CoVid19 Update // Sleep and Your Immune System

man-in-bed-struggling-to-sleep-wd-noexp-620x400This week on How On Earth, we produced the entire show out of the studio, explaining one brief glitch. Beth gives a short update on the way the corona virus infects cells and how this entry point can affect people taking blood pressure medications. In our feature interview, Beth talks with Professor Mark Opp, who studies sleep in his lab at the University of Colorado here in Boulder (interview starts at about 10 minutes). He’s especially interested in the interaction between sleep and our immune systems. Not that long ago, people didn’t think there was any relationship between the two, but our understanding of both systems has evolved.

Host: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Additional contributions: Angele Sjong
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Cancer, Immunity and the Future of a Cure

EndOfBeginningCoverPegasusDespite all the advances in modern medical science, a diagnosis of Cancer often casts a pallor of hopelessness, for both the patient and the practitioner.  For many types the prognosis is often poor; the cure is often worse than the disease; victory is usually called simply remission, temporary, perhaps fleeting.  One might think the inability to find a cure indicates bafflement by our scientists and stagnation in our efforts.  According to Professor Michael Kinch, there is in fact a frenzy of activity by scientists and doctors. And a recent spate of breakthroughs, developing treatments based on the inherent powers of our immune systems, represent not a refutation of all we have known before, but a continuation of efforts made by medical pioneers stretching back over a century.  His latest book is titled The End of The Beginning: Cancer, Immunity and the Future of a Cure.  Kinch was a professor at Purdue University, where he researched breast and prostate cancer.  He then went on to found an oncology program at the biotechnology company MedImmune.  He is now professor and vice-chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis.  Here he shares with Chip Grandits stories from the front lines in the battle with cancer, both past and present.  He speaks with what can best be described as a disciplined optimism.

Host: Chip Grandits
Producer: Chip Grandits
Engineer: Chip Grandits
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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Pledge Drive: Mind-Body Science

Image credit: Target Health Global
Image credit: Target Health Global

In today’s spring pledge-drive show we play clips from an interview with  Jo Marchant, author of the new book Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body. (Stay tuned for the extended interview on next Tuesday’s show.) And we highlight another book, Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters, Kinky Squid, and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep, by Marah Hardt. Call KGNU (303-449-4885) or pledge online (www.kgnu.org) and you will have the chance to make either of these books yours.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Additional contributions: Beth Bennett
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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