Bioengineers at Duke University have developed a living patch that one day could be implanted into patients with heart disease to repair damaged tissue. During …
Category: Diseases + conditions
Skepticism and questions about AIDS vaccine trial
Yesterday I attended a fundraiser in Palo Alto for the Rotary's Child AIDS Project, where some national leaders in the AIDS fight expressed skepticism about …
Veterans & families: Free mental health services
Stanford Hospital & Clinics has launched a program that offers free mental health services to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and their families. Details are …
Depression in pregnancy: To treat or not to treat?
As a mom of two who experienced one very bad bout of pre-baby "blues," I'm extremely sympathetic to pregnant women who suffer from depression. Deciding …
Is today's autism the same as yesterday's?
A flurry of stories being posted today, such as these by USA Today and the Associated Press, lay out the puzzle posed by new findings …
Reports of influenza at colleges drop for first time
The number of cases of influenza-like illness reported on college campuses dropped 19% the week of Sept. 19-25. President of the American College Health Association …
AIDS vaccine study results boost morale for US trial
Researchers in the United States are hoping to build on the recently reported success of an experimental vaccine for the AIDS virus conducted in Thailand. …
Frustration turns to hope with AIDS vaccine
I recall three years ago, at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, hearing virologist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur in Paris question whether development …
Dirty hands increase flu risk
One very simple way to help avoid getting the H1N1 flu this season is to regularly wash your hands. Avoiding the H1N1 strain of influenza …
A question to ask your doctor
Here's an idea for everybody: Call or email your doctor and ask him or her, "Are you going to get vaccinated for the H1N1 influenza …
H1N1 flu: Health tips for fall
The back-to-school rush and impending flu season have many parents worried about a possible resurgence of H1N1 flu, a.k.a. swine flu. In a new video, …
Summer stress
Is anyone out there having a relaxing summer? Please, speak up if you are - it's hard to hear you over the health care reform …
Little hearts, big tools
Heart defects run in my family. I lost two infant sisters to hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect in which the left side of …
A beautiful blood clot
Check out this gorgeous image - a colorized scanning electron micrograph - of a blood clot. Red blood cells are shown in red; leukocytes are …
Ovarian cancer overview in Wall Street Journal
I recently wrote about biochemist Pat Brown's study of the natural history of serous ovarian cancer. He showed new, much more sensitive diagnostic tests are …
The trouble with trials
Yesterday, as part of its "Forty Years' War" series on the fight against cancer, the New York Times tackled the problem of clinical trials. Nobody's …