From the Los Angeles Times series "The Heroin Road." Photo: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times. Copyright © 2010

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We have a mental image of heroin dealing that is probably out of date. Dealer. On the corner. Bad neighborhood. Customers cruising by. Drug lord in the shadows, selling product from all over the world.

But there’s a new way. “Black tar” heroin, out of one little county in Mexico, sold door-to-door — in middle America — by an army of small-time entrepreneurs.

It could be cosmetics or cookies or fundraiser candy bars. But it’s heroin, on a new business model. Sweeping into neighborhoods that have never known it.

This hour, On Point: the “black tar” heroin explosion.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Sam Quinones, investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. His three-part series on the spread of black-tar heroin has just been published. You can see an LA Times audio slide show documenting two black-tar heroin users (it’s graphic — viewers be warned.) Quinones is author of  “True Tales From Another Mexico” and “Antonio’s Gun and Delfino’s Dream: Truer Tales of Mexican Migration.”

James Capra, DEA Special Agent in charge of the Dallas Field Division. He is responsible for operations in the northern and eastern districts of Texas and the state of Oklahoma.

Dr. Joe Gay, executive director of Health Recovery Services, a drug treatment and recovery center based in Athens, Ohio. His organization provides services for four, rual southeastern counties, where there has been a signficant spike in black-tar heroin use.

Childbirth isn’t anything new, of course. It’s been around for as long as we have. What has changed is our response to it.

Medical procedures are constantly adapting and attitudes are always in flux. From midwives and home births to male doctors and hospitals, from no drugs to drugs, to our modern-day smorgasbord of birthing options, there’s always some new thing.

But how far have we really come, and what have we learned? Doctor and journalist Randi Hutter Epstein has written the book on it.

This hour, On Point: Childbirth through the ages.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Tom Ashbrook is on vacation this week.

Guest:

Randi Hutter Epstein joins us from New York.  A medical journalist and trained doctor, she’s written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. Her new book is “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank.”

Read an excerpt from “Get Me Out” at NPR.org.

A bottle of Eli Lilly & Co.'s Prozac is pictured at a company facility in Plainfield, Ind., Jan. 11, 2008.

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America has been called the “Prozac nation.” Millions of Americans spend billions a year on antidepressants whose brand names rain down in TV and magazine ads — Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Prozac.

And depression itself is a tough and undertreated reality for millions.

But how well do antidepressants really work? A new study says that for millions of people, maybe not much better than a placebo. “Expensive Tic Tacs,” Newsweek called them last week. But what if they make a difference even so?

This hour, On Point: the complicated truth about depression and antidepressants.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from New York is Sharon Begley, senior editor at Newsweek. Her cover story for the February 8 issue is “The Depressing News About Antidepressants.”

Joining us from Nashville is Stephen Hollon, professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University.  He co-authored a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which found that for patients with mild to moderate levels of depression, placebos and antidepressants had about the same effect.

And from New York we’re joined by Robert Klitzman, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, and director of their Masters’ of Bioethics program. He’s author of “When Doctors Become Patients.”  Read his take on the antidepressant debate in Newsweek.

Everybody knows a hypochondriac, obsessed with health and illness. Few admit to being one.

But history is littered with great thinkers and artists who were morbidly obsessed with dysfunction and disease. Moliere, Kant, Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Mann all wrote of the syndrome. Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, Charlotte Bronte, Glenn Gould all had it. Maybe Michael Jackson and Woody Allen, too.

In the era of the “worried well,” we may all have a touch. This hour, On Point: illness, imagination, and tales of the eminent hypochondriacs.

Plus, later this hour, we’ll remember the people’s historian, Howard Zinn.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guest:

Joining us from Tunbridge Wells, England, is Brian Dillon, author of “The Hypochondriacs: Nine Tormented Lives.” Dillon’s first book, “In the Dark Room,” won the 2006 Irish Book Award for nonfiction. He is UK Editor for Cabinet, an arts and culture quarterly, and a research fellow at the University of Kent.

