Curated Video
Harmful Drugs: Cocaine
Cocaine is derived from the coca plant and is used in powder and rock forms. What effects does cocaine have on the brain and body, and what makes it such an addictive drug? Biology - Healthy Living - Cocaine is a drug derived from the...
Curated Video
Harmful Drugs: LSD
Although originally designed to be used to treat psychiatric illnesses, LSD became a mainstream drug in the 1950s and '60s. What are the short and long-term effects of its use? Biology - Healthy Living - LSD is a hallucinogenic drug. LSD...
Curated Video
Harmful Drugs: Heroin
Heroin is found in many different powdered forms, often mixed with other dangerous substances. How does Heroin affect the brain, and how does this make it one of the most dangerous drugs? Biology - Healthy Living - Heroin is a drug made...
Curated Video
Harmful Drugs: Ecstasy
Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is one of the most commonly used harmful drugs. How does the drug affect the brain and body, and what are the long-term repercussions associated with its use? Biology - Healthy Living - Ecstasy is a drug...
Curated Video
Alcohol and the Brain
Alcohol is consumed in small quantities for pleasure, but long-term use or consumption in greater quantities has alarming effects on the body, especially in younger people. Biology - Healthy Living - Learning Points. Alcohol is a...
Curated Video
Harmful Drugs: Cannabis
Cannabis is a controversial drug: there are debates around its production, legal status and use. What are the facts behind the use of this drug, and how safe or dangerous is it? Biology - Healthy Living - Cannabis is a mild sedative and...
Curated Video
Harmful Drugs
Some drugs are used recreationally, with potentially harmful consequences. Find out which drugs are used inappropriately and the harm they can cause. Biology - Healthy Living - Learning Points. Drugs affect the chemical processes in our...
Curated Video
Plants and Medicine
Discover how artichokes, garlic and poppies play important roles in medicine, pain management and the treatment of disease. Biology - Plants - Learning Points. The medicinal properties of plants have saved countless lives. Over half of...
Curated Video
Science of Addiction
Many drug users become drug addicts, but why is this? What changes to cause a person to become addicted to drugs? Biology - Healthy Living - Millions of people are addicted to drugs worldwide. Drugs target the reward center of the brain....
Curated Video
What is a drug?
Warning: Contains footage of illegal drugs. Drugs are used in many situations, but how do we classify a drug? Life processes - Humans and other animals - Drug awareness Learning Points A drug is a chemical that affects how your...
Curated Video
The Many Uses of Distributed Computing
Since 1992 radio telescopes have been scanning deep space looking for modulated radio signals. The type of radio signals we are familiar with can only be generated by intelligent beings but the huge amounts of data collected by the giant...
Curated Video
The Power of Thought: Harnessing Autosuggestion and the Placebo Effect
Explore the fascinating science behind autosuggestion and the placebo effect. Learn how positive thinking can not only improve performance but also influence physical health. This video delves into how repetitive positive affirmations...
Healthcare Triage
Ketamine as a Treatment for Depression?
Ketamine is a controlled substance approved by the FDA for use as an anesthetic. It is also used recreationally to create a dissociative state. But what about ketamine for depression? The FDA has approved Spravato (esketamine) for...
Healthcare Triage
How Do Drugs Get Invented?
With support from the National Institute for Health Care Management, we’re spending the next three episodes talking about how drugs get approved in the United States. In this first episode, we discuss the drug approval process from the...
Healthcare Triage
Not All Drugs Get Approved the Same Way: Exceptions to FDA Rules
All drugs have to follow the same path to approval at the US Food and Drug Administration, except when they don't. Today, with the support of NIHCM, we're learning about the exceptions to the rules that can happen when drugs get...
Healthcare Triage
Just Because a Drug is FDA Approved Doesn't Mean it Works
The drug approval process in the United States is complicated. There are many stakeholders and varying agendas when bringing a drug to market, and profit motives often are as big a factor as helping patients. The loopholes and shortcuts...
Healthcare Triage
Monkeypox: What is It and Who is at Risk?
All this news about the Monkeypox virus as we’re still trying to grapple with Covid. What is Monkeypox, how is it treated, and who is at risk?
Healthcare Triage
Some Good News in Alzheimer's Treatments
The surprising approval of the extremely expensive and maybe not that effective drug Aduhelm has been dominating the conversation around Alzheimer's treatments in recent memory. Today, we're getting positive and talking about a very...
Healthcare Triage
A Fentanyl Vaccine Shows Promise
Fentanyl is many times more potent than heroin or morphine, and is responsible for a lot of overdose deaths. Recent news reports have covered a potential fentanyl vaccine - how does that work, and how far are we from human trials?
Healthcare Triage
Reforming Federal Laws that Slow Marijuana Research
Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, making it difficult for researchers to study, and difficult to understand how it may help or harm our health. A recently passed bill is aimed at making marijuana research easier to conduct,...
Healthcare Triage
Studies Show New Weight Loss Medications are the Real Deal
Back in 2021 we did an episode on Semaglutide, the then-recently-approved drug for weight loss that was originally approved for Type 2 diabetes. Since that episode another paper has come out on what happens to weight when the drug is...
Healthcare Triage
Zoloft, Mounjaro, and Social Stigma
Drugs that do a pretty good job of easing symptoms of depression and drugs that really help people struggling with obesity have a couple things in common. The first is that we have almost no idea how they work, and the second is that...
Healthcare Triage
A Drug to Treat Food Allergy Reactions
If you or someone you love has a life-threatening food allergy, you have to remain constantly vigilant for even the slightest exposure to that food, making even an outing to a restaurant an impossibility for some people. It can be...
Healthcare Triage
The Drug Shortage Putting Newborns at Risk
For some women, a simple shot during pregnancy and then right after labor can prevent a huge amount of suffering for both parents and future children. So what happens when there’s a shortage that prevents that shot from happening?