Topics
Health & Medicine
Five Easy Steps to Total Health
Professor, Columbia University
You don't have to be in good enough shape to run the New York Marathon. Oprah's medical expert offers simple tips for staying healthy.
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We’re Closer To Ending Aging Than You Think
There are no more major breakthroughs necessary to complete the quixotic human quest of achieving immortality, says anti-aging expert Aubrey de Grey. Watch
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America Should Take a Hint From the Dutch
We need a system that encourages providers to work to cure the sicker people, says Kaiser Permanente CEO George Halvorson. Watch
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Does Healthcare Discriminate Against Women?
Women’s health expert Paula Johnson is worried that there are systemic issues restricting women and minorities from access to proper to medical care, both in the United States and internationally. Watch
Related Blogs
The Voice of Big Think
November 18, 2009 — 9:58 AM
Special: George Halvorson Interview
Big Think conducted a special interview today with George Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente. As the world's largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, Kaiser Permanente is a micro-healthcare system unto itself. As CEO, Halvorson has a uniquely commanding perspective on the challenges America faces in its current healthcare crisis. Throughout this year, Halvorson has emerged as a leading voice on the issue, crusading to eliminate the price differential for healthcare costs between America and other countries. In a previous interview with Big Think, Halvorson outlined his ideal healthcare system and revealed how his own company balances massive size with enviable efficiency. Read more
The Voice of Big Think
November 18, 2009 — 2:56 AM
Finding Peace in the Battle With Grief
For all of us, coping with the death of a loved one is intensely traumatic. For sufferers of "complicated" grief, however, the trauma itself never seems to die; rather than dissipating over time, it becomes a vicious attachment cycle that erodes the brain's ability to function normally. In her interview with Big Think, psychiatrist Dr. Katherine Shear of Columbia University drew on her pioneering research on complicated grief to explain how this devastating cycle works, and how it can be broken. Read more
Latest Ideas
Bereavement expert Dr. Katherine Shear reveals what happens inside the grieving brain and offers strategies for coping with loss. Read More
November 18, 2009
Special: George Halvorson Interview
Big Think conducted a special interview today with George Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente. As the world's largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, Kaiser Permanente is a micro-healthcare system unto itself. As CEO, Halvorson has a uniquely commanding perspective on the challenges America faces in its current healthcare crisis. Throughout this year, Halvorson has emerged as a leading voice on the issue, crusading to eliminate the price differential for healthcare costs between America and other countries. In a previous interview with Big Think, Halvorson outlined his ideal healthcare system and revealed how his own company balances massive size with enviable efficiency. Read More
November 18, 2009
Finding Peace in the Battle With Grief
For all of us, coping with the death of a loved one is intensely traumatic. For sufferers of "complicated" grief, however, the trauma itself never seems to die; rather than dissipating over time, it becomes a vicious attachment cycle that erodes the brain's ability to function normally. In her interview with Big Think, psychiatrist Dr. Katherine Shear of Columbia University drew on her pioneering research on complicated grief to explain how this devastating cycle works, and how it can be broken. Read More
November 18, 2009
According to Columbia grief therapist Dr. Katherine Shear, we shouldn't mourn his passing from relevance just yet. Read More
November 18, 2009
The grieving process, says the Columbia psychiatrist, doesn't happen in defined stages; it's about breaking an “attachment system.” Read More
November 18, 2009
Is grief an illness? When does “normal” grief become clinical? Columbia's Dr. Katherine Shear shares insights from her groundbreaking research. Read More
November 18, 2009
If a tiger ran in the room, says Dr. Katherine Shear, we'd all have one. Fortunately, like the tiger, panic attacks can be tamed. Read More
November 18, 2009
Health Care Reform: Don't Do Nothing
Duke University Professor Donald H. Taylor, Jr. says the worst health care policy option is the status quo. Read More
November 14, 2009
It was a mystery: how does the chromosome replicate itself precisely during repeated cell divisions without degrading over time? Structures called telomeres (the "caps" on chromosome ends) seemed to provide some clues, but their exact function was poorly understood. The solution to the puzzle, which molecular biologist Carol Greider explained to Big Think this week, won her a share of this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine. Read More
November 10, 2009
Daily Ideafeed
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Fitting?