Read an excerpt from “The Hypochondriacs.”

Remembering Howard Zinn

Later this hour, we look back at groundbreaking American historian Howard Zinn, dead at 87. Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States,” died of a heart attack yesterday in Santa Monica, California. An icon of the left, he turned the standard American historical narrative on its head — elevating the voices of workers, feminists, and war protesters. 

Joining us from Princeton, New Jersey, is Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He’s the author most recently of “Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security — From World War II to the War on Terrorism.” 

Zinn had twice been a guest on our show. In 2002, he discussed the war on terror in its early days.  And in 2006, as war raged on in Iraq, Zinn joined us to discuss the futility of war.

It’s the season of giving — and that’s lasted for a reason. First, there’s need. Second, giving makes us feel better. Live better.

Cami Walker found that out the hard way. At 32, just a month after her wedding, she was diagnosed with painful multiple sclerosis. Nothing made her feel better.

Until, from the depth of her pain, she started giving to others. Just little things at first. Then more. For twenty-nine straight days.

And the giving, she says, brought her back. Science says she may be right.

This hour, On Point: in the season of giving, the power of the gift.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Los Angeles is writer Cami Walker. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006. Her new book is called “29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life.” She is the creator of the online community 29-Day Giving Challenge.

Read an excerpt from “29 Gifts.”

With us in our studio is Patricia Rogers, a psychotherapist in private practice. She’s counseled individuals, couples and families for over 20 years.

And joining us from Stony Brook, New York, is Stephen Post. He is director for the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University. He co-authored the book “Why Good Things Happen to Good People.”

Pigs press together on a farm on the outskirts of Xicaltepec in Mexico's Veracruz state, April 27, 2009. (AP)

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The H1N1 virus is more commonly known as “swine flu.” That doesn’t mean you can catch it from a pig, but it does point to the source of the infection.

And it’s far from the only disease that can make the jump to humans from other species. Avian flu. Rabies. Ringworm. Hantavirus. West Nile Virus. Even Ebola and HIV likely originated in animals and made the leap.

Now, with the world a global village and populations soaring, experts warn these species-hopping diseases may arise more frequently, and become more dangerous.

This hour, On Point: animals, people, and disease.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Guests:

Joining us from New York is Donald G. McNeill Jr., science and health reporter for The New York Times.

From Columbus, Ohio, we’re joined by Lonnie King, dean of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and former director of the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases.

And from Oklahoma City, we’re joined by Susan Little, professor of veterinary parasitology at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University. She’s a member of the board of directors of the Companion Animal Parasite Council, which is sponsoring the “Pets, People and Pathogens” conference in Providence, Rhode Island next week.

Detail from The Fountain of Youth, 1546, by German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder (Wikimedia Commons; click for full image).

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Everybody’s getting older. Almost nobody wants to age.

Now there’s a huge industry in “anti-aging.” Eighty billion dollars a year in this country — spent on pills and guidance, anti-aging diets and exercise, hormones and more.

“Age management,” it’s being called. And it’s booming as boomers … well, age. Testosterone sales are through the roof, with growth outstripping Viagra. For five thousand a year, we read, you can be kept tuned up like a race horse.

This hour, On Point: Age management. We’ll look at the real science and new horizons of aging.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

S. Jay Olshansky, professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois – Chicago and author of “The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging.”

Luigi Fontana, associate professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis and director of the division of nutrition and aging at the Italian National Institute of Health.

Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

More links:

“Testosterone Is Sure Looking Virile” — BusinessWeek looks at surging sales of testosterone and reports that “despite legal setbacks and FDA delays, youth-crazed boomers are making it a billion-dollar industry.”

“The Caloric Restriction Experiment” — The New York Times Magazine reports on the NIH-funded clinical trial called Calerie (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy).

Image from the website of FOX's "More to Love" (fox.com/moretolove).

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Americans are bigger than ever, by a long shot. Heavier. Fatter.

