As a former graduate student, I found this round-up of advice for graduate students really interesting. Says Travis Saunders, who co-hosts the smart and topical …
Month: November 2011
Toying with Happy Meals
As you may have heard, a new San Francisco law forbids fast-food restaurants from giving away toys with children's meals that don't meet specific nutritional …
Patient sues over “privacy agreement” concerning web reviews
Timothy Lee at Ars Technica posted an interesting story today about a patient who has filed a class-action lawsuit against his dentist over her attempts …
Chew on this: The cognitive benefits of gum
I'm a day late to this, but a discussion on the cognitive benefits of chewing gum (!) is just too interesting to ignore. On Frontal …
Working to prevent melanoma
The most recent issue of Stanford Cancer Institute News (.pdf) contains a feature on efforts to prevent melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer. Among the work …
Journal of the American Medical Association adding QR codes to its content
I missed this last week, but the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has begun incorporating quick response (QR) codes into its content. Kaiser …
Stanford class teaches students how to live a happier, healthier life
Today, the San Francisco Chronicle offers a look at a Stanford course aimed at teaching life skills and boosting students' happiness and health. In the article, Fred Luskin, PhD, …
"Herd immunity" causes dramatic drop in infant chicken pox
In the early 1990s, Stanford scientist Ann Arvin, MD, led research that helped explain immune responses to varicella zoster, the virus that causes chicken pox. …
Stradivarius violin replicated through the magic of radiology
Radiologist (and amateur violinist) Steven Sirr, MD, and collaborators have created a reproduction of a 1704 Stradivarius violin using computed tomography (CT) images. According to …
A chaplain's view on medicine and spiritual healing
Bruce Feldstein, MD, spent 19 years as an emergency room physician before becoming a chaplain at Stanford's medical center. In a Q&A today, Feldstein discusses …
Study offers insights into how depression may harm the heart
New findings in the journal Psychophysiology suggest that depressed patients' diminished ability to recover from stress may increase their risk of heart disease. During the …
How should parents talk to their kids about weight control?
NPR has a great story today on a potentially thorny problem -- how can parents sensitively address weight problems with their own children? The experts …
Aging stem cells have clinical implications, say Stanford scientists
At the risk of being overly depressing, we're all getting older. And there's more to bemoan than just the gray hairs and wrinkles that might …
Study shows gene mutation in brain cell channel may cause autism-like syndrome
Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to research into autism and other psychiatric and neurological diseases is that scientists can't get living brain cell samples …
Public health experts: Now's the time to get flu shot
Over the weekend, San Francisco Chronicle writer Victoria Colliver issued a friendly reminder about flu shots: It's time to get one, folks! Her article discusses …
How light exercise can help prevent arthritis from getting worse
As we've previously written on Scope, a growing body of evidence shows exercise can ease the pain, stiffness and swelling of the joints associated with …