If physicians follow the guidelines for patients with leg and lower back pain and wait before getting MRIs, it could save half a billion dollars a year.
Author: Mandy Erickson
Wellness tactics from fields outside medicine
Firefighters, lawyers, teachers and other professionals have plenty to teach physicians about avoiding burnout and finding meaning in their work.
Doctors smoking? New exhibit displays now-startling ads
In response to views that cigarettes were unhealthful, tobacco companies used images of medical professionals to sell their products.
An ear, nose and throat clinic, just for kids, in Zimbabwe
In a southern African nation, a clinic is helping children who suffer from debilitating ear, nose and throat conditions that are rare in the U.S.
Proceed with caution before changing colonoscopy recommendations, Stanford physician urges
A push to personalize medicine can backfire when it comes to screening for colorectal cancer, says a Stanford gastroenterologist.
How can doctors encourage patients to adopt healthier behaviors?
Exercise and diet are the best way to control blood pressure. Ann Lindsay describes how physicians can convince their patients to make changes.
“Asian” isn’t specific enough for health data, research suggests
While different Asian groups vary in their risk for heart disease and stroke, all Asian groups are more likely to die early of a stroke than whites.
Existing drug found to dampen chemo side effects in breast cancer — in a dish
Stanford researchers make progress in predicting which patients will suffer heart problems from chemotherapy, and may have found a drug to mitigate them.
Can we address both chronic pain and the opioid crisis? Yes, pain doctors say
Stanford pain researchers say we can curb the prescription opioid crisis, while treating pain, by using a variety of tactics.
An easy way to predict chronic pain following surgery: Ask patients how they’re feeling
The best way to predict which patients will suffer chronic pain after surgery is to ask them how they're feeling, Stanford researchers find.
Congenital heart defects boost the risk of adult heart disease — by a lot
Someone born with a relatively simple heart problem, even when it's fixed by surgery, is 13 times as likely to later develop heart failure.
Preventing osteoarthritis, an orthopaedic surgeon’s goal
Orthopaedic surgeon Constance Chu has spent her career seeking ways to prevent osteoarthritis from developing after a knee injury.
Doctors are becoming happier with their work life
Physicians are more satisfied in their jobs, a Stanford survey finds, but they're less happy than workers in other fields.
Failure to take statins leads to higher mortality
More than a third of patients who are prescribed statins fail to take them regularly, and they are dying at higher rates as a result.
Heart failure boosts risk of death following surgery
A Stanford researcher has found that patients with heart failure, even if it's relatively mild, are more likely to die within three months after surgery.
For patients on antidepressants, a common opioid is less effective
Patients who are taking the most common type of antidepressant may feel more pain when taking certain opioids, Stanford researchers have found.