The five most-read stories on Scope this week were:
Communicating with terminally ill patients: A physician’s perspective: Written as a response to the piece by Inspire contributor Jessica Rice, thoracic oncologist Kavitha Jennifer Ramchandran, MD, shares her thoughts on the difficult and emotional conversations between physicians and their terminally ill patients.
Asking the hardest questions: Talking with doctors while terminally ill: In this moving piece, Inspire contributor Jessica Rice writes about her experience seeking information from doctors about her terminal illness. Rice was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer in 2011 at age 30.
The mystery surrounding lung-transplant survival rates: A 2012 article in the San Francisco Chronicle offered a look at the challenges facing lung transplant patients and explored why a significant number don’t live beyond the five-year mark, despite improvements in survival rates.
New study: Genes may affect skin youthfulness: Though some genes have been linked to overall youthfulness, little is known about genes that may be be linked to youthful looking skin. Now a Stanford/Albert Einstein College of Medicine study of 1,000 Ashkenazi-Jewish adults has identified a suite of genes that may be associated with older skin that looks deceptively young.
Ask Stanford Med: Cheri Mah responds to questions on sleep and athletic performance: In our latest installment of Ask Stanford Med, Cheri Mah, with the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory, talks about her research and offers tips to help readers get the most out of their nightly slumber.