A controversial gene linked to aggression and violent behavior may help carriers make optimal decisions when faced with risky financial situations, according to findings published …
Month: December 2010
Hepatitis B: The threat against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Although routine vaccines have curtailed hepatitis B, more than one million people in the United States are living with the chronic disease, and roughly half …
How a battle with Napoleon helped Abraham Verghese write his novel
Today on NPR's website, Abraham Verghese, MD, recalls how C.S. Forester's Ship of the Line transported his imagination onto a British frigate to battle Napoleon. …
Nature Medicine's year in numbers
This is the time of year when the best-of or look-back lists start rolling out, and Spoonful of Medicine just posted a few (including favorite …
Study shows increase in unnecessary MRI use and spending
Last year, Stanford policy expert Laurence Baker, PhD, published a paper showing that high numbers of MRI machines were tied to higher numbers of MRI …
A look at an iPad in the operating room
iPads have made their way into the emergency department, the classroom, and patients' rooms. And now, apparently, they've finally pierced the sterile curtain and made …
Social media sites may lure patients to dubious promotions
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have made it easy for chronic disease sufferers to find support and share information. But according to …
TV characters' drinking problems: Not that funny
I've never been a huge fan of the popular TV show Two and a Half Men - I'll tune in occasionally - but in recent …
Gallup poll shows majority of Americans trust their doctor
A recent Gallup Health and Healthcare Survey found that 70 percent of respondents trust the information provided by their physician, an increase from 64 percent …
Vector offers recommended reading for the holidays
As I look forward to Stanford's coming two-week winter closure, my mind has begun to wander towards all the winter reading I'll get to do. …
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood help fundraising effort for Women's Cancer Center at Stanford
Grammy-award winning artists Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood helped raise nearly $1 million for the Women's Cancer Center at Stanford at a benefit in Menlo …
Series looks at the physiology of sedentary behavior
Travis Saunders, writing for the excellent PLoS blog Obesity Panacea, has just kicked off a five-part series on sedentary physiology: How much sedentary time do …
Webcomic xkcd gets medical
The creator of popular webcomic xkcd, Randall Munroe, shared a few weeks ago that he's coping with a serious illness in his family. That's very …
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of Nov. 29
The five most-read posts on Scope this week were: Stanford pediatrician encourages parents to "get the white out" of baby food: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital …
Stanford-developed iPARS app available for download
Here's a heads up that the Stanford-developed mobile app for viewing the secondary structure of RNA molecules is available for download. Titled iPARS (link to …
Study shows BPA exposure may affect fertility of female offspring
Public concern over the safety of bisphenol-A, or BPA, resurfaced today after researchers reported findings suggesting exposure to the chemical during fetal and neonatal development …