Health & Safety

What you can do (starting now) to make the daylight saving transition a little easier

6:34pm March 09, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

Clocks spring forward this weekend meaning we all lose an hour of sleep. We have some tips to help you adjust to daylight saving time. And what do sleep scientists say about switching back and forth?

Queue Listen Now

What looks like a pin-headed critter on the right is actually a larval version of the fruit fly on the left. Both have remarkably complex brains, scientists say, with different regions devoted to decision-making, learning and navigation.

The first wiring map of an insect's brain hints at incredible complexity

6:34pm March 09, 2023

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers have mapped the more than 500,000 connections in the intricate brain of a fruit fly larva. This map, they say, could help scientists figure out how learning changes the human brain, too.

Queue Listen Now

Registered nurse Jamie Simmons speaks with a patient during an appointment at the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center in Massachusetts. The patient, whose first name is Kim, says buprenorphine has helped her stay off heroin and avoid an overdose for nearly 20 years.

Health & Safety

A roadblock to life-saving addiction treatment is gone. Now what?

4:37pm March 09, 2023

by Martha Bebinger

Federal restrictions seemed to explain why many doctors weren't prescribing medication for opioid addiction. But some caution that removing those rules isn't enough to overcome hesitancy and stigma.

Queue Listen Now

Honduran President Xiomara Castro signed a new executive document Wednesday night that will allow open access to emergency contraception.

Honduran president ends ban on emergency contraception, making it widely available

4:13pm March 09, 2023

by Bill Chappell

President Xiomara Castro, the country's first female leader, announced the policy shift in the final hours of International Women's Day.

Health & Safety

Documentary depicts long waits, short staffs for those seeking disability waivers

2:41pm March 09, 2023

by Paul Garber

A new film documents the long wait that thousands of North Carolinians with disabilities face as they seek a waiver to get services in their homes and communities instead o

Queue Listen Now

Early mornings may still feel dark and wintry, but the season is about to change. This weekend most of the U.S. will "spring forward" — setting clocks forward one hour — as daylight saving time begins.

These 6 tips can help you skip the daylight saving time hangover

5:42am March 09, 2023

The lingering jet-lagged feeling you get when daylight saving time begins and ends can disrupt your health as well as your mood. Try these 6 tips from sleep experts to make next week easier.

Health & Safety

Virologist says COVID origin report could make it harder to study dangerous diseases

5:19am March 09, 2023

NPR's A Martinez talks to virologist Angela Rassmusen, who is pushing back on the Energy Department assessment, described as low confidence, that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China.

The Texas State Capitol in Austin. Teens in the state can no longer get free birth control through federal Title X clinics without getting parental permission first.

Health & Safety

Girls in Texas could get birth control at federal clinics — until a dad sued

5:00am March 09, 2023

by Sarah Varney

Trump-appointed federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that free birth control for teens from a federal program violates Texas law and parental rights. For now, it's still available in other states.

Medical tourism numbers are on the rise in Mexico, after the practice was curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions. Here, foreign patients are seen at the hospital Oasis of Hope in Tijuana in, 2019, in Mexico's Baja California state.

The 4 kidnapped Americans are part of a large wave of U.S. medical tourism in Mexico

5:55pm March 08, 2023

by Bill Chappell

Before the pandemic halted travel, some 1.2 million American citizens visited Mexico for health care. The number is rising quickly again, with border restrictions eased.

Policemen try to stop activists during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad on March 8 — and demand equal rights for women in Pakistan. Thousands of women took part in rallies across the country despite efforts by authorities in several cities to block the marches.

Health & Safety

Police try to stop International Women's Day protests in Pakistan. Protesters persist

5:46pm March 08, 2023

Women marched on International Women's Day to demand equal rights in Pakistan. But their slogans, like "my body, my choice," are red meat for conservatives who see the protesters as un-Islamic.

Queue Listen Now