The five most-read stories on Scope this week were:
Can yoga help women suffering from fibromyalgia?: A study 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.
New gadget for measuring white blood cells invented at Stanford: Stanford inventors have developed a new sensor that uses a clever combination of antibodies, magnets and laser light to count white blood cells in tiny samples of blood and other body fluids. The device is so small and inexpensive that it could be used nearly anywhere.
Ask Stanford Med: Neuroscientist responds to questions on pain and love's analgesic effects: Stanford neuroscientist Sean Mackey, MD, PhD, responded to questions about pain research and the analgesic effects of love as part of our ongoing Ask Stanford Med series.
A study of people’s ability to love: To celebrate Valentine’s Day, quarterly DVD magazine Wholphin released a short film documenting an experiment by Stanford neuroscientists to determine if it’s possible for one person to love more than another person can.
The challenges of dieting and the promises of bariatric surgery: During a recent interview, John Morton, MD, MPH, one of the nation’s top weight-loss surgeons, reflected on the challenges of obesity in America and how bariatric surgery may be part of the solution for some.