And maybe more culturally torn than ever over fat. A broad swath of the country has just accepted a heavier profile as the way it is. The way we are. In TV’s “More to Love” and plus-size model Glamour shots, heavy is fine.

But the backlash is fierce, too. Jessica Simpson pummeled for a few extra pounds. Fat disdain aplenty. And the health care debate highlighting the cost of obesity in health care budgets out of control.

This hour, On Point: Overweight America — accepted or rejected — and the cost of our pounds.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from New York is Kate Dailey, health and lifestyles editor for Newsweek and writer of Newsweek’s blog The Human Condition, where she’s been following the debate over American weight. She edited and wrote for Newsweek’s recent series “The Fat Wars.”

In our studio we’re joined by Lesley Kinzel. She runs the blog Fatshionista, “a heady mixture of social justice, fat-girl memoir, and popular culture.”  She has been engaging in fat activism and social justice politics for over a decade. When not blogging, she works in higher education in the Boston area.

And from Washington we’re joined by Kenneth E. Thorpe, executive director of Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, executive director of the Emory Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions, and chairman of the department of health policy and management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. His Sept. 10 Newsweek commentary, “We Have the Power to Change Our Weight,” argues that obesity is a health and an economic crisis.

Asia Johnson receives an intranasal H1N1 vaccine, Boston, Oct. 9, 2009. (AP)

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Ordinary flu kills thousands of people a year, but most are over 65 with underlying health problems.

H1N1 “swine flu” is different. Fully a third of those it kills are healthy, robust, often young.

Last week, H1N1 vaccine began its national rollout. The public still has questions.

Pundit Bill Maher told fans, “If u get a swine flu shot ur an idiot.” Medical professionals say you may be an idiot if you don’t.

This Hour, On Point: We’ll we’ll look at the new pandemic, with questions and answers on H1N1 and the swine flu vaccination program unfolding across the country right now.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Maggie Fox, health and science editor at Reuters

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

William Schaffner, professor and chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

 

Some answers on the H1N1 vaccine, at the NY Times.

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“Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine.” Do those words bring back memories? Linda Ronstadt and jolly times?

Except, of course, that Jose Cuervo is so often a lousy friend….

Statistics show that women are drinking more than ever, are being stopped for drunk driving more often — and a notorious recent car crash has thrown a spotlight on hidden drinking.

When Mommy cocktail hours are necessary to get through the day, when professional women know they’re crossing a line — help is needed.

This hour, On Point: what’s going on with women and booze.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jacki Lyden, guest host

Guests:

Rachael Brownell, mother of three and a recovering alcoholic. She’s author of “Mommy Doesn’t Drink Here Anymore: Getting Through the First Year of Sobriety.” You can read an excerpt here.

Dr. Petros Levounis, director of the Addiction Institute of New York and Chief of Addiction Psychiatry at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York. He’s author of “Sober Siblings: How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister — and Not Lose Yourself.”

Sarah Allen Benton, a recovering alcoholic and author of “Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic.” She is a mental health counselor at Emmanuel College in Boston.

Students ride their bikes outside a closed elementary school in Fountain Valley, Calif., in May. The school was closed for swine-flu sanitizing. (AP)

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The H1N1 virus — “swine flu” — just won’t quit. This summer, it’s sickened people all over the place: kids at camp, Senate pages in Washington, Navy crewmembers aboard ships.

The world death toll is 1,100 and rising. This fall U.S. officials fear a second surge – with as many as 40 percent of Americans sickened.

The race is on to produce the 150 million doses experts say are needed. And they’re wrestling with thorny questions, again, about closing schools — and just how big a threat the virus really is.

This hour, On Point: Gearing up for swine flu’s fall comeback, from Washington to your home town.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Tom Ashbrook is on vacation.

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Spencer Hsu, a reporter for The Washington Post who’s been following the government’s preparations for the fall flu season.

From Nashville we’re joined by Dr. William Schaffner, professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and chair of its Department of Prentative Medicine. He’s an expert on the use of vaccines in both pediatric and adult populations.

