Health & Safety

David Linden is a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and is a former chief editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. He also wrote The Compass of Pleasure.

Fingertips To Hair Follicles: Why 'Touch' Triggers Pleasure And Pain

4:39pm February 04, 2015

In his latest book, neuroscientist David Linden explains the science of touch. He tells Fresh Air how pain protects, why fingertips are so sensitive and why you can't read Braille with your genitals.

Queue Listen Now

Greg O'Brien (left), with Colleen, Mary Catherine, Conor, and Brendan O'Brien, has been grappling with Alzheimer's disease for the last five years.

After Alzheimer's Diagnosis, 'The Stripping Away Of My Identity'

1:54pm February 04, 2015

by Rebecca Hersher

Greg O'Brien talks about how his life has changed in the five years since he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. "More and more I don't recognize people," he says.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

New Meds Block Heroin Craving, But Reporter Finds Treatment Centers Don't Use Them

1:52pm February 04, 2015

The Huffington Post's Jason Cherkis investigated the heroin epidemic in Kentucky, and found that the abstinence-based approach used in most treatment centers was leading to many fatal relapses.

Queue Listen Now

No oven necessary: Hu makes her pumpkin cake in the microwave.

College Life Doesn't Have To Mean Crummy Cuisine, Says Dorm Room Chef

12:22pm February 04, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

Sick of dining hall pizza, public health student Emily Hu taught herself how to cook — even with no oven. Now she's hoping to inspire her peers to pick up cooking skills and healthier eating habits.

A new study finds that strenuous labor in the sugar cane fields of Central America is contributing to a mysterious form of kidney failure. Above: Workers harvest sugar cane in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.

New Clues To Mysterious Kidney Disease Afflicting Sugar Cane Workers

11:48am February 04, 2015

by Jason Beaubien

What's causing the ailment that has struck 20,000 farmhands in Nicaragua and El Salvador? Pesticides? Alcoholism? Rat pee spreading an infection? A study from Boston University provides some answers.

Despite Political Resistance, Florida A Leader In ACA Sign-Ups

11:39am February 04, 2015

by Greg Allen

Florida's governor and its Republican-led legislature opposed the Affordable Care Act and have resisted calls to expand Medicaid. But aided by non-profit groups and strong interest among Hispanics, Florida is one of the leaders in signing residents up for Obamacare.

Queue Listen Now

A nurse administers an experimental Ebola vaccine Monday at Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Researchers aim to give shots to 27,000 people during the large trial.

Lack Of Patients Hampers Ebola Drug And Vaccine Testing

11:39am February 04, 2015

by Richard Harris

Scientists launched a large trial Monday to test two vaccines. But testing Ebola drugs in West Africa is proving more difficult than expected because the disease is disappearing rapidly.

Queue Listen Now

House Votes To Repeal ACA, Though Bill Unlikely To Pass Senate

11:02am February 04, 2015

by Juana Summers

The House has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the first such full repeal vote in two nearly two years. Some 19 million Americans would lose health coverage under the legislation. The bill, though, is not likely to pass the Senate, where a half dozen Democrats would have to go along with it. President Obama has also promised to veto legislation that undoes his signature achievement.

Queue Listen Now

Science Of Vaccines Is Settled — But Politics Are More Complicated

11:02am February 04, 2015

Should kids get the measles vaccine or should parents be given a choice? Potential 2016 presidential candidates weigh in, and their views are all over the place.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

School Board Tables Vote On Moving Hanes/Lowrance For One Week

8:20am February 04, 2015

by Emily McCord

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board is waiting one more week to decide what to do with students at Hanes and Lowrance middle schools, after parents learned that the site sits on contaminated grounds.