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The Weight Of A Med Student's Subconscious Bias A test of third-year medical students in North Carolina revealed biases against the obese. The author of the study says these thoughts, often subconscious, could affect how doctors treat their patients and whether those patients trust them. |
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Abortion Opponents Try to Spin Murder Case Into Legislation Abortion opponents are hoping the recent murder conviction of Pennsylvania abortion provider Kermit Gosnell will lead to more scrutiny of second trimester abortions. They're working on a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy — nationwide. |
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This 9-Year-Old Girl Told McDonald's CEO: Stop Tricking Kids Over the years, McDonald's has gotten a lot of flack for marketing to kids. At a shareholders meeting Thursday morning, Hannah Robertson, age 9, took the fast-food giant's CEO to task. |
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Researchers Find Bird Flu Is Contagious Among Ferrets The virus's ability to move between these mammals might not bode well for humans. So far, it appears that H7N9 doesn't pass easily between people, but it could mutate over time and pose more of a threat. |
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Hardly A Haven: Home Can Be Deadly In Natural Disasters Despite advances in predicting dangerous weather and better evacuation planning, some people still stay put when devastation looms. A study of deaths during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 raises a big question: Why didn't the people at risk move to higher ground? |
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Seeing Double: Errors In Stem-Cell Cloning Paper Raise Doubts Biologists said last week that they had overcome a major obstacle in stem-cell research by cloning human embryos. But several images in the published study were duplicated and labeled incorrectly, prompting questions about the authenticity of the results. |
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3-D Printer Makes Life-Saving Splint For Baby Boy's Airway A 3-D printer is being credited with helping to save an Ohio baby's life, after doctors "printed" a tube to support a weak airway that caused him to stop breathing. The innovative procedure has allowed Kaiba Gionfriddo, of Youngstown, Ohio, to stay off a ventilator for more than a year. |
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Canned Peaches Are As Nutritious As Fresh. Really? What's more, when it comes to some nutrients, like vitamin C, canned peaches pack an even bigger punch than fresh, researchers say. The reasons have to do with how the canning process alters the fruit's cell walls. So eat 'em up! |
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Antidepressant May Protect The Heart Against Mental Stress When researchers challenged people with heart disease to perform some stressful tasks, those who took a popular antidepressant had fewer symptoms related to low blood flow to the heart. The findings, though preliminary, suggest another avenue for treatment. |
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Lois Lerner's Brief And Awful Day On Capitol Hill The IRS bureaucrat showed up long enough at a House hearing into the scandal engulfing her agency to declare her innocence and her constitutional right to say no more. |
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Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old. Researchers found a way to test ancient teeth for clues about when humans cut nursing short. |
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British Driver Says She's Sorry In 'Twit And Run' Case A British driver who struck a cyclist with her car — and who then bragged about the incident on Twitter — has issued an apology. The incident caused an uproar after the collision Sunday. |
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Could African Crops Be Improved With Private Biotech Data? A plant scientist at Mars Inc. has appealed to the world's biggest life sciences companies to help him — by sharing what they already know about 100 crops that could provide better nutrition in Africa. But can the kings of agricultural intellectual property get onboard with open source agricultural information for Africa? |
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A Decade In The Making, West Bank Barrier Is Nearly Complete Despite much international criticism, Israel has continued building its West Bank barrier. It's now nearing completion, while the Israelis and Palestinians continue to argue over whether it will help or hurt prospects for a Middle East peace agreement. |
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Polio Outbreak In Kenya: A Threat To Global Eradication A handful of polio infections in Kenya and Somalia could set back efforts to wipe out the virus worldwide, health workers warned Wednesday. The last time there was polio in this region, the virus spread throughout the Horn of Africa into the Middle East and eventually into Indonesia. |
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Research Reveals Yeasty Beasts Living On Our Skin While studying microorganisms on humans is not new, tracking fungi is. In a census of sorts, scientists checked the skin of healthy volunteers. They found an expansive ecosystem of silent inhabitants. |
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Fifteen Years After A Vaccine Scare, A Measles Epidemic A measles epidemic in Wales that has infected more than 1,000 people is the fallout from a fraudulent paper linking the vaccine and autism published almost 15 years ago, health officials say. Many of the children and teenagers sick with measles were never vaccinated. |
