Radiolab

This is Your Brain on Hormones

each one of us is at the mercy of a crashing sea of chemicals inside of us – those things we call hormones.

Radiolab

Your Friendly Neighborhood Hookworms

For most of human history, hookworms and other parasitic worms were ubiquitous companions of Homo sapiens, and our immune systems co-evolved with them over millions of years. The idea is that without these old friends, our immune systems become unbalanced — overly aggressive, prone to attacking the body itself or harmless substances like pollen.

Radiolab

Your Friendly Neighborhood Hookworms

For most of human history, hookworms and other parasitic worms were ubiquitous companions to our species, and our immune systems evolved in their presence. The idea, known as the hygiene hypothesis or 'old friends' hypothesis, is that the absence of these organisms in the modern developed world has left our immune systems without the regulatory signals they evolved to expect — potentially contributing to the rise of allergies, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory conditions.