, current depressive symptoms (like persisting hopelessness, lack of sleep, etc.) or certain socioeconomic risk factors," such as being low-income, very young,

Panel: Doctors Should Focus On Preventing Depression In Pregnant Women, New Moms

4:27pm August 28, 2018

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Physicians are urged to identify which pregnant women and new mothers are at high risk of depression and refer them to talk therapy before they show worsening symptoms.