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Urbanization Puts Farms In Africa's Cities At Risk

An urban farmer waters his plants near Bamako, Mali, where the government has set aside nearly 250 acres for market gardens. donkeycart/Flickr hide caption

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donkeycart/Flickr

The Salt

Urbanization Puts Farms In Africa's Cities At Risk

As many as 40 percent of urban families in sub-Saharan Africa farm in household or commercial gardens. A survey from the United Nations finds that these urban farms, which feed millions of people each year, are in jeopardy if they're not protected during Africa's growth spurt.

Tax Breaks For Organ Donors Aren't Boosting Transplant Supply

A kidney donor is wheeled to an operating room for a transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in late June. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Tax Breaks For Organ Donors Aren't Boosting Transplant Supply

The tax incentives are intended to defray the organ donor's cost in medical care, travel and lost wages. By federal statute, it's illegal to pay someone for the organ itself. But the modest breaks available in some states haven't made a dent.

Against The Odds, A 'Miracle Boy Grows Up'

Author Interviews

Against The Odds, A 'Miracle Boy Grows Up'

Ben Mattlin was born with a condition called spinal muscular atrophy. Many infants with the disease don't live past age 2, but Mattlin went on to attend Harvard, get married and have kids. "I had this dumb idea from childhood that I could do anything anybody else could do," he says.

Against The Odds, A 'Miracle Boy Grows Up'

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Thursday

A Troubling Rise In Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

A doctor examines chest X-rays at a tuberculosis clinic in Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa in late 2007. The number of TB cases that don't respond to both first- and second-line medications is rising worldwide. Karin Schermbrucker/AP hide caption

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Karin Schermbrucker/AP

Shots - Health News

A Troubling Rise In Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

A study examining the effectiveness of second line drugs for tuberculosis finds that extensively drug-resistant TB is spreading at an alarmingly high rate around the world. Its widespread prevalence in South Africa is forcing doctors to change the way they treat this emerging epidemic.

Subtracting Calories May Not Add Years To Life

A rhesus monkey eats watermelon, provided by zookeepers, at the Kamla Nehru Zoological Gardens in India in May 2012. Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

The Salt

Subtracting Calories May Not Add Years To Life

A study, which started back in 1987, shows that monkeys fed a diet with 30 percent fewer calories than normal did not live unusually long lives. Researchers say the results are a good indication of how caloric restriction might affect the life spans of people.

Subtracting Calories May Not Add Years To Life

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Wednesday

Mysterious New 'Heartland Virus' Discovered In Missouri

Two men from northwestern Missouri became ill after tick bites infected them with a previously unknown virus. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

Shots - Health News

Mysterious New 'Heartland Virus' Discovered In Missouri

So far, two Missouri farmers are the only known cases of the tick-borne virus in the world. But experts are sure they'll find more. The men recovered but suffered serious illness that required hospital care and weeks of convalescence.

With West Nile On The Rise, We Answer Your Questions

A Beechcraft airplane sprays insecticide over Dallas early Monday morning to curb the spread of West Nile virus. LM Otero/AP hide caption

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LM Otero/AP

Shots - Health News

With West Nile On The Rise, We Answer Your Questions

Every state except Alaska and Hawaii has reported West Nile virus in people, birds or mosquitoes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects human cases will rise through October. In Texas, the worst-hit state, deaths reached 31.

With West Nile On The Rise, We Answer Your Questions

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When Flu Hits, Kids With Neurological Problems Are Vulnerable

People wait in line at the Durham County Health Department for the H1N1 flu vaccination in Durham, N.C., in November 2009. Gerry Broome/AP hide caption

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Gerry Broome/AP

Shots - Health News

When Flu Hits, Kids With Neurological Problems Are Vulnerable

A high proportion of deaths in children during the swine flu pandemic occurred in kids who had neurologic diseases, such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy, or developmental disorders. Those conditions can affect breathing, swallowing and coughing.

Boomer Women Prove They Can Dine Out And Still Lose Weight

Older women on a diet don't need to stop eating out; they just may need to make wiser food choices to keep weight off. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

The Salt

Boomer Women Prove They Can Dine Out And Still Lose Weight

Women who add more servings of fruit and veggies a day lost more weight even if they dined out two or three times a week, according to a new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Boomer Women Prove They Can Dine Out And Still Lose Weight

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