I was recently at a private home for a small holiday dinner with colleagues, all of whom work in the field of addiction. The host, …
Month: December 2012
Image of the Week: Device captures cancer cells from blood samples
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a new device that captures and isolates cancer cells from blood samples for analysis and …
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of Dec. 2
The five most-read stories on Scope this week were: NIH funding mechanism “totally broken,” says Stanford researcher: In a new analysis, Stanford researcher John Ioannidis, …
Overcoming back pain
How often have you heard someone complain of back pain? According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, it's one of …
Gift ideas for doctors and med students
Over on the Wellness Rounds blog, Baylor College of Medicine physician Mary Brandt, MD, (no relation) offers some gift ideas for those physicians and medical students in …
Getting to know – and thanking – the faces of Crohn's disease
I met Sean Ahrens, a twentysomething patient advocate and founder of Crohnology.com at a recent conference panel on medical blogging. From his presentation and a previous …
Stanford researchers work to increase the odds of in vitro fertilization success
Updated 12-6-12: In the video above, Shawn Chavez, PhD, first author of the study, describes the work and its significance. *** 12-4-12: Couples who turn to …
Exploring the mystery of multiple sclerosis in the Pacific Northwest
I've read a lot, based on both personal and professional interest, on autoimmune diseases over the years. But I had no idea until this week …
Study: Fitter kids, better grades
For better grades and higher test scores, kids might think about hitting the gym along with the books. A new study from Michigan State University, …
Institute of Medicine releases report on California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The Institute of Medicine, or IOM, today released a review of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The review, which was commissioned by CIRM about …
New leaders in heart medicine at Stanford
Two leaders in the battle against the number one killer in the United States - heart disease -have been appointed co-directors of the Stanford Cardiovascular …
Health experts to Nickelodeon: Please stop promoting unhealthy food to our kids
Earlier this week, a group of health organizations, pediatricians and nutrition experts - including Stanford's Christopher Gardner, PhD - penned a letter (.pdf) asking the kids …
Fighting a stage IV cancer diagnosis
The current issue of AARP The Magazine shares the pretty amazing story of Edie Littlefield Sundby, a 61-year-old California cancer "outlier" who we blogged about last …
NIH funding mechanism "totally broken," says Stanford researcher
Stanford researcher John Ioannidis, MD, DSci, who is well-known for his critiques of much current scientific methodology, has now turned his sights on the National …
Stanford nutrition expert discusses how to eat well while staying jolly
It's that time of year again: The holiday season is officially upon us. As we start gathering to celebrate with family and friends, it may seem tempting …
The Trial: My Kafkaesque courtroom dance with dopamine
In an article I wrote on addiction several months ago for our in-house magazine, Stanford Medicine, I reported that the mammalian brain's reward center - the complex of …