I remember what it’s like to feel healthy and live carefree. I took my health for granted for the first 24 years of my life. …
Category: Chronic disease
Author Laura Hillenbrand: Leaving frailty behind
Laura Hillenbrand speaks like she writes: beautifully. She captures moments like getting on a horse to ride again in ways that make you feel like …
A look at how social media helps connect patients with rare diseases
If you suffer from a very rare disease, getting the proper diagnosis can be an arduous journey. But a bigger challenge may be the feeling …
Coping with the stages of a debilitating illness
It was September 19, and I was sitting on my bed in the apartment I had rented with my best friend, having just arrived back …
Finding the right doctor and learning to live with a progressive genetic disorder — as a family
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. …
Belief brings relief — and sadness — after decades of doubt
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 …
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, …
Male infertility linked to host of other ailments
A new study offers some important news to men struggling to have children: Infertile men appear more likely than their fertile counterparts to develop other ailments, …
Treating insulin resistance may speed recovery from major depression
In a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial detailed in this study in Psychiatry Research, pioglitazone - a generically available drug that's approved for type 2 diabetes …
A reminder before World Diabetes Day: “We need more people educated about the disease”
Bay Area native Anna Simos had always been the healthy one in her family — never a candy eater, she said — but, at 15, …
Helping kids with chronic medical conditions make the jump to adult care
With just one dramatic example from her practice, Stanford pediatric critical care specialist Yana Vaks, MD, recently illustrated for me the importance of better adult …
Bad actors: Viruses, pathogenic bacteria co-star in health-horrific biofilms
A group under the direction of Stanford infectious disease investigator Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD, has uncovered a criminal conspiracy between two microbial lowlifes that explains …
Stanford researchers investigate source of scarring
If you've ever had a piercing that you've let grow closed, you'll know that the healing process isn't perfect. There's almost always a little dimple …
Why chronic disease harms kids’ bone development — and what to do about it
"Someone once told me listening to me talk is like drinking from a fire hose," Mary Leonard, MD, said to me at the end of …
Laughing through the pain: A comedy writer’s experience with chronic illness
We’ve partnered with Inspire, a company that builds and manages online support communities for patients and caregivers, on a patient-focused series here on Scope. Once …
Missing out on “normal”: Advice from an expert on how to help kids with serious illnesses
When I first met Erica Medina in 2012, she was already practiced at living in two worlds. Then 17, she loved the ordinary teenage realm …