Understanding mental illness and schizophrenia
Although mental illnesses severely affect thoughts, moods, and coping abilities, a fulfilling life is still possible for people who face those challenges. Outlining the symptoms and possible causes of schizophrenia, clinical depression, and bipolar ...
Challenge cases for differential diagnosis
This program, filmed in the U.K., offers viewers a chance to watch interviews with four patients and then, based on their symptoms, come up with their own differential diagnoses. The cases include a 22-year-old man who continually complains about bo...
Food fight: childhood obesity and the food industry
It sounds laughable to blame food manufacturers and fast food restaurants for children being unhealthily overweight. But Big Tobacco thought health-related lawsuits were a joke too - until they finally lost. In this ABC News program, correspondent J...
Smog: the sweet smell of success?
For most of a century, industrial and automotive smoke were equated with progress and prosperity. But the cost in human health has been devastatingly high, particularly in developing countries. In this program, Devra Davis, author of When Smoke Ran ...
Emerging diseases
An outbreak of mad cow disease shut down Britain's cattle industry, resulting in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals and costing the nation billions of dollars. What is mad cow disease, scientifically known as bovine spongiform encepha...
Diet and disease in modern society
What's so bad about saturated fat, and what makes fiber so good? In a society where convenience foods rule and obesity is a national epidemic, it's time to find out. This video investigates the relationship between diet and a number of frequently in...
Mood disorders
Mood disorders, or affective disorders, are discussed in this program filmed in the U.K., together with their symptoms and differential diagnoses. Classifications are based upon the course and severity of symptoms. The two main classifications of mo...
Measles
After nearly disappearing from much of the world, the measles virus is on the rise. This program journeys to Tajikistan, where the collapse of the health care system established under Soviet rule led to a hiatus in disease vaccination. With measles ...
Pneumococcal disease
Although it is rarely fatal in wealthy countries, pneumonia kills more children each year than any other infectious disease. This program explains why the pneumococcus bacterium has run rampant in the underdeveloped world, and explores recent medica...
Infectious diseases: more mobility, greater danger
Illustrating connections between globalization and the spread of disease, this program uses data-mapping to assess the potential impact of deadly viruses - including the much-feared and adaptable avian influenza. Outbreaks of bird flu in the Netherl...