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Boomer Housemates Have More Fun Some single baby boomers are moving into group houses, a college-era solution to their modern needs. Housemates share costs, socialize, and cheer each other on through life's thick and thin. |
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The Scramble At Moore Medical Center As The Tornado Hit Nick Stremble, a registered nurse and manager at the hospital, described what he saw Monday. As winds ripped through the facility, people started "to tumble and roll and be pushed down the hall," he said. |
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Nutrition Group Says Chocolate Milk Is OK, No Need For Aspartame The nation's largest group of nutritionists is urging the FDA to reject the dairy industry's petition to change the definition of milk. The petition aims to allow aspartame or other alternatives to be used to sweeten milk in an effort to boost consumption in schools. |
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A Catch For Insurers That Cut Deductibles For Healthy People Rewards to policyholders for claims that don't meet the annual deductible can be a boon for healthy people. But the approach might not pass the smell test in 2014 when the federal health law bans discriminating against people based on their health status. |
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A Mother And Daughter Confront Their Breast Cancer Risk Newspaper columnist Regina Brett and her daughter Gabrielle share a genetic risk factor for breast cancer. It's the same one that led Angelina Jolie to have a preventive mastectomy. Before Jolie's very public decision, the Bretts struggled with their own. |
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Getting Rid Of My Breasts, A Lot Of People Didn't Understand The news that Angelina Jolie had a preventative double mastectomy has many women thinking about how far they'd go to protect their bodies. Cleveland journalist Regina Brett has written about how she and her daughter Gabe went through the same surgery. They share their story with host Michel Martin. |
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Less Sleep For Teens Means Higher Risk For Car Crashes New, young drivers are much more likely to have an accident if they're short on sleep, researchers say. And teenage drivers are far more impaired than adults when facing an equivalent lack of sleep. |
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Texas Medicaid Debate Complicated By Politics And Poverty In Texas, it may be politically unwise to cross the governor, but some politicians and advocates in the poor Rio Grande Valley are starting to speak out in support of expanding Medicaid. Gov. Rick Perry opposes all parts of Obamacare. |
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Latest Health Hurdle: Buying Insurance Without A Bank Account Most health plans accept a credit card for the first month's premium and then require customers to pay monthly with a check or an electronic transfer from a bank account. For people without a banking relationship, these transactions can be tricky. |
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ADHD In Childhood May Feed Obesity In Adults People diagnosed with ADHD as children may be more apt to be obese in adulthood, scientists say. Differences in brain biology or the impulsiveness typical of ADHD may contribute to lasting, bad eating habits. |
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Can A Piece Of Hair Reveal How Much Coke Or Pepsi You Drink? People are notorious for under-reporting what they consume — they lie, forget or just guess wrong. For researchers who want to know how much soda we're drinking, a high-tech analysis technique could help. |
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If Your Shrink Is A Bot, How Do You Respond?   A computer-simulated woman named Ellie is designed to talk to people who are struggling emotionally and take their measure — 30 times per second. Researchers hope their technology, which reads a person's body language and inflections, will yield diagnostic clues for clinical therapists. |
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Bans Of Same-Sex Marriage Can Take A Psychological Toll When several states passed laws banning same-sex marriages, researchers found that the mental health of gay residents seemed to suffer. Conversely, stress-related disorders dropped after the legalization of gay marriage in one state. Researchers say negative media portrayals and loss of safety were contributing factors. |
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Alzheimer's Cases Rise, But Hope Remains More than 5 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease, and the number is only going to increase — in part, due to aging baby boomers. But researchers say increased awareness and early detection is helping patients live with the disease. |
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The Unsafe Sex: Should The World Invest More In Men's Health? The world's top health problems are more common in men than women. But recent global funding has been skewed toward women's issues. Some health economists say more effort should go toward stopping men's risky behaviors, like smoking and drinking. |
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Experts Agree: 'Psychiatry's Bible' Is No Bible The new version of the DSM, the manual of psychiatric diagnoses, is already sparking criticism. But psychiatrists say it helps make sure they're all on the same page. |
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Illinois Lawmakers Send Medical Marijuana Bill To Governor Gov. Pat Quinn has not said whether he will sign the bill after the state Senate approved the measure, which includes tough guidelines for who is eligible. |
