Endeavors magazine: Browse Health and Medicine Stories

Browse Health and Medicine Stories

• general health and medicine
• biochemistry/biophysics
• biotechnology
• dentistry
• nursing
• nutrition
• public health
• pharmacy and pharmacology
• psychiatry
• surgery/internal medicine

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general health and medicine

• The Mouse Mess: Have we bred some of the medical value out of lab mice? (winter 2008)
• The Tangled Roots of OCD: Can science sort out obsessive-compulsive disorder? (winter 2008)
• Bingeing with Baby: For some women, pregnancy triggers out-of-control eating.
• A mysterious allergy afflicts the south. (winter 2008)
• The Trouble with Timeless and Tipin: These proteins help DNA repair, but let cancer survive. (fall 2007)
• Facing Facts: Tobacco ads or cancer survivors: who will kids believe? (spring 2007)
• Trip just Once: Health-care hurdles in the United States. (spring 2007)
• Exercising the Option to Live: Cancer patients take control of mind and body. (spring 2007)
• Moss for the Memory: Sizing up a “brain booster.”
• The Mutant behind CF: Can a criminal protein be rehabilitated? (spring 2007)
• An Evil Disease: After 25 years, HIV is still one step ahead of us. (winter 2007)
• Cancer and Addiction in the year 2050: Rid of them at last? (fall 2006)
• Race as a Factor in Breast Cancer (fall 2006)
• Medical Marvels. (fall 2006)
• The Heartburn Scare:It may be our size, not our acids that are increasing the risk. (fall 2006)
• Creaky Joints? Go nuts. (fall 2006)
• Life-saving cord blood for infants. (fall 2005)
• Pain!: It disrupts your life. It lasts for months. And it's in your genes. (spring 2005)
• Target: Sperm: New findings about how they work make it easier to stop them in their tracks. (spring 2005)
• Indicting Medicine: Nortin Hadler’s provocative book puts medicine under the knife. (winter 2005)
• As Personal as it Gets: Breast-cancer survivors are changing the course of research. (winter 2005)
• Chasing Proteins: Now, it’s a little easier to be green. (winter 2005)
• A Road Map for Research: Turning medical research into tangible benefits for people. (winter 2005)
• Branching Out: Why some of our best minds are stuck on mucus. (fall 2004)
• Fatal Four-Wheelers: Safer riding on all-terrain vehicles? (fall 2004)
• Two views on vitamins: Good news and bad news about supplements of folic acid, the stuff in leafy greens. (spring 2004)
• Disease that Invades from the Mouth: What do a healthy baby and a healthy heart have to do with gums? (winter 2004)
• Untangling the Web of Addiction: For John, even the sight of the place was a high. (fall 2003)
• Lower Doses for Kids: A change in the way we look at ADHD? (fall 2003)
• The Tough Case of Fragile X: Parents and kids in the search for answers. (spring 2003)
• Preterm Births: Hormone Cuts Risk of Preterm Births (spring 2003)
• Polyp Preventer: Aspirin’s role in preventing colon polyps. (spring 2003)
• Safer Baseball: Hardball, but softer. (spring 2003)
• A Lasting Vaccine: Does the smallpox vaccine have staying power? (winter 2003)
• The Music of Proteomics: How proteins conduct the symphonies of our cells. (fall 2002)
• Up and Running: Clinical Trials shift into high gear. (fall 2002)
• Return of the Matrix: Has science been blind to the structure of cells? (fall 2002)
• How We’re Wired: Hacking into the human CPU. (spring 2002)
• Play Now, Pay Later: The lasting penalties of sports. (fall 2001)
• The Magic of Markers: Tracing troublesome cells. (fall 2001)
• Cell Talk: Most of your life-or-death conversations are cellular, and we don’t mean telephones. (spring 2001)
• Liquid DNA: From microelectronic circuitry to genetic engineering... (spring 2001)
• A Brighter Twilight: Two stories about living better longer. (spring 2001)
• High Res: A glass a day may keep cancer at bay. (winter 2001)
• Battle Fatigue: People living with HIV want a life. (winter 2001)
• For the Parents of Preemies: The essential guide for parents of premature babies. (winter 2001)
• In the Family Way: Science steps in when couples can’t conceive. (fall 2000)
• PMS is a Pain: For some women, premenstrual syndrome makes life much harder. (spring 2000)
• Floss for the Heart: Gum disease and pesky cavities are no longer the principal motivations to maintain good oral hygiene. (winter 2000)
• Here and Now: Even when AIDS isn’t making headlines, it ticks like a bomb. (winter 2000)
• The Darker Side of Sleep: What comes over us at night? The science behind sleep disorders. (winter 2000)
• For All We’re Worth: The ethics of buying and selling our bodies’ parts. (winter 2000)
• Birthing Stories: You’ve probably heard bits and pieces of your birth story: what time you were born, how much you weighed. But what about the rest of the story? (winter 2000)
• To Snip or Not to Snip: The American Academy reevaluates its position on circumcision. (spring 1999)
• Teaming Up Against Melanoma: Using digital technology to monitor changes in possibly cancerous moles. (winter 1999)
• Hit AIDS Harder: Fighting drug-resistant strains of HIV. (winter 1999)
• Your Body, Whose Data?: Who should have access to your medical records? (winter 1999)
• Breathing Room: How much smog can a body stand? Scientists learn what dirty air does to our lungs. (fall 1998)
• Growing Up Sooner: Redefining "normal"—girls are reaching puberty at earlier ages. (fall 1997)
• Foiling AIDS Allies: Treating other STDs may reduce the spread of HIV. (fall 1997)
• Drawing Blood: A historian looks at the social and economic factors that have always shaped our health-care system. (fall 1997)
• Doctors and Research: Carolina’s eight "Best Doctors in America" make time for teaching and researching. (winter 1997)
• Aging Well: Researchers say that how you age is largely up to you. (winter 1997)
• Helping Newborns Breathe Easier: New strategies for treating respiratory diseases caused by premature birth. (winter 1997)
• Can HMOs work for you?: Two professors debate the issue of managed care. (winter 1997)
• The Mismatch that Leads to Detection: Looking for a reliable, low-cost, universally available method for detecting viruses. (spring 1996)
• A Team Whose Goal is Woman’s Health: Multidisciplinary approaches to fighting breast cancer. (spring 1996)
• A Three-Way Attack on Breast Cancer: Multidisciplinary approaches to fighting breast cancer. (spring 1996)
• Science and the Face of a Child: The Craniofacial Center’s blend of research and special care. (spring 1996)
• Looking for the Causes: Researchers are uncovering the genetic and developmental origins of birth defects. (spring 1996)
• An Investigational New Drug Clears a Big Hurdle: A drug that could treat opportunistic infections heads into clinical trials. (fall 1995)

