In the 40 years since the National Cancer Act was signed, which provided billions of federal dollars for cancer research, there has been a dramatic …
Month: January 2012
Trans fat still lurks in packaged foods
A few years back, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared that trans fats were just plain unhealthy and started pressuring food manufacturers to …
Examining the effectiveness of hand sanitizers
A post today on CommonHealth takes a closer look at the effectiveness of hand sanitizers when it comes to killing germs. In a thorough discussion …
Study highlights fertility-related concerns of young cancer survivors
Cancer survivorship has been on my mind since writing a Stanford Medicine article on the topic. The (amazing) woman on whom my story focuses was in …
How the C3N project is working to rewrite the medical script and empower patients
Over on the Medicine X blog, Julia James has written a great piece on the Collaborative Chronic Care Network (C3N), a five-year project aimed at …
Should parents worry about their kids playing football?
I'm a pretty big football fan - and I consider it a source of pride that both my daughters were able to do the touchdown and …
Diabetes care lacking in developing countries
It's well-established that diabetes - due, in part, to our obesity problem - is on the rise in the United States. But what you may …
Tips for avoiding hidden sodium at the supermarket
Many of us, myself included, are focusing our efforts on making more nutritious choices in 2012. One option for eating healthier is to pay closer …
New York's growing oxycodone problem
We've written in the past about the country's growing problem with oxycodone abuse; Kentucky, Florida and West Virginia are three states that have been particularly hard-hit. Now comes a …
Study offers insights on how alcohol affects the brain
Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing that four times a month more than 38 million Americans go on a …
The health benefits of compassion and tips for dealing with unpleasant people, interactions
Previous research suggests that the negative moods and behaviors of those we interact with have far-reaching effects. For example, findings published in August showed workplace …
Stanford and other medical schools to increase training and research for PTSD, combat injuries
More than 100 medical schools are partnering with First Lady Michelle Obama's Joining Forces initiative and pledging to boost training and research for the treatment …
Experts: New study doesn't mean marijuana is harmless
You may have heard yesterday about new research showing that marijuana use doesn't appear to cause lung damage. The study, which involved data from more than 5,000 …
CDC binge-drinking study demonstrates cell phones' value in research
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new finding that 38 million Americans engage in binge drinking is, quite appropriately, causing widespread alarm. But below that …
More-nutritious breast milk for preemies
Feeding a tiny preterm baby is a serious challenge, but new findings from Stanford may help. Many babies born three or more weeks early can't …
Harry Potter and the Chinese Genetics Course
Over the long holiday break, my husband and I watched all eight Harry Potter movies on Blue-ray. (My favorites? The first and last.) After spending …