Health
Health Coverage on Weekend America
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A Lightning Strike Miracle in Maine
Lightning strikes have sparked hundreds of fires in bone-dry California. But not all lightning is destructive -- take the case of Edwin Robinson, who was struck by a bolt in Maine and suddenly regained his sight and hearing, and even started growing hair on his bald head.
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Overnight Walk Out of the Darkness
This weekend in Seattle, Wash., 1,100 people are walking 20 miles through the night -- starting at 7 p.m. and hopefully finishing by dawn -- to raise both money and awareness about the problem of suicide and depression. Two weeks ago, a similar event was held in New York City, and Weekend America contributor Amy O'Leary was there.
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Summer Travel: An Urban Park Stroll
Summer is the traditional time for most folks to "get back to nature." But for some, the idea of heading into the great outdoors is a nightmare. For example, Natalie Edwards. We're calling Natalie's summer trip a "nature intervention." For her, the biggest challenge was taking a evening stroll through Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, New York.
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Monty's Lifesuit: Science Fiction to Fact
This weekend, San Francisco hosts the 2008 RoboGames. Last year's event attracted more than three thousand spectators who came to see robots and their human inventors compete in races, weightlifting, and all out robo-smackdowns. Monty Reed, a RoboGames returning champion from Seattle has a bigger mission in mind.
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When the City is the Disease
Health officials are trying to pinpoint the source of the latest salmonella outbreak -- this one is the St. Paul strain. Naming a disease after a location happens a lot, and sometimes it can cause problems. Dr. Larry Altman, medical correspondent for the New York Times, talks about some of the complications.
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Figuring Out Beauty for Herself
My daughter turns 16 months old today. The older she gets, the more people comment on her looks. And so it begins: a lifetime of the world telling her what she looks like. I'm sure someone's going to think she's pretty and no doubt someone will find her ugly -- or at least, not right-looking. And I wonder how she's going to react to these appraisals.
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Teen Researcher Targets PTSD Treatment
Ilana Rice is only 16, but she's already making a difference for veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She's linking treatment of PTSD with the relationships veterans make with those who haven't seen the horrors of war, and how that dynamic might lead to better treatment.
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Coping with the Summer SAD Blues
Most folks associate Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) with winter weather and dark days. But a small percentage experience the disorder in the summer -- they shun the heat and the glare of the sun, and find solace in dark, air-conditioned spaces. We talk with Saskia Smith about how she copes with summer SAD.
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Shaking Motherhood to the Core
This weekend, people across the country are honoring their mothers. These days, many mothers seem to be ever more anxious about all the real and imagined dangers that threaten their children. Reporter Rob McGinley Myers shares the story of a mother who looked life-threatening danger in the face, and it shook her sense of motherhood to the core.
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Adventures in Genetic Testing
Last year, after making a deal with her mom, Weekend America's Neille Ilel got tested for the "breast cancer gene." If a woman has a mutation on BRCA1 or BRCA2, she's almost guaranteed to develop breast cancer over her lifetime and is at a highly increased risk for ovarian cancer. But knowing about the gene doesn't necessarily mean there are any easy ways to prevent the disease. Ilel tells us what it's like to get tested for something you can't really change.