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biochemistry and biophysics

• The Bug Zappers: Busting bacteria’s resistance to drugs. (winter 2008)
• Managing a Monster Protein: Learning how to change dynein’s behavior could lead to better drugs for diseases such as ALS.(spring 2007)
• Genes and Deadly Pregnancies: Preeclampsia is the primary cause of maternal mortality worldwide. (winter 2007)
• Stalking SARS: An epidemic brings Ralph Baric into the spotlight. (fall 2003)
• Drugs that Don’t Mix: A metabolizing molecule. (fall 2001)
• Cancer, Hit the Brakes: Yue Xiong’s tool kit could help bring runaway cells to a screeching halt. (fall 2000)
• Mind Reader: The study of how we get hooked. (spring 1999)
• Setting the Clock: The pigment that controls the body’s clock. (fall 1998)
• Easing Withdrawal: Scientists at the Skipper Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies have found a substance that may help prevent alcohol dependency. (fall 1996)

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biotechnology

• A Mightier Mammogram: Should you go digital or stick with film? (winter 2006)
• Team Tendon: These ex-jocks want to grow some new tissue to fix what you’ve torn. (fall 2004)
• Special Delivery, Destination: The Brain: Gene therapy for a devastating disease. (fall 2003)
• A C-Free Mouse: Carolina scientists have developed the world’s first mice incapable of synthesizing Vitamin C. (fall 2000)
• Life at its Bare Minimum: A single-celled bacterium stirs up a big controversy. (spring 2000)
• Fighting Cancer with Code: Stephen Aylward leaped from grad student to faculty member—and landed with one foot in radiology and the other in computer science. (spring 1999)
• Reality Plus: Surgeons and computer scientists collaborate to bring augmented reality (a cousin of virtual reality) a step closer to the operating room. (spring 1999)
• As Bright as the Veins in your Brain: Elizabeth Bullitt, part of MIDAG—Medical Image Display and Analysis Group—is a surgeon by day, programmer by night. (spring 1999)
• Stopping Tumors in Their Tracks: A graduate student’s work with proteins suggests a new mission for an available drug. (spring 1999)
• Straight to the Marrow: Christopher Walsh races against Fanconi Anemia’s deadly timetable. (spring 1999)
• Star Bright, Cell Deep: Slow and steady wins the race in gene therapy. That’s what Carolina’s researchers have been banking on, and it looks as if they’re right. (fall 1998)
• Ceasing Seizures: Carolina scientists test out the "vagus nerve stimulator" to help control epilepsy. (winter 1998)
• Detecting a Stealthy Genetic Disease: The first step toward clinical screening for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder affecting an estimated 100,000 Americans. (winter 1997)
• Power Protein: Researchers study how to control class II MHC, a protein with an important role in the immune system. (spring 1996)

