National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel, MD, recently interviewed Stanford neurobiologist Ricardo Dolmetsch, PhD, about his autism research involving induced pluripotent stem cells, …
Month: April 2011
Simple program shown to reduce infant mortality in African country
An inexpensive, instructional program that taught newborn care skills to midwives in Zambia, one of the world's poorest countries, resulted in a substantial reduction in …
Should drug companies be allowed to use prescription data for marketing purposes?
You may have read recently about the Supreme Court considering a case that questions the government's ability to limit data mining for commercial purposes. At …
Raising awareness about the importance of taking medications properly
Amid concerns that a significant percentage of patients don't take prescription drugs as directed, the Food and Drug Administration, along with consumer and health-care organizations, …
Older brains get by with a little help from friends
At 77, my mom is sharp as a tack. She's a daily crossword devotee and voracious reader, having heard that mental activity can prevent age-related …
A conversation about behavioral informatics for health
Today, the nation's top behavioral medicine, preventive medicine and medical informatics societies will gather at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to discuss behavioral …
Stanford Medicine magazine writers score two awards
Boasting time! As the editor of Stanford Medicine magazine, I'm happy to announce that Jonathan Rabinovitz and Tracie White have won writing awards for stories …
Center for Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology receives NIH boost
Stanford's Center for Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology has been awarded a $10 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. …
Study reports more pregnant women taking medications
I was pretty much a purist when it came to my pregnancy. I avoided caffeine and off-limit cheeses, and I swapped my regular shampoo with …
Study shows common painkillers may block antidepressants
If you take antidepressants to manage depression, anxiety, or other conditions, new research suggests using caution when you reach for anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin …
Prescription drug addiction: How the epidemic is shaking up the policy world
Last week, the New York Times' Sabrina Tavernese published a moving account of how prescription painkiller addiction is destroying the lives of people in Scioto …
Searching for better PTSD treatments
During a recent conversation with Amit Etkin, MD, PhD, about treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, the Stanford psychiatrist explained to me that "the situation is …
Researchers gain new insights into state of anesthesia
By conducting imaging studies on volunteers under general anesthesia, researchers are developing a deeper understanding of how different areas of the brain are affected as …
Ethics goes viral: A presentation by Robert Siegel
Although incredibly tiny, viruses have cast an enormous shadow on human history. Viral diseases disrupted some societies so tremendously, that people came to think of …
Image of the Week: Cranial sutures
This is one of my favorite images from the 3D radiology photo set on the Stanford Medicine Flickr photo stream. It shows cranial sutures holding …
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of April 17
The five most-read posts on Scope this week were: Type-2 diabetes an autoimmune disease?: Stanford researchers, led by pathologist Edgar Engleman, MD, reported this week …