The Pulse – January 10, 2014

It’s a very uncomfortable decision – how do you want to die? A Philadelphia pilot program is offering very sick patients a chance to bring their end of life care to the place they’re most comfortable, their home. We talk with one mother who enrolled in the program after deciding to stop chemotherapy treatments.

Marketplace health care reporter Dan Gorenstein joins us to share his research on whether doctors are any more prepared than the rest of us when it comes to end of life decisions. 

We also visit a Philadelphia building that tells a story about a Yellow Fever crisis that almost wiped out Philadelphia and we get the details on a pioneering cancer therapy, developed here Philadelphia, that is caught up in a legal battle among some of the biggest names in cancer treatment.

The Scientist’s Kerry Grens joins us to talk about new research linking fiber to reduced asthma rates in mice, the rotting teeth of hunter-gatherers and an exercise molecule that targets fat.

Our new series, The Spark, launches with an audio essay from medical ethicist Art Caplan on the childhood illness that propelled his lifelong vocation.

In this week’s “So, What Do You Do segment,” Entomologist Isa Betancourt tries to convince us to eat chocolate-covered crickets and our new segment “Whatever Happened to?” revisits the 2009 mammogram screening guidelines released by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to find out where we stand on those rules today.

For those stories and more, click on the audio icon above.