Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Lab and the University of Chicago have developed a new method of targeting brain-cancer cells and …
Category: Diseases + conditions
Flu vaccine appears safe for young babies
The CDC recommends all children aged 6 months and up get the seasonal flu vaccine each year. The vaccine isn't approved for itty-bitty babies, but …
Gap exists in women’s knowledge of heart disease
A new survey from the American Heart Association shows that women have a limited knowledge of heart disease. Among the findings, based on telephone interviews …
Study shows abnormalities in brains of anxiety-disorder patients
More than 6 million Americans suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a psychiatric condition in which patients become overwhelmed with worry and fear. Stanford's …
How the false MMR vaccine-autism connection was perpetuated
I'm a few days late to this one, but pediatrician Rahul Parikh, MD, has written an engaging article on Salon analyzing the media's role in …
Pick a color: Study shows depressed patients gravitate towards gray
When I heard news of a study on colors and mood today, I couldn't help but think of the opening words in Dr. Seuss' "My …
Guidance on how to talk with kids about weight
With First Lady Michelle Obama launching a nationwide campaign tackling childhood obesity, we've been hearing a lot about the issue in the news lately. This …
A grain of salt concerning salt-intake reduction
Headlines were made, a month or two ago, by a mathematical-modeling study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that lowering average U.S. …
Nomadic cells may hold clues to cancer's spread
Stanford developmental biologist Joanna Wysocka, PhD, has found an intriguing link between a human birth defect syndrome and the ability of cancer cells to spread …
The cost of forgoing routine vaccinations
Each year millions of U.S. adults go without routine immunizations resulting in as many as 50,000 deaths from preventable diseases. That's according to a recent …
The not-so-immortal life of tissue banks
After hearing Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air interview science journalist Rebecca Skloot on my commute home last night, I'm itching to read Skloot's new …
It's over: No MMR vaccine-autism connection
The Web is buzzing with the news that the British medical journal, The Lancet, has completely retracted the 1998 paper that sparked widespread fears that …
The cruelty of fraudulent stem cell therapy
Unethical companies are finding desperate patients who are willing to pay big money for unproven stem cell "treatments." This may harm not only patients, but stem cell research itself.
Unethical companies are finding desperate patients who are willing to pay big money for unproven stem cell "treatments." This may harm not only patients, but stem cell research itself.
Antidepressant use might cause lactation difficulties
In a first-of-its-kind study, the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during pregnancy is being linked to a delay in lactation in new …
Stanford students present monologues on mental health
A Stanford student activist group that caught national attention for its work highlighting mental health issues for college students will perform at a Café Scientifique …
To stent or not to stent: not always an easy answer
Today's Baltimore Sun delves into the debate over stents and the appropriate time to use them. From the piece: ...For heart patients with few symptoms …