Family Dispositions: Implications of Genetic Testing
Blame it on your parents and their parents before them. Science tells us that the predisposition for certain illnesses, including breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and sickle cell anemia, can be …
High Anxiety: Understanding Social Disorders
Part I: Education professor Valerie Morprew of Longwood College shares new approaches for treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Find the segment audio here. Part II: Mark McCormick, a Virginia Commonwealth University psychiatrist and director of the …
Danger Underfoot: Efforts to Remove the World’s Land Mines
Some 60 nations, including Bosnia, Cambodia, and Laos, lose thousands of lives each year to land mines left behind by warring parties. In many cases, the mines remain years after …
The Roots of a Cure: Native American Medicinal Plants
Part I: Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacologist John A. Rosecrans describes his research on the neurological effects of nicotine and how anti-smoking efforts may be stifling research on the beneficial applications of nicotine in …
New Advances in Medical Research
Part I: University of Virginia oncologist Dr. Leland Chung is working with a team of scientists, who may be just two years away from testing on humans a vaccine for prostate cancer. Chung …
Tragic Endings: Suicide and the Elderly
The rate of suicide among the elderly is 50 percent higher than that of the general population. And it continues to climb. For some people, suicide is becoming a ritualized …
As a Matter of Fat: American’s Obession with Weight
Part I: For the first time in history, overweight Americans outnumber “normal-sized” ones. University of Virginia exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser, author of Big Fat Lies, says dieting almost always promotes the very thing …
Heal Thyself: Over-The-Counter Drugs and Alternative Medicines
Part I: With the explosion of over-the-counter drugs, consumers can treat dozens of illnesses that once required trips to the doctor. Dr. Graham Patrick, professor of pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical …
Forever Young: New Medical Research to Live Longer, Better
Part I: University of Virginia biomedical engineer Paul Allaire discusses his development of magnetic bearings for use in heart pumps. The bearings improve blood flow and eliminate the need for mechanical lubricants that …