A chance chat with a nurse in Perth resulted in two Napier schoolmates reuniting in Hastings yesterday.
The nurse was Hawke's Bay District Health Board chairman Kevin Atkinson's daughter, who put US-based Dr Daryl Turner in touch with her father.
While they didn't have an interest in medicine while students at William Colenso College, yesterday they discussed contemporary health challenges at length.
Dr Turner is a hormone specialist. His work is celebrated in the United States, where it has been featured on medical TV shows such as Dr. Phil.
He said hormones helped control the quality of life and when the thyroid gland was not operating properly, diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer were more prevalent.