The five most-read posts on Scope this week were:
Exercise, healthy diet and Twitter help Senator reach weight loss goal: When Sen. Claire McCaskill decided to change her lifestyle and lose 50 pounds, she turned to her nearly 60,000 followers on Twitter to hold her accountable.
Can yoga help women suffering from fibromyalgia?: A study recently published in the Journal of Pain Research shows that practicing yoga boosts levels of the stress hormone cortisol and could help ease some symptoms of fibromyalgia such as pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness and depression.
Examining hand hygiene in the emergency department: A group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston launched the largest study to date to evaluate hand hygiene of emergency department workers. Study results showed that appropriate hand washing practices were used 90 percent of the time, but also identified some areas in which improvement is needed.
State Senator Ted Lieu weighs in on tanning-bed legislation: Last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that will make California the first state to prohibit all minors from using commercial ultraviolet tanning beds. The anti-skin-cancer bill was championed by California State Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who recently answered a few questions for Scope.
Mini-medical school programs growing in popularity: Over the past decade, more and more medical schools have started offering outreach programs known as "mini-medical school," which include a series of medical and health sciences courses geared toward the general public. In a recent Sacramento Bee article, reporter Anita Creamer takes a closer look at the growing popularity of the programs and how mini-medical schools are helping empower patients.
