Episode
NOVA: Avoiding the Surgeon's Knife
Overview
NOVA follows the efforts of four participants in a celebrated California study to unblock arteries without using drugs or surgery before their heart disease becomes fatal. A studio segment featuring experts with varying medical views will air as part of the 60-minute program. ABC News Medical Correspondent George Strait moderates.
Details
- Series
- NOVA
- Season
- Season 18
- Episode
- Episode 17
- Air date
- 1991-12-03
- Runtime
- 55 min
Episode context
Avoiding the Surgeon's Knife is Episode 17 in Season 18 of NOVA. It aired on 1991-12-03. The runtime is 55 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 16: Fastest Planes in the Sky
The fastest machines in the sky are going to be slow stuff when the latest speed demons on the drawing board take to the air. NOVA looks at the intoxicating lure to fly even faster.
Episode 18: Skyscraper! A NOVA Special
This 80-minute NOVA pledge special chronicles the building of the Worldwide Plaza, 47-story office tower in midtown Manhattan, from a hole in the ground to a 770-foot skyscraper.
More episodes from this season
Episode 15: Taller Than Everest?
The tallest mountain in the world? Think again—cartographers had to when satellite date revealed a peak called "K2" might be the real champ. Which is the world's tallest mountain?
Episode 19: The Fine Art of Faking It
The spectacular eclipse of 1991 passed over major observatories on the island of Hawaii. NOVA was there for 6 1/2 minutes of frenetic research that revealed new secrets about our sun.
Episode 14: Suicide Mission to Chernobyl
NOVA accompanies Soviet scientists on a deadly mission inside the sarcophagus-the massive structure that entombs the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Will there be another deadly explosion?
Episode 13: Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Forty years after they were discovered, the Dead Sea Scrolls have yet to be published in their entirety. NOVA looks at the laborious-some say scandalous-process of compiling and releasing this religious treasure.
Episode 12: So You Want to Be a Doctor?
In a two-hour special, NOVA follows seven aspiring doctors through four years of medical school. The first examination, the anatomy lab, the first death, the first baby-it's all part of becoming a doctor. Neil Patrick Harris, star of ABC's Doogie Howser, MD hosts. (Follow-up to the program 1521 "Can We Make a Better Doctor?")
Episode 11: Sex, Lies and Toupee Tape
NOVA covers the causes and attempted cures of baldness. Some men take pride in their bald heads; others will go to great lengths to cover up. Alan "Douglas Brackman" Rachins of NBC's LA Law hosts.
Episode 10: The Chip vs. the Chess Master
Will machines be able to beat us at our own game? The computer chess champ matches wits with the human world titleholder.
Episode 9: Swimming With Whales
Gregory Peck narrates a scientific voyage around Vancouver Island in search of whales. Humpbacks, Killers, Grays and other whale species make their appearance in spectacular, never-before-seen footage both above and below the waves.
Episode 8: The Russian Right Stuff: The Mission
In an unprecedented insider's look, NOVA covers the training, flight and recovery of a cosmonaut crew that visits the Soviet space station Mir. Unexpected emergencies show that space travel is still far from routine.
Episode 7: The Russian Right Stuff: The Dark Side of the Moon
NOVA reveals the details of Moscow's secret plan to reach the moon ahead of the Americans. Was Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" almost upstaged?