And from Baltimore we’re joined by Dr. Eric Toner, senior associate with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity. He’s a physician trained in internal and emergency medicine and an expert on pandemic influenza response and hospital preparedness.

More links:

“Inside the Fight Against a Flu Pandemic” — Time magazine’s Michael Scherer reports on the preparations and debates going on now as the government readies for a new outbreak. And Time’s Bryan Walsh looks at “five burning questions” remaining to be answered about swine flu, including how deadly the H1N1 virus really is.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers up-to-date information on the swine flu, including questions and answers on symptoms, treatment, and prevention.

(AP Photo)

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Modern humans love to alter their skin. We bronze, we lighten, we pierce, we tattoo. Above all, for years, in the American culture, in summer, we have tanned.

In the country’s 21st century racial rainbow, skin color is – more than ever – all over the map, and proudly so. We have black, we have white, and everything in between – including in the White House.

And still, tanning is a cultural phenom. But these days, the sun may have little to do with it. A whole lot of tans these days come from a bottle, a lotion, a spray.

This hour, On Point: the new anthropology of skin and tanning.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Nina Jablonski is the head of the Department of Anthropology at Penn State University. Her most recent book is “Skin: A Natural History” (2008).

Jane Brody writes the Personal Health column for The New York Times. Her books include “Jane Brody’s Guide to the Great Beyond” (2009), and “Jane Brody’s Good Food Book” (1985).

Carmindy is an on-screen makeup artist for the TLC show “What Not to Wear.” She is the author of “Get Positively Beautiful: The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Beautiful” (2008).

A plastic 55 gallon barrel is seen among piles of driftwood and mud along the Potomac River in Cropley, Md., Feb. 8, 2006. (AP)

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For years now, the stories have been piling up. Frogs and salamanders with extra legs. “Intersex fish,” neither male or female. Eighty percent of male smallmouth bass in the Potomac producing eggs.

And the apparent culprit: chemicals in the water — endocrine disruptors — that are also in our water and everyday household items.

Now scientists are tracking large increases in genital deformities in newborn boys, early-onset puberty in girls, obesity and diabetes in animals and humans, and warning that these, too, could have a chemical cause.

This hour, On Point: Danger in the water — endocrine disruptors, and their long reach.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Amherst, Mass., is R. Thomas Zoeller, professor and chair of biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is one of the authors a 50-page scientific statement by the Endocrine Society, “Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals,” which was cited by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in his column for Sunday, June 28. (Also see Kristof’s followup blog post on the topic.)

Joining us from Washington is Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and epidemiologist. She is a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 1993 she was appointed by President Clinton to serve as Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, where she served for five years.

A child seeking medical treatment waits to be attended at the makeshift waiting area set up at the entrance to the Naval hospital in Mexico City, Thursday April 30, 2009. (AP)

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It’s been the week that “swine flu” became “H1N1” and very nearly, says the WHO, a pandemic. Masks, Mexico and hog farms in the news. A small world and a quick spread.

In Detroit, Chrysler falls into the arms of bankruptcy and Fiat. In Washington, Supreme Court Justice David Souter dreams of summer in New Hampshire, and decides he’ll retire.

Arlen Specter makes a different change — from Republican to Democrat. And VP Joe Biden rolls out his version of snakes on a plane.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

What’s your top story this week? Do you see Chrysler-Fiat coming back strong? Arlen Specter lining up for Obama? Have H1N1 and Joe Biden scared you off the plane? The subway? Out of your wits? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Michael Gerson, columnist for The Washington Post, former White House advisor and speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and author of “Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America’s Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don’t).”

Also from Washington we’re joined by Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Residents wear surgical masks as they exit the subway in Mexico City on Monday, April 27, 2009. (AP)

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1976, Fort Dix, New Jersey. An outbreak of swine flu among military recruits. Washington feared a pandemic. Stepped in big. Immunized 40 million Americans. But the flu just disappeared.

2009, in Mexico, New Zealand, New York, Kansas, Texas, the UK, and now Israel, Spain, and more — swine flu is making big headlines again. Spreading. Killing in Mexico. Moving up the WHO pandemic scale, now to Phase 4 of 6.

