EpisodeThe History of Fat
We are a culture obsessed with weight, barraged with messages to thin down and images of the fit and trim. But fat did not always mean flawed. The painful bustles and corsets of …
EpisodeMind and Matter: Neurological Disorders of the Elderly
Four million Americans are currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease; it is estimated that that number will increase fivefold in the next 50 years. Neurologist James Bennett (University of Virginia) discusses new research …
EpisodePhysician-Assisted Suicide: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
In 1997, Oregon voters approved the Death with Dignity Act, which allows doctors to help the terminally ill hasten their deaths. While other states have considered such a law, none …
EpisodeMedicine for the Millenium
Increasingly Americans are turning to people other than MD’s to cure their aches and pains. Is there a place in health care for these practitioners of alternative therapies? Can MD’s …
EpisodeAttention Deficit Disorder: A Treatment Dilemma
An estimated 5 percent of American children and some 6 million American adults are affected by Attention Deficit Disorder. What causes this disorder? And what’s the best way to treat …
EpisodeAging in Rural Virginia
Too often older Americans suffer the ravages of illnesses and even dementia without knowing there are remedies. Anita Heisterman (University of Virginia)and Susan Garrett (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) evaluate the efforts of …
EpisodeFamily 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 …
EpisodeHigh 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 …
EpisodeDanger 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 …
EpisodeThe 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 …
EpisodeNew 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 …
EpisodeTragic 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 …
