
Aug 19, 2010
We now know that too much stress makes you sick. Fifty years ago, we had no idea. Credit an upholsterer, a chair, and some lab rats. Dr. Paul J. Rosch, President of the American Institute of Stress, describes a series of not so nice things he and his colleagues did to rodents which began to illuminate what it means to be "stressed out." Dr. Robert Sapolsky takes us to the edges of our seats, literally, as he explains the discovery of Type A personality, and why being a Type A person is worse for you then smoking. Speaking of chairs, upholsterer Charles Young helps us smooth our wrinkles. And we conclude this segment with a trip to one of the truly bizarre outposts of medicine - stressed dwafism - and story of a much beloved author caught in a body that never grew up.