Health

  Experts are increasingly concerned about pro-eating disorder content, which is proliferating on the Internet, including Twitter hashtags like #thinspiration and #pro-ana.

KUOW’s Ross Reynolds talks with Dr. Jillian Lampert, senior director at The Emily Program, about the role of the Internet and other factors that contribute to the problem of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating.

Medical debt is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy, according to a study published online today in the journal Health Affairs. There are plenty of anecdotes of people who have used up their savings, borrowed from friends or filed for bankruptcy following a serious illness like cancer. Now researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have documented exactly how great the risk of bankruptcy is for cancer patients.

In the decades leading up to the civil war, white Americans uncomfortable with the rising numbers of free blacks came up with a plan. Get rid of them. Specifically, convince them to resettle in Liberia. It was America's original "self-deportation" scheme. But things didn't go exactly according to plan.

List of stories from KUOW Presents,  May 15:

Now, the public knows about Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy. She wrote in the New York Times that, thanks to genetic testing, she believed there was an 87 percent chance she’d get breast cancer, so she went for it.

Tuesday, Dr. Julie Gralow, director of breast medical oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance spoke with KUOW's Sara Lerner.  Dr. Gralow says, “The majority of breast cancer in the United States is not gene-mutation cancer.”

The End Of The Seattle/Sacramento Kings Saga?
Months of speculation about the NBA’s return to Seattle could end today. League owners are in Dallas to vote on Chris Hansen’s deal to buy the Sacramento Kings and move the team to Seattle. Meanwhile, a rival group of NBA-backed Sacramento investors is waiting in the wings to keep the team in town. Seattle Times reporter Bob Condotta joins us from Dallas.

Seattle International Film Festival Opens
It’s mid-May, which means summer is around the corner. But before you frolic outdoors, you’ll probably head into a movie theater for the annual Seattle International Film Festival. Organizers bill it as the biggest film festival in North America. Get a sneak preview with the minds behind the madness.

The Cost Of Health Care
Last week the government released costs for 100 common procedures at hospitals around the country.  The numbers varied wildly between geographic regions, but also between hospitals in the same city. University of Washington professor Aaron Katz explains what that means for consumers.

Fire, air, water and earth; or as author Michael Pollan experienced it: barbeque, bread, braise and beer. In his latest book, “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation,” Pollan challenges himself to master the basic technologies that have allowed people to turn raw into cooked.  

The impetus of his journey was to highlight the possibility and importance of mastering the preparation of personal meals. His book explores the cultural shift of food responsibility from the home to corporation via packaged or prepared foods, and how this directly correlates with the rise in American obesity issues.

The State Supreme Court today heard arguments in a case that could decide whether faith-based employers in Washington have some exemption from the state’s anti-discrimination law.

Dementia care expenses totaled $109 billion in 2010, more than either cancer or heart disease. The research, conducted by the RAND Corporation, predicts dementia costs and the number of people with dementia will more than double by 2040.

Ross sits down with Dr. Jim Leverenz, investigator at the University of Washington’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, to talk about how families can plan.

Scientists at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have found a class of cells they think suppresses herpes. This could explain why some people have no symptoms or lesions when the virus is reactivated. It also changes the way scientists understand how the virus works.

A new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that suicide deaths have surpassed car deaths in the United States. According to the same report, suicide rates rose 15% from 1999 to 2010, with an even more dramatic rise among the 35-64 age group. Washington state has seen similar increases. Ross Reynolds speaks with Dr. Thomas Simon, a researcher at the CDC’s Injury Center in Atlanta about why the suicide rate is growing.