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Up For Discussion: Cost Of Cancer Care Avoided Too Often Even cancer patients with health insurance can face steep copayments for drugs, a sizable share of hospital bills and significant incidental expenses. So wouldn't it make sense for doctors and patients to talk about financial issues up front? |
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Researchers Report Cloning Advance For Producing Stem Cells Scientists reported this week in the journal Cell that they had used somatic cell nuclear transfer techniques to create a source of embryonic stem cells from the skin cells of a patient. George Daley, director of the stem cell transplantation program at Boston Children's Hospital, and Josephine Johnston of the Hastings Center discuss the research. |
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Desktop Diaries: Daniel Kahneman Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman is the latest subject in our Desktop Diaries series, although he has no desk. Kahneman, professor emeritus at Princeton University, won the Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 2002 for his research with the late Amos Tversky on our sometimes irrational intuitions and how they affect decision-making. |
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Flaxseed: The Next Superfood For Cattle And Beef? After years of research, an animal scientist looking for ways to keep inflammation down in cattle came up with a novel approach: feed them flax. The flax in their food helps keep animals healthy and has an added benefit for people who later eat their meat: omega-3 enriched beef. |
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Doctors Confirm Black Lung In Victims Of Mine Blast A study of mine blast victims finds further evidence that there's a resurgence of black lung among coal miners. The relatively young ages of some of the miners and their limited tenure underground suggests significant exposure to coal dust. |
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Nearly Half The Country Doesn't Know Health Law Exists A new poll finds 42 percent of Americans aren't sure that the Affordable Care Act is actually a law. Guest Host Celeste Headlee discusses this and other health care-related issues with Mary Agnes Carey, senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News, and NPR's Senior Washington Editor, Ron Elving. |
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Biking To Work: Healthful Until You Hit A Pothole Biking to work is a great way to get exercise, save money and reduce pollution from cars. But does the risk of accidents cancel out all the good? Experience in Europe says no, but the U.S. lacks that tradition of urban bike travel. |
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How Can You Give A Community Better Health? Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA — in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. He hopes to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys." |
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When Is the Right Time To Give? Volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos tells a story of an act of heroism that didn't go quite as expected — but that taught him a big lesson: Don't wait — give now. |
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Cape Cod Community To Vote On Status Of Wind Turbines In the Cape Cod community of Falmouth, voters will decide if two, town-owned wind turbines will be taken down. Dozens have complained of headaches, insomnia and other issues since the first turbine started spinning in 2010. |
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Why Is Psychiatry's New Manual So Much Like The Old One? Unlike cardiology and most other fields of medicine, psychiatry still hasn't developed discrete, biological tests for diagnosing illnesses of the mind. That's because the brain "hasn't yielded its secrets yet," one psychiatrist says. |
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A 'Wake-Up Call' To Protect Vulnerable Workers From Abuse For decades, a turkey-processing company housed intellectually disabled men in squalid conditions, subjecting them to physical and emotional abuse while paying them $2 per day. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently won a huge judgment against the company. |
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A Small Shock To The System May Help Brain With Math The results are preliminary, and alpha parents seeking an edge for their children shouldn't risk electrocution. Still, the findings are provocative and may lead researchers down a new road. |
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Swell Of Goodwill For First Medicare Chief Confirmed Since 2004 Marilyn Tavenner, who has been running the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in an acting capacity since late 2011, has a big job. The agency oversees health coverage for more than 100 million Americans. |
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How Trace Amounts Of Arsenic End Up In Grocery Store Meat A recently published study found slightly elevated amounts of inorganic arsenic in samples of chicken meat purchased at grocery stores. Arsenic-based drugs are no longer used in chickens — but they are still used in turkeys. |
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Everybody In The Pool! But Please Leave The Poop Behind Most public swimming pools are contaminated with germs carried by poop, federal researchers found. We swimmers are to blame. Showering before swimming and taking kids to the bathroom often would help. |
