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Monday

Research Moratoriums And Recipes For Superbugs: Bird Flu In 2012

Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., use eggs to see if the Asian strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus has entered the U.S. in this photo from 2006. Andy Manis/AP hide caption

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Andy Manis/AP

Shots - Health News

Research Moratoriums And Recipes For Superbugs: Bird Flu In 2012

When scientists figured out how to make the deadly H5N1 virus more contagious, a debate ignited about whether to publish the research and do more experiments. Over the past year, scientists published the contentious work, but they still can't agree on the field's future.

Research Moratoriums And Recipes For Superbugs: Bird Flu In 2012

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Saturday

As Biodiversity Declines, Tropical Diseases Thrive

Mosquitoes like this one can carry the virus that causes dengue fever, which may become a bigger problem in some regions as biodiversity is lost. James Gathany/CDC Public Health Image Library hide caption

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James Gathany/CDC Public Health Image Library

Shots - Health News

As Biodiversity Declines, Tropical Diseases Thrive

Researchers argue that ecology has a pretty big say in whether disease rates increase or die down. They used a new field that blends economics and ecology called "macroecology" to figure out how biodiversity loss affected disease burden.

Friday

One Lunch Lady's Cafeteria Conversion

Kathy Del Tonto (far right) participates in a class that teaches school cafeteria workers how to prepare meals from scratch. LiveWell Colorado hide caption

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LiveWell Colorado

The Salt

One Lunch Lady's Cafeteria Conversion

CPR News

"If it's not me, who's it going to be?" asks Colorado school cafeteria manager Kathy Del Tonto. After serving processed foods in her cafeterias for years, she realized that reducing childhood obesity can begin with her. She now has the lunch ladies making 95 percent of meals from scratch.

One Lunch Lady's Cafeteria Conversion

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This Milk Production Was Brought To You By A Robot

Photographer Freya Najade journeys into the weird sci-fi world of Europe's agricultural production. In one cow-milking facility she visited, "two people are needed to milk twice a day 300 cows," she writes. Freya Najade hide caption

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Freya Najade

The Picture Show

This Milk Production Was Brought To You By A Robot

This looks and sounds more like sci-fi, but this is nonfiction farming. Photographer Freya Najade journeys into the evolving state of Europe's agricultural system, observing fewer humans, more robots and, oddly, less and less time outside.

Fitness & Nutrition

'Consider the Fork' Chronicles Evolution of Eating

Did you know that the human overbite may have evolved after people began using forks and knives? In Consider the Fork, author Bee Wilson traces how kitchen tools--from knives to pots to gas stoves--have changed over time, and how they have influenced what, and how, we eat.

'Consider the Fork' Chronicles Evolution of Eating

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Science

Making Resolutions That Stick

Vowing to stop smoking, curb spending or exercise more this January 1? Nearly half of U.S. adults will make year-end resolutions to change for the better in the coming year. Clinical psychologist John Norcross talks about how to increase the odds of success.

Making Resolutions That Stick

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Americans Support Physician-Assisted Suicide For Terminally Ill

John Kelly and Dr. Marcia Angell were advocates on opposing sides of a Massachusetts measure to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Jesse Costa/Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption

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Jesse Costa/Jesse Costa/WBUR

Shots - Health News

Americans Support Physician-Assisted Suicide For Terminally Ill

The latest NPR-Truven Health Analytics Health Poll finds that most Americans favor physician-assisted suicide for people with less than six months to live. But the survey found opposition to assisted suicide for people in severe pain who aren't terminally ill or for those with disabilities.

Another Side Effect Of Chemotherapy: 'Chemo Brain'

Dr. Jame Abraham used positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to understand differences in brain metabolism before and after chemotherapy. Dr. Jame Abraham hide caption

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Dr. Jame Abraham

Shots - Health News

Another Side Effect Of Chemotherapy: 'Chemo Brain'

For years, researchers have struggled to understand the mental fog that envelops some patients getting chemotherapy. Now a study has found that the cancer treatment significantly decreases brain activity in regions responsible for memory, attention, planning and prioritizing.

Another Side Effect Of Chemotherapy: 'Chemo Brain'

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Thursday

Shootings Leave Sandy Hook Survivors Rethinking The Odds

People visit a memorial outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 15. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Shootings Leave Sandy Hook Survivors Rethinking The Odds

The probability that an individual will experience a school shooting may be low. But when the improbable happens to you, where do you find comfort?

Shootings Leave Sandy Hook Survivors Rethinking The Odds

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Hospital Bids Bye-Bye To Big Macs, Others May Follow Suit

Visitors to one Kansas City hospital will no longer be able to buy a Big Mac on the premises. Keith Srakocic/AP hide caption

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Keith Srakocic/AP

The Salt

Hospital Bids Bye-Bye To Big Macs, Others May Follow Suit

KCUR

The presence of fast food joints on hospital campuses often conflicts with wellness efforts. Long-term leases have made it difficult for these facilities to kick the restaurants out. But some hospitals are managing to give burgers and fries the boot.

Wednesday

How A Drug Shortage Hiked Relapse Risks For Lymphoma Patients

The number of new drug shortages each year in the U.S., from 2001 through Dec. 21, 2012. University of Utah hide caption

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University of Utah

Shots - Health News

How A Drug Shortage Hiked Relapse Risks For Lymphoma Patients

The short supply of a key drug to treat lymphoma forced doctors to switch to another medicine. Now researchers have documented that the fallback drug wasn't as good a choice as many doctors thought.

How A Drug Shortage Hiked Relapse Risks For Lymphoma Patients

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Despite Uneven Results, Alzheimer's Research Suggests A Path For Treatment

Brain scans using Amyvid dye to highlight beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. Clockwise from top left: a cognitively normal subject; an amyloid-positive patient with Alzheimer's disease; a patient with mild cognitive impairment who progressed to dementia during a study; and a patient with mild cognitive impairment. Slide courtesy of the journal Neurology hide caption

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Slide courtesy of the journal Neurology

Shots - Health News

Despite Uneven Results, Alzheimer's Research Suggests A Path For Treatment

The year saw some disappointments in the development of drugs to treat Alzheimer's. But the setbacks were offset by progress in other areas. The upshot from this year's mixed results, some scientists say, is that treatment for Alzheimer's needs to start long before forgetfulness and muddled thinking are apparent.

Despite Uneven Results, Alzheimer's Research Suggests A Path For Treatment

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