TED Health

Have you ever misplaced something you were just holding? Completely blanked on a famous actor's name? Walked into a room and immediately forgot why? Neuroscientist Lisa Genova digs into two types of memory failures we regularly experience -- and reassures us that forgetting is totally normal. Stay tuned for a conversation with TED science curator David Biello, where Genova describes the difference between common moments of forgetting and possible signs of Alzheimer's, debunks a widespread myth about brain capacity and shares what you can do to keep your brain healthy and your memory sharp. (This virtual conversation was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every time you breathe, air travels down the trachea through a series of channels, and then reaches little clusters of air sacs in the lungs. These tiny sacs facilitate a crucial exchange: allowing oxygen from the air we breathe into the bloodstream and clearing out carbon dioxide. Pneumonia wreaks havoc on this exchange system. Eve Gaus and Vanessa Ruiz detail how pneumonia attacks the lungs. [Directed by Artrake Studio, narrated by Alexandra Panzer].For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you effectively regulate stress? Therapist Esther Perel discusses the importance of creating routines, rituals and boundaries to deal with pandemic-related loss and uncertainty -- both at home and at work -- and offers some practical tools and techniques to help you regain your sense of self. (This conversation, hosted by TED's Helen Walters, was recorded February 2021.)For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, killing more people each year than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murder and suicide combined. Follow health policy expert Mitch Zeller into the murky depths of the tobacco industry as he details the sordid history of nicotine addiction -- and invites us to imagine a world where policy change helps stop people from becoming addicted in the first place.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cells in your body are like computer software: they're "programmed" to carry out specific functions at specific times. If we can better understand this process, we could unlock the ability to reprogram cells ourselves, says computational biologist Sara-Jane Dunn. In a talk from the cutting-edge of science, she explains how her team is studying embryonic stem cells to gain a new understanding of the biological programs that power life -- and develop "living software" that could transform medicine, agriculture and energy.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For intersex people -- those born with sex characteristics outside the traditional definitions of female and male -- the stakes to appear "normal" are high. Drawing on her personal experience, Susannah Temko reveals the shame, prejudice and harm faced by the intersex community, as they're forced to conform to a binary understanding of sex that ultimately hinders their health and well-being. She calls on us all to discard outdated notions of biological sex and accept the complexity within humanity.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a terminal cancer diagnosis upended 12 years of remission, all Elaine Fong's mother wanted was a peaceful end of life. What she received instead became a fight for the right to decide when. Fong shares the heart-rending journey to honor her mother's choice for a death with dignity -- and reflects on the need to explore our relationship to dying so that we may redesign this final and most universal of human experiences.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between 2006 and 2016, the number of drug patents granted in the United States doubled -- but not because there was an explosion in invention or innovation. Drug companies have learned how to game the system, accumulating patents not for new medicines but for small changes to existing ones, which allows them to build monopolies, block competition and drive prices up. Health justice lawyer Priti Krishtel sheds light on how we've lost sight of the patent system's original intent -- and offers five reforms for a redesign that would serve the public and save lives.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many of the symptoms of menopause -- hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, memory lapses, depression and anxiety -- start in the brain. How exactly does menopause impact cognitive health? Sharing groundbreaking findings from her research, neuroscientist Lisa Mosconi reveals how decreasing hormonal levels affect brain aging -- and shares simple lifestyle changes you can make to support lifelong brain health.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over a century ago, one part of our DNA got labelled the "sex chromosomes." Science journalist and Radiolab producer Molly Webster explains the consequences of that oversimplification. This is an excerpt from the TED Radio Hour episode The Biology of Sex. To listen to the whole episode, and to browse many other episodes from the podcast, find the TED Radio Hour wherever you're listening to this.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.