Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 16717]
Very Young Girls, whose title reflects the fact that in the United States the average age of entry into prostitution is just thirteen. The film takes us into the work of a former sexually exploited youth-turned-activist named Rachel Lloyd, who started the New York City organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) to help victimized young women escape their pimps and find another wa
This is the story about a convicted Satmar drugdealer who after his release from prison tries to get back into hes community. Although he doesn’t sound like the smartest cookie out there, and that’s probably the reason he was chosen to do the things he did with the drugs. And it’s a little obvious that he doesn’t want to fully integrate into the community he wants to eat the cake and have it (no p
The Aokigahara Forest is the most popular site for suicides in Japan. After the novel Kuroi Jukai was published, in which a young lover commits suicide in the forest, people started taking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year. The site holds so many bodies that the Yakuza pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses. The authorities sweep for bodies only
The stress response: in the beginning it saved our lives, making us run from predators and enabling us to take down prey. Today, human beings are turning on the same life-saving physical reaction to cope with 30-year mortgages, $4 a gallon gasoline, final exams, difficult bosses and even traffic jams — we can’t seem to turn it off. So, we’re constantly marinating in corrosive hormones triggered by
A 2-year old, who became a global YouTube sensation in the summer of 2010, has unwittingly become the poster child and symptom of a Big Tobacco-sponsored battle being waged in developing markets. Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel heads to Indonesia, where he exposes Big Tobacco’s successful and deadly expansion into that country, and observes the stage being set for a David vs. Goliath battle
Documentary The Naked Truth traces the origins of modern religions back to stories from numerous ancient civilizations. Due to the lack of science and facts, stories were created by our ancient ancestors in provide explanations to the amazing, bizarre, frightening, but natural wonders of the world. Earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, lightning, hurricanes, and other forces of nature could not be
On a trip to visit family in Seoul in April, I was approached by a man and a woman who claimed to be North Korean defectors. They presented me with a DVD that recently came into their possession and asked me to translate it. They also asked me to post the completed film on the Internet so that it could reach a worldwide audience. I believed what I was told and an agreement was made to protect thei
Montana PBS’s new documentary, Clearing the Smoke, reveals how cannabis acts on the brain and in the body to treat nausea, pain, epilepsy and potentially even cancer. Extensive interviews with patients, doctors, researchers and skeptics detail the promises and the limitations of medicinal cannabis. Even though the video has an American perspective, marijuana use is illegal throughout many countri