Will it roar? Or vanish? And could a flu born in warm Mexico spread right through the summer?

This hour, On Point: The science and threat of the swine flu outbreak, 2009.

You can join the conversation. Are you double-washing your hands yet? Have you been traveling — maybe catching, or worried that you’ve caught this new virus? And what questions do you still have, after all the reporting, the calls of alarm and for calm? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Mexico City is Victor Hugo Michel, special affairs reporter for Milenio, one of the biggest national dailies in Mexico.

From San Antonio, we’re joined by Don Finley, medical reporter San Antonio Express-News. He’s covering the swine flu investigation in Guadalupe County.

Joining us from Atlanta is Dr. Joe Bresee, M.D., chief of epidemiology and prevention in the Influenza Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

From Washington we’re joined by Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States. An expert on animal-to-human diseases, he’s author of “Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching.”

And from New York we’re joined by Delthia Ricks, health reporter for Newsday and author of “100 Questions & Answers About Influenza.”

More links:

The CDC website offers information on the swine flu, including questions and answers on symptoms, treatment, and prevention.

In this CDC video, Dr. Bresee talks about the swine flu, its symptoms, transmission, and treatment:

Brown University medical student Jeremy Boyd displays his personal digital assistant, or PDA, Friday, Feb. 17, 2006, at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, R.I. (AP)

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By 2014, President Obama hopes to digitize the health records of every American. And the federal stimulus bill is funneling $19 billion dollars to do just that.

Proponents say electronic medical records will reduce spending. Cut down on repeat medical tests. Reduce errors. Even save lives.

Critics warn not so fast. What about the huge cost to implement such systems? And what about doctor-patient privacy? Do we really want a universal electronic health record database?

We’ll weigh the pros and cons.

This Hour, On Point: your e-health record.

You can join the conversation. What’s your view on computerizing Americans’ medical records? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Guests:

Ashish Jha, professor of medicine and associate professor of health policy and management at Harvard University’s School of Public Health and a staff physician at the Boston VA and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals. He co-authored a recent article in “The New England Journal of Medicine” called, “Use of Electronic Health Records in U.S. Hospitals.”

Jennifer Brull, family medicine physician in Plainville, Kansas. Her clinic recently converted to an entirely electronic system of medical records.

Deborah Peel, founder and chairman of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation. You can see her group’s position here.

More links:

Dr. Jermome Groopman, a highly respected medical thinker and supporter of President Obama, wrote a tough critique in the Wall Street Journal — “Obama’s $80 Billion Exaggeration” — of the new administration’s e-health record effort.

To hear how President Obama wants to cut health care costs — including through the e-health records push — listen to On Point’s show with hospital consultant Mitchell Seltzer, who has the ear of the White House, and Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly.

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Babies so tiny they can fit in the palm of your hand. Terrified parents. Experimental therapies.

Inside the Neonatal Intensive Care, every day brings new challenges. For babies, parents, and doctors.

For 25 years, Dr. Christine Gleason has been on the front lines of saving premature babies. She’s had the painful conversations, made split second decisions, and been witness to the tiniest miracles and biggest heartbreaks.

Today, she’s sharing these stories of hope and heartbreak in an intimate and powerful new book.

This Hour, On Point: hope and the human spirit in the Neonatal ICU.

You can join the conversation. Do you know first hand of the miracles that happen inside the NICU? Do you know the heartbreak? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Guests:

Christine Gleason, Chief of Neonatology and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her new book is “Amost Home: Stories of Hope and the Human Spirit in the Neonatal ICU.”

Read an excerpt from “Almost Home.”

Liza Cooper, Director of NICU Family Support at the March of Dimes. You can see more details on the organization’s activities and walkathon here.

Photo: Flickr/Vidiot

Huge studies came out last week on the number-one cancer issue in men’s health. Women wrestle with breast cancer. Men: prostate.

