The Pulse

Different Country, Different Medicine

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Medicine, healthcare — even illness — vary from country to country. Those differences are driven by tradition, culture, even politics. On this episode of The Pulse, we zoom in on those contrasts. In Hong Kong, we learn why acupuncture could be the next frontier for pain treatment. In Germany, we investigate the burnout epidemic affecting stressed-out workers. And in India, we visit a hospital that turns anxious family into trained care companions.

Also heard on this week’s show:

  • Traditional Chinese medicine might seem ancient, but historian Paul Unschuld says its official birth date is in the 1950s.
  • The Syrian Civil War has driven out more than half of the country’s medical doctors. Hear from two physicians who opted to stay — facing shortages and danger in a bid to help desperate patients.
  • Israel recently shuttered a humanitarian project that delivered medical help to thousands of Syrians. One of the final patients to receive treatment: a 14-year-old boy named Ahmad, who received a groundbreaking procedure that saved his leg.
  • In Germany, stressed-out workers are diagnosing themselves with a syndrome they call “Der Burnout.”
  • A history lesson on Mexico’s approach to birth control.
    • ...more
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