Health
Cycling with Parkinson’s disease
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A doctor in the Netherlands has discovered that some people who suffer severe symptoms of Parkinson’s disease can ride a bicycle with relative ease. Marco Werman speaks with Dr. Bastiaan Bloem of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in Nijmegen. Download MP3Eradicating Guinea worm disease
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In this special podcast, The World takes you to Sudan with former President Jimmy Carter. Carter is working in Southern Sudan to eradicate a horrific disease known as Guinea worm. Our health and science editor David Baron traveled with Carter. We bring you Baron’s report, and an extended interview with Carter. Download MP3
Health care for illegal immigrants
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The last piece of the health care reform law is now on its way to President Obama. He’s expected to sign it next week. The law’s main purpose is to extend health care coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. Non-Americans who are here illegally are still out of luck. The World’s Alex Gallafent reports on what that could mean for the nation’s health care system. Download MP3 (flickr image by taberandrew)Outbreak of rare disease in the Netherlands
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The Netherlands is grappling with an outbreak of a rare disease. It normally strikes farm animals, but it’s now sickening hundreds of people who have no contact with farms. The disease is caused by bacteria so resilient that the U.S. government considers it a bioterrorism agent. From the Netherlands, Emily Kopp reports. Download MP3 (image courtesy of VJ Movement)Living with American health care
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President Obama has signed his ground breaking healthcare bill at a ceremony in the White House. The bill was bitterly opposed by the Republican party, which argued that its provisions were too costly. Justin Webb (pictured) has experienced health care both in the USA and in the UK. He was the BBC’s North America editor, before moving back to Britain last year.Reporting US health care reform abroad
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The House of Representatives has passed the landmark healthcare reform bill at the heart of President Barack Obama’s agenda. The bill was passed by 219 votes to 212, with no Republican backing. David Baron talks with Mitch Potter, Washington Bureau Chief of the Toronto Star, and Gregor Peter Schmitz, US Correspondent for Germany’s Der Spiegel, about how they are covering healthcare reform for their home countries. Download MP3Lead Recycling Exacts High Price for Health
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In the West African nation of Senegal, an informal recycling industry has poisoned children and left a neighborhood severely polluted. Residents caused the contamination by pulling apart car batteries to extract the lead. The government is now cleaning up the site, but many of the children will never be the same. Jori Lewis reports. Download MP3 (Photo: Jori Lewis)
Homeopathy in Britain
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British lawmakers have determined that homeopathy, a form of alternative medicine, is not medicine of any kind at all (beyond a placebo.) Britain funds four homeopathic hospitals in the UK, spending about six million dollars per year. The World’s Alex Gallafent reports.
Doctors face ethical decisions in Haiti
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The medical needs in Haiti are so great, and the resources often so limited, that doctors and nurses working there since the earthquake have had to make some wrenching decisions. They’ve had to choose not only who they could save, but who they could not or would not save. Reporter Sheri Fink brings us a rare behind-the-scenes look at an American field hospital in Port au Prince in the early weeks of the disaster. Download MP3 (Photo: Sheri Fink)
China’s dirty water problem
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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Dr. Peter Gleick about China’s massive water pollution problems. The Chinese government reported this week that levels of common water pollutants were twice as high as they had previously thought.
Alcoholism a ‘national disaster’ in Russia
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You might say it’s no country for old men. Russia, that is. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russians have been increasingly ravaged by disease and death. And one of the main reasons is the nation’s favorite drink. There’s so much vodka going down the throats of so many Russians, life expectancy for men has fallen to just 60 years old – about the same as in Myanmar and Haiti. The World’s Laura Lynch ventured out to the Russian countryside to find the roots of the country’s troubles with alcohol. Download MP3
Brain activity detected in patients in vegetative states
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The World’s Rhitu Chatterjee reports on a new study by British and Belgian scientists that suggests that some patients in a “vegetative state” retain some level of consciousness.
Health care in Spain
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Health care access isn’t a right in the United States. But it is in many other countries… including Spain. Recently two Spanish towns began to chip away at that. They started by denying benefits to undocumented immigrants. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from Vic, Spain.
Controversial strategies for reducing organ shortages
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There’s a worldwide shortage of organs for transplantations.To tackle that shortage, many countries are experimenting with various strategies. Some Americans are pushing a controversial solution – legalizing the buying and selling of organs. But, can such a system meet the global demand for organs? And is it fair to the people who sell their organs? Come join the conversation with Dr. Mustafa Al-Miousawi, a Kuwaiti transplant surgeon and the past president of the Middle East Society for Transplantation. Download MP3
Flu vaccine overstock
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After this year’s rush to stock up on the vaccine against the H1N1 Flu, some European countries are now trying to unload millions of doses. Countries such as Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and France have found themselves with huge stockpiles because far fewer citizens than expected sought the vaccine out. Governments are hoping to cancel orders or sell the excess vaccines to developing nations even as they’re being criticized for overreacting and overspending against the disease. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports.
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