Brain Function Could Start Declining ‘As Early As Age 45′

The brain’s ability to function can start to deteriorate as early as 45, suggests a study in the British Medical Journal.

Denmark’s New ‘Fat’ Tax

Denmark’s new government is pushing through a nationwide fat and sugar tax.

Mental Health Not Getting Enough Attention From UN

Mental health advocates are upset that the UN is not focusing attention on mental health.

What is Ailing Hugo Chavez?

The opposition candidates are positioning themselves for a possible power vacuum.

Obesity is a global problem

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Worldwide, the percentage of adults who are obese has nearly doubled in the past 30 years. That’s according to a new report in The Lancet. Marco Werman speaks with Professor Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London. He led an international team of researchers who examined health data from 199 countries and territories. Download MP3

Patrick Cox’s 2007 series on obesity

Global food prices at ‘record high’

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Global food prices rose to a new high in December, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation. Its food price index went above the previous record of 2008 that saw prices spark riots in several countries. We hear from three countries what that means for people on the ground. Download MP3

Researchers analyze pollution effect on Lebanon

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Beirut’s streets are filled with aging cars spewing clouds of toxic fumes in the air. Ben Gilbert reports that researchers hope to find out exactly how much damage those exhaust fumes are doing to Lebanese health. Download MP3

Discuss medical rationing in the US

For some perspective on medical rationing in the US, we invited Dan Wikler. He’s an ethics professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and former staff ethicist for the World Health Organization. You can join the conversation with Dan Wikler and Sheri Fink at theworld.org/rationinghealth

The discussion is live through next week.

Acai no panacea in Brazil

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Amazonian berry known as açaí is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. Proponents tout its unsubstantiated health benefits. But the berry has a very different reputation back in Brazil. Reporter Kelley Weiss reports. Download MP3

Google Translate, accent phobia, and job titles

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Our top five language stories this month: Why Google Translate rules, and why human translators shouldn’t feel threatened; a weight-loss company advertizes for Product Testing Associates, whose sole task is to eat more food — not the first time an employer has over-egged the job title pudding; there’s evidence that certain accents are less welcome than others in corporate boardrooms; India’s economic rise and linguistically mixed marriages mean that fewer young Indians speak the languages of their parents; and French citizens vote on new words for “buzz”, “chat”, and “newsletter.” Download MP3

Entire program – April 2, 2010

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Today on The World: US soldiers in Iraq reflect on their mission; Also, the homeless seek shelter at public airports in Spain; And a doctor in the Netherlands on how riding bicycles could help relieve the effects of Parkinson’s disease.

Eradicating Guinea worm disease

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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

• See photos and read the transcript
• Listen to an interview with Jimmy Carter about Guinea worm (17:08)

Health care for illegal immigrants

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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)

• Q&A: US healthcare reform
• On The World: Living with American health care

Living with American health care

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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.

• BBC coverage
• Reporting US health care reform abroad
• Health coverage on The World

Reporting US health care reform abroad

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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 MP3

• Gregor Peter Schmitz: “US Health Care – Good for America, Bad for the World?”
• BBC coverage
• Video of President Obama’s reaction
• Health coverage on The World