It’s generally slow-growing. It can show up even among twenty-year-olds. And it can be an obsession for men over 50.

But how aggressive should we be in screening and treating? In cutting it out? The upside: it may save your life. The downside risk: incontinence and impotence, and expensive intervention that may not have been necessary.

This hour, On Point: The latest on prostate cancer, and whether the treatment is worse than the disease.

You can join the conversation. Have you been diagnosed with prostate cancer? Have you gone for the full treatment? Or hung back? What do you make of the new studies?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Berlin, Germany, is Dr. Gerald Andriole, chief urologic surgeon at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He led the U.S. study of 77,000 men published on March 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine. A European study was also published in the NEJM last week.

Joining us from Cleveland, Ohio, is Dr. Stephen Jones, chairman of the department of regional urology at the Glickman Urological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

From Wilmington, N.C., we’re joined by Dr. Nortin Hadler, professor of medicine and microbiology & immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He is author of “Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America.”

Reggie Jackson of Prevention Works, a needle exchange program that focuses on preventing the spread of HIV, talks during an interview in the Trinidad section of Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. (AP)

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The public health headlines out of Washington, D.C. echoed around the world yesterday.

The HIV/AIDS rate in the U.S. capital is higher than in West Africa. On par with Uganda. At three percent, we learned, the capital’s infection rate now approaches the rate of San Francisco at the height of the AIDS scare. And this when many Americans have come to see HIV/AIDS as a monster that’s been tamed.

What do the new Washington numbers really mean, for the capital and the country? Who’s sick, and why?

This hour, On Point: HIV/AIDS in D.C., and across the nation, now.

You can join the conversation. Did you think the AIDS epidemic was behind us? Is it, in your community? Your state? What’s the meaning of the numbers from the District of Columbia?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Washington Post. His front-page story on Sunday reported on the new HIV/AIDS numbers released by the District yesterday. And today he reports that the reported 3 percent rate is likely too low. He wrote a year-long series on HIV/AIDS in the nation’s capital in 2006, and he’s the screenwriter and co-producer of a forthcoming documentary based on his HIV/AIDS reporting, called “The Other City.”

Also from Washington, we’re joined by Shannon Hader, senior deputy director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, HIV/AIDS Administration, which yesterday released its report (pdf) finding that 3 percent of the District’s residents are living with HIV/AIDS. Previously she led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) work in Zimbabwe, and helped coordinate the 2007 HIV Implementers Meeting in Rwanda, the first worldwide meeting of its kind.

And joining us from New York is Phill Wilson, founder and executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, a group dedicated to ending AIDS in African-American communities. From 1990 to 1993, he served as the AIDS Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles and worked as the director of policy and planning at AIDS Project Los Angeles from 1993 to 1996.

Adderall (Photo by hipsxxhearts, Flickr.com)

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Attention-deficit drugs like Adderall and Ritalin have helped millions of ADHD kids get along. For a new generation, they’ve also fed a black market in college dorms and high-pressure labs, where off-label use by the non-ADHD gets term papers written and lab reports done.

Now, pharmaceutical companies — and some scientists — are saying maybe we should consider “cognitive enhancers,” drugs like these, for the general population.

Some call it “cosmetic neurology,” and say it’s time. Others say it’s a bad, bad idea.

This hour, On Point: The debate over drugs for the mind.

You can join the conversation. Is it time to loosen up? To think of Adderall and Ritalin the way you might think of an hour of exercise? Or a cup of coffee? A fine way to sharpen up? Or is general use of pills for the mind a bad idea?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from New York is Ellen Gibson at BusinessWeek magazine. She recently wrote the article “Mental Pick Me Ups: The Coming Boom.”

From Philadelphia, we’re joined by Martha Farah, professor of psychology and director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. She is co-author of a commentary in the December issue of the journal Nature, “Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy.”

From Garrison, N.Y., is Thomas Murray, president of The Hastings Center, a bioethics think tank. He was formerly the director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

And from Washington, we’re joined by Nora Volkow, director of the National Insitute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.