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dentistry

• Open Wide: UNC dentists make house calls—to an orphanage in Mexico. (fall 1999)

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nursing

• Jail and HIV Risk: Motivating moms to stay healthy after jail. (winter 2007)
• Healthy Hearts Start Early: Adults watch their weight, worry about their blood pressure and cholesterol. Do they need to worry about their kids’ too? (winter 1998)
• The Long Road to Rural Health: Follow a nurse house to house and learn why some of the toughest health cases are rural. (fall 1997)

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nutrition

• Ten Simple Rules: Four experts, ten rules, and zero trendy diets. (spring 2005)
• Supersizing Hits Home: Americans are eating larger portions at home than twenty years ago. (spring 2003)
• Of Faith and Food: Sowing a message of health. (winter 2001)
• Breast-fed Babies Need Vitamin D: Are nutritional rickets on the rise? (winter 2001)
• Health off the Shelf: Diet supplements are big business. But for Steven Zeisel, the bottom line is health. (spring 2000)
• Caution about E: A common form of vitamin E has been associated with arthritis. (spring 2000)
• The Secret’s in the Sauce: Something in tomato sauce, red grapefruit, and watermelon may help men prevent heart attacks. (spring 1998)

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pharmacy and pharmacology

• Encoding Reality: A compound in magic mint could help new antipsychotic drugs hit their targets. (fall 2007)
• Digital Drug-hunting (fall 2007)
• Detecting Depression in New Mothers (fall 2007)
• Picture-perfect Proteins: David Siderovski shoots the messenger. (spring 2007)
• Getting Past Stickiness: This lab's work has changed the way doctors think about what causes a pain crisis, and has opened the way for some much-needed new therapies. (spring 2006)
• The Asheville Project: Small study, big help for diabetes. (winter 2004)
• The Receptor Nobody Wanted: A longshot yields a promising drug for Parkinson’s disease. (spring 2002)
• A Smart Inhaler: Asthma sufferers will soon have a new and improved way to combat their attacks. (spring 2002)
• It’s Only Natural: Sometimes serious medicines start with plants and herbs. (fall 1998)
• Old Values, New Pharmacy: In a health care system frequently dominated by cost-cutting and high-tech automation, is there a place for pharmacists who retain the personal touch? (spring 1996)

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psychiatry

• Push-button Politeness: Smile. Lighten up — you’re at a party! Most people don’t need these reminders... (winter 2007)
• Short-circuiting Schizophrenia: How can we make patients whole again? (fall 2006)
• A Deadly Dread of Food: Anorexia isn't a matter of choice. (fall 2006)
• Back to Life: A survivor talks about her bout with anorexia, and offers a word of advice. (fall 2006)
• A Hug a Day: Heartfelt hugs. (winter 2004)
• The Nature of Nurture: In these three stories, researchers tell us that nurturing has its own basis in biology, as does the bond between parent and child. (winter 2001)
• Two Cravings May Be Linked: Sweet sobriety. (winter 2001)
• When Spirits Cloud the Mind: Easing alcohol’s grip on the chemistry of the brain. (winter 1999)
• A Mind Unreal: For the schizophrenic, determining what is real can be a challenge. For researchers, the cause of this physiological disorder remains a mystery. (spring 1998)
• The Limits of Love: The hormone that turns on maternal behavior is turned off by cocaine. (winter 1997)
• Sobering Effects from the Lowly Kudzu: Studies show a plant extract may combat alcoholism. (spring 1996)