Epileptic Dancer -
A dancer with epilepsy has stopped taking her medication and is hoping to have a seizure on stage to raise awareness about “an invisible disability.”
November 20, 2009
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Stem Cells
Curing Blindness -
Permission to use embryonic stem cells has been requested by scientists developing a cure for blindness.
November 20, 2009
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Medical Breakthrough
A Downs Cure? -
Sufferers of the chromosomal disorder Downs syndrome could be helped by a new drug which increases the levels of message-carrying chemicals in the brain.
November 19, 2009
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Obesity
Facing Fat -
Some morbidly overweight people don’t realise they’re obese according to the findings of a new report.
November 19, 2009
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Reformed Bill?
Hair Trigger -
Senate leader Harry Reid is planning to include a public option so that states can opt out of his version of the healthcare reform bill. But what else could this volatile debate trigger?
November 18, 2009
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Separated
Twin Success -
Conjoined twin girls joined at the head have been successfully separated after 29 hours of surgery.
November 18, 2009
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Libido Boost
Female Viagra -
An anti-depressant pill is being hailed as the “female Viagra” after the drug was proven to boost women’s flagging sexual drives.
November 17, 2009
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India
Infant Deaths -
The authorities in India’s Andrah Pradesh have launched an investigation after six new-born babies died in a hospital over the weekend.
November 17, 2009
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Falluja
Infant Deformity -
Doctors in Iraq are treating 15 times more chronic deformities in infants since the war – due possibly to toxic materials leftover from the fighting.
November 16, 2009
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Reverting
Mad Times -
Following the controversial restrictions on abortion imposed by the healthcare reform bill women are asking if congress has reverted to the Mad Men era?
November 13, 2009
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Anti-Toxin
Ricin Antidote -
An anti-toxin that protects people against ricin poisoning is about to go into production for the first time.
November 11, 2009
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Deafness Gene
Say What? -
A gene thought to be responsible for causing deafness in the elderly has been discovered by scientists – and the discovery could prove cure.
November 10, 2009
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Amendment
Abortive Obstacle? -
The passing of Obama’s healthcare bill has dismayed abortion-rights groups due to the anti-abortion amendments that have been made.
November 9, 2009
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Healthcare
Victory Hurdle -
Another victory for Obama’s healthcare campaign as the House narrowly endorses the reform bill.
November 9, 2009
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Smuggling
77m Smokes -
Fourteen people have been charged with illegally purchasing 77m cigarettes.
November 6, 2009
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Miscarriage
Tweeting Issue -
Penelope Trunk explains why she updated her Twitter feed with the news that she was having a miscarriage.
November 6, 2009
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Fighting Fit
H1N1 Fist Fight -
Women are getting into fights in the battle to combat flu germs on public transport.
November 5, 2009
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Drugs Virtue
Herbal Remedy -
A mother has been medicating her autistic son using marijuana as an alternative to sedative drugs and says it has improved his condition.
November 5, 2009
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Healthcare
Fine Coverage -
An estimate from the Congressional Budget Office suggests that the House healthcare bill would garner $167bn in penalties over 10 years.
November 5, 2009
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Patently Wrong
Gene Genie -
An application to challenge the patenting of human genes that could hamper diagnostic research has been upheld by a federal judge in New York.
November 3, 2009
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Breast Rating
TV Boob? -
Middle America is up in arms after fully exposed breasts were aired on TV – as part of a breast cancer exam awareness campaign!
November 3, 2009
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Tricky Price
Organ Grinder -
For years organ donors have suffered the medical costs of saving another person’s life – now health insurers are denying them cover too.
November 3, 2009
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Blood Let
Pain and Simple -
A short stroll through the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago reminds us of the blood curdling medicine of yore.
November 2, 2009
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Depressed? Eat Veg
Dietary Balance -
Scientists have linked mental health problems like depression to the consumption of processed foods.
November 2, 2009
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Drug Trials
Lupus Promise -
For the first time an experimental drug to treat lupus has been found to be effective in a second round of clinical trials.
November 2, 2009