After having two children, and practically missing out on the (much needed) epidural with my second, I have tons of respect for women who labor …
Category: Diseases + conditions
New tools from NIDA help diagnose and treat drug abuse
Talking to patients about substance use can be challenging for doctors. To provide medical students and new physicians with the necessary skills to effectively screen …
Adolescent obesity and MS may be linked
New research is showing a possible link between multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects 400,000 Americans, and obesity in adolescence. Using data from the …
Kitty has H1N1 …
"Don't kiss the cat, don't put beans in your nose, and don't go through the neighbors' garbage." I can't count the number of times my …
Improving the treatment of chronic pain in the U.S.
More than 30 health organizations have endorsed a new study from the Mayday Fund recommending broad changes in how chronic pain is assessed and treated. …
Promising results in lupus study
A new treatment for lupus, an autoimmune disease affecting 1.5 million Americans, may be on the horizon. The makers of the drug Benlysta announced results …
Stereotactic radiation offers relief from tremors
Stereotactic radiation appears to offer an effective and less invasive way to relieve uncontrollable shaking in patients caused by Parkinson's disease or a condition known …
South Africa finally comes to grips with AIDS
It was nearly a decade ago that I wrote a story about a protest by 5,000 scientists worldwide, including several at Stanford, against South Africa's …
How a wealthy family in 18th-century China fought smallpox: The view from a novel
I've been reading The Story of the Stone, the great 18th century Chinese novel, which is much more accessible to my 21st-century Western mind than …
Researchers identify dominant chemical that attracts mosquitoes to humans
UC Davis researchers have identified the sweet, sweet cologne that draws blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes (which transmit West Nile virus and other diseases) to humans. Apparently …
Gender differences in H1N1 vaccine response?
An op-ed piece in the New York Times this morning caught my eye. The authors, two women with strong backgrounds in public and women's health …
Questions for Dr. Ricardo Dolmetsch on autism
In September 2008, Ricardo Dolmetsch, PhD, assistant profesor of neurobiology, received a National Institutes of Health New Innovator Award to continue his discoveries about the …
Harvard Medical School launches H1N1 influenza iPhone app
Harvard Medical School recently released an iPhone application designed to educate its users about the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Here's the description from iTunes: The Swine …
How the flu virus invades your body
This is an absolutely fascinating NPR video that shows how a virus invades your body. According to the NPR story, scientific animation outfit XVIVO produced …
Dismissing young patients if parents refuse to vaccinate them
Parents take note: pediatricians may legally deny care to your children if you refuse to vaccinate them. As the anti-vaccination movement increases, some doctors are …
Autism proceedings: End of Story
Advocacy groups can play a vital role in advancing treatment of a disease, but a small but vocal group of parents of children with autism …