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public health

• Guatemala City’s Dirtiest Secret: A volunteer steers scavengers’ kids out of the dump. (winter 2008)
• Blocking HIV in the Womb: Can a mutant gene save children from AIDS? (winter 2008)
• Mother’s Golden Milk: Guatemalan infants need their share. (spring 2007)
• Parlor Talk: Health and a haircut. (winter 2007)
• Smog under Glass: City air in a small town. (winter 2007)
• Water, Water, Everywhere: A simple clay filter saves lives in Cambodia. (fall 2006)
• Blocking HIV at the Root: Carolina researchers work to stop mother-to-child HIV transmission. (spring 2006)
• The Lives Behind the Dots: Richard Weisler's questions about the causes of his mother's death led him to an asphalt plant and a petroleum tank farm. Before he was finished, the dots on his map told a story that few people wanted to know. (winter 2006)
• Breathing Easier at Home: A study documents the cost of having more asthma-free days. (winter 2006)
• Keeping Track of the Kids: Carolina is one of six institutions nationally to conduct the National Children's Study, which will track thousands of children into adulthood. (winter 2006)
• Cleaner Water for the rest of the world. (fall 2005)
• Taking Migraines to Heart: Is there a relationship between migraines and heart disease? (spring 2005)
• Soap cleans up: That is, it gets the job done. (spring 2005)
• 9/11 in the air: The lingering effects of a disaster. (winter 2005)
• A Database of DNA: The national DNA registry. (spring 2004)
• 2: A big number when it comes to HIV. (winter 2004)
• Kids Buy Smokes Online: Surfing for cigs? (winter 2004)
• Trust To Talk: New faces of HIV in the South. (winter 2003)
• Old Culture, New Fat: Attack of the Western lifestyle. (fall 2002)
• Hormone-Replacement Trials Halted: Rethinking hormone therapy. (fall 2002)
• Deadly or Not? Pfiesteria may not be the cell from hell. (fall 2002)
• Health and Home: Health and where you live. (winter 2002)
• The Football Virus: Sure, football players expect a little suffering after a big game. But gastroenteritis? (winter 2001)
• Do School Programs Help Kids Say No?: What’s the best way to keep kids off drugs? (fall 2000)
• The Pen is Mightier than the Germs: This battery-powered "pen" can make water safe to drink within minutes. (fall 2000)
• Germs Be Gone: Salmonella. E. coli. Just hearing those words is enough to make your stomach queasy. But here’s the good news. (spring 2000)
• Playing It Safe: Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research analyzes sports injuries of the past in an attempt to reduce injuries in the future. (fall 1999)
• How’s the Water?: The answer is equal parts politics, business, science, and plain common sense. (winter 1999)
• For Children at Risk, Doors Can Open: Poverty, developmental abnormalities, and medical conditions can put children at risk. But researchers at Carolina are finding ways to help. (spring 1998)
• What’s Wrong with this Picture?: Advertising in which children are depicted in sexually provocative ways can affect the development of children as well as the behavior of adults. (spring 1998)
• Safe on First?: Just how dangerous is youth baseball? Fred Mueller at Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research wants to know. (spring 1998)
• The Long Road to Rural Health: Follow a nurse house to house and learn why some of the toughest health cases are rural. (fall 1997)
• Rural Issues: Sexually Transmitted Disease: A rural pocket where the rates are astronomical. (fall 1997)
• Science on the Firing Line: From Three Mile Island to Hog Central, Steve Wing takes on the toxic topics. (fall 1997)
• From Needles to Spoons: By using syrups instead of IV’s, a new drug may make it easier to fight deadly infections. (fall 1997)
• Sustainable Development: It’s a balancing act—meeting the needs of people today while saving resources that others will need in the future. (fall 1996)

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surgery/internal medicine

• Lizard Spit goes Pharma: The natural enemies of diabetes: Gila monsters. (fall 2007)
• More than Meets the Mind: Can hypnosis heal the body? (spring 2007)
• Super-strong Proteins in Clots: Fibrin is one of the strongest proteins ever measured. (winter 2007)
• The Sleep without Rest: A drug for sleeping sickness. (fall 2006)
• Will Your Pain Get the Point? Putting acupuncture to the test. (spring 2006)
• A Salty Solution for CF: A simple treatment for a deadly disease. (spring 2006)
• The Cut She Can Do Without: Cut-free births? (fall 2005)
• Inflammation: Not so good for your heart. (spring 2005)
• The Eye of a Child: The first textbook on pediatric retinal disease. (winter 2005)
• Why does the Body Attack Itself? Turning up a hidden suspect. (spring 2004)
• Stop the Bleeding, Now: These platelets just might do it. (spring 2004)
• Matters of the Heart: What patients should know about heart surgery. (spring 2004)
• Slices of Life: Med school students get a new view into the body. (spring 2004)
• An Illustrated Medicine: A quick-reference guide to help doctors manage common medical conditions. (fall 2003)
• Growing Heart Muscle: Cardiac research just got a little more advanced. (winter 2003)
• The Physics of Zap: Fine-tuning photons to target tumors. (spring 2001)
• Safer Doses are a Breath Away: A simple breath test predicts how well patients will metabolize chemotherapy drugs. (fall 2000)
• A Wave is a Wave: What do heartbeats, earthquakes, and whitecaps have in common? (fall 1999)
• A Landmark Liver Transplant Saves Lives: North Carolina’s first living-related, adult-to-adult liver transplant. (spring 1999)
• When the Heart Stops: Researchers at UNC-CH are trying to learn to predict heart attacks before they happen. (spring 1998)

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