Listening to Abraham Verghese, MD, is always a treat, so I quickly clicked on a recently published Q&A featuring Verghese in conversation with Steven Stack, …
Month: January 2016
End-of-life discussions the focus of PBS piece
For many, end-of-life discussions are either unpleasant, brief, or unlikely to happen at all. But, as a recent episode of PBS' Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly emphasized, it is critically …
The right tool for the job: Creating a waterborne disease reporting system for Nepal
When I last spoke with cholera expert Eric Jorge Nelson, MD, PhD, he was about to field test a tool to help doctors in Bangladesh diagnose, …
Superheroes to the rescue: A creative approach to educating kids about asthma
Asthma affects more than 6 million children and leads to approximately 1.8 million visits to the emergency room annually in the United States, according to the …
Unwelcome guests: How viruses take over cells
Welcome to Biomed Bites, a weekly feature that introduces readers to some of Stanford’s most innovative biomedical researchers. Viruses are the ultimate uninvited guests. They barge in …
Stem-cell knowledge may help outcomes for colon-cancer patients, says Stanford study
Pinpointing which colon cancer patients need chemotherapy in addition to surgery can be difficult. Studies have suggested that those with stage-2 disease aren't likely to benefit from …
For some African Americans, light smokers may not have lower lung cancer risk than heavy ones
Although the relationship between smoking and lung cancer has been established beyond any doubt, it's still difficult to know how a patient's ethnicity might play …
There’s something about Harry: Harry Connick Jr. sings in support of women’s cancer research
The heavy rain started just as the salad plates were taken away ("How appropriate," I thought - given the name of the event I was …
The real reason why med students only talk about school
Stanford Medicine Unplugged (formerly SMS Unplugged) is a forum for students to chronicle their experiences in medical school. The student-penned entries appear on Scope once a …
High BMI and low fitness linked with higher hypertension risk
Unfit adolescents who have a high body mass index are more likely to suffer from hypertension when they are older than their peers, according to …
New perspective: Potential multiple sclerosis drug is actually old (and safe and cheap)
About 400,000 people in the United States are affected by multiple sclerosis (often referred to by the acronym MS), an autoimmune disorder in which rogue …
The importance of providing patient support in the face of a life-threatening illness
We've partnered with Inspire, a company that builds and manages online support communities for patients and caregivers, to launch a patient-focused series here on Scope. Once …
Ending preventable stillbirth: A Q&A with Stanford global-health expert Gary Darmstadt
Today, prominent medical journal The Lancet publishes "Ending Preventable Stillbirth," a series of articles calling for global efforts to greatly reduce fetal deaths that occur …
Scope will be back on Tuesday
Our office is closed today in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Scope will resume publishing tomorrow.
Precision health in action — The hunt for families with a high-cholesterol disorder
If I don't know I have a genetic disease, I'm not very likely to seek treatment or change my lifestyle. This lack of knowledge, obviously, …
NBC Dateline to explore the “extraordinary situation” facing one Packard Children’s transplant family
It’s a story that seems a bit hard to believe. Stacy and Jason Bingham of Haines, Oregon, have five beautiful children — Sierra, Megan, Lindsey, …