The five most-read stories on Scope this week were: Stanford study on the health benefits of organic food: What people are saying: A collection of …
Month: September 2012
Laser-powered needle holds potential for delivering pain-free injections
Researchers around the globe are working to engineer a pain-free method to deliver vaccines and other medications subcutaneously without the use of a hypodermic needle. …
Can sounds, smells and other subliminal cues influence the body's healing process?
We've written previously about research examining the neurological underpinnings of the placebo effect. Now findings published earlier this week offer new insights into how subconscious cues, such …
From the archives: A 1949 satirical prediction of medical education and life in 2000
Throughout history, mankind has been making predictions about what the future will hold. While many of us only think a few years ahead, two enterprising …
Dynamic duo: Flu vaccine plus adjuvant bolsters immunity
I don't think a fly in the ointment makes the ointment work better. But it's well established that certain irritant substances added to vaccines make …
NIH awards nine Stanford faculty funding for innovative research
Stanford University researchers have earned nine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) prizes intended to encourage high-risk, high-reward approaches to science. The faculty members are among …
Whooping cough vaccine's power fades faster than expected
Whooping cough vaccinations are at the center of a media buzz today, thanks to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that …
Stanford researcher comments on the use of human embryonic stem cells to restore hearing
Findings published today in Nature describe how a team of researchers used human embryonic stem cells to enable deaf rodents to hear again. Researchers hope that …
Developing a new model for improving access to psychiatric care in rural India
Today on the Atlantic health channel, there's an interesting post examining why a specialist-based system for psychiatric care is ineffective in India and how local mental-health advocates' are working to …
Animal studies: necessary but often flawed, says Stanford's Ioannidis
John Ioannidis, MD, DSc, has published a perspective piece in today's Science Translational Medicine about the difficulties of extrapolating results from preclinical studies in animals …
Countdown to Medicine X: Using tablet computers to educate and empower breast cancer patients
A group of researchers in Sweden have been exploring how tablet computers might be used to improve communication between breast-cancer patients and health-care providers during …
The importance of including risk information in ads for over-the-counter medications
Findings published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association show that when prescription medications become available over-the-counter, advertisements for the products are less likely …
Final day to submit questions on prostate cancer to Stanford's urology chair
Today is the last day of our Ask Stanford Med installment focused on prostate health. Questions about prostate cancer and the latest advancements in screening, …
Stanford expert weighs in on ovarian-cancer screening recommendation
You may have heard yesterday that a federal panel is advising that screening for ovarian cancer not be routinely done in healthy women. As described in …
Finding hope for rare pediatric brain tumor
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, is a highly aggressive, malignant brain tumor found in school-aged children that kills 99 percent of patients. The cancer …
TED fellow uses crowdsource approach to treat his brain cancer
TED Fellow Salvatore Iaconesi released today this video along with his digital medical records - everything from CT and MRI scans to lab notes. He …