National Geographic | THE COMPASS

National Geographic

THE COMPASS

This week, we explore the world of health and medicine. Learn how different cold and flu drugs work, discover how hibernating bears could hold a clue to treating diabetes, and see how a 1918 pandemic mistake changed medicine forever.

This flu season, respiratory diseases are at their highest in years but there is a shortage of many necessary medicines, including penicillin and routine over-the-counter treatments.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PETR SVANCARA, CTK/AP IMAGES

Feeling sick? Here’s how different cold and flu drugs work

Understanding what different medications do to fight seasonal illnesses can help you find the right treatment.

THE ROLE THAT MEDICATIONS PLAY

Grizzly bears (pictured, a captive bear at the WSU Bear Center) can weigh up to 800 pounds.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT HUBNER, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Hibernating bears could hold a clue to treating diabetes

Scientists have discovered eight key proteins—also found in people—that help keep grizzly bears diabetes free.

GENETIC CLUES DISCOVERED

GOOD READS

1.

Social vs. medical egg freezing: What’s the difference?

2.

How to deal with food poisoning while traveling—and how to avoid it altogether

3.

Leeches are still used in medicine—yes, really. Here’s why.

4.

Horseshoe crab blood saves lives. Can we protect these animals from ourselves?

Irakli Khvedaguridze, 80, is the only licensed doctor across nearly 386 square miles of mountainous land in the Tusheti region of northeast Georgia. Here he rides his white horse, Bichola, through the village of Omalo. In the background is the clinic where he obtains limited medical supplies.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMER IFRAH

This doctor braves mountains by horseback and on foot to make house calls

This 80-year-old physician is a lifeline during brutal winters in the Caucasus Mountains.

LIFE OF A MOUNTAIN DOCTOR

CINCO DE MAYO IS OFTEN CONFUSED FOR MEXICO'S INDEPENDENCE DAY. WHAT IS THE CORRECT DATE TO CELEBRATE THE COUNTRY'S INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN?

A. FEBRUARY 22ND
B. MAY 6TH
C. SEPTEMBER 16TH

CLICK TO SEE IF YOU'RE RIGHT!

A standard blood sample, like the one seen here at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, can reveal invaluable information about a patient's cancer and how to treat it through a liquid biopsy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPHAN ELLERINGMANN, LAIF/REDUX

How liquid biopsies have made it easier to treat cancer

The tests detect traces of disease in a patient’s blood. Here’s how they’re used—and why scientists hope they’re the future of cancer screening.

A BETTER BIOPSY

A woman wears an unusual type of mask to guard against the flu during the 1918 pandemic.

PHOTOGRAPH BY HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION, CORBIS VIA GETTY

The 1918 pandemic mistake that changed medicine forever

A misunderstanding about the microbe that actually causes the flu created a ripple effect that changed the future of U.S. drug development, clinical trials, and pandemic preparedness.

AN ENORMOUS IMPACT

WHERE WILL WE JOURNEY TO NEXT?

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