Year: 1997 Setting: Singapore Position: Emergency medicine consultant Yes, I will be ready in two hours. The representative of International SOS, a provider of medical …
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Baa, baa, blood test
Score one for low-tech, high-impact interventions: The newest revolution in microbiology testing walks on four legs and says "baa." It's the hair sheep, a less-hirsute …
The cancer no one talks about – until now
It's the disease that nobody wanted to talk about. But now with the recent death of actress Farrah Fawcett from anal cancer, a lot of …
How much is that researcher in the window?
Recently, I've had occasion to ask several different scientists on several different projects why their particular lines of research haven't been studied more. Unsurprisingly, the …
Mourning and learning
Yesterday was a busy day for celebrity media coverage, with actress Farrah Fawcett losing her battle with cancer and King of Pop Michael Jackson dying …
Getting a good night's sleep
You're not likely to get well at the hospital if you can't sleep. A new program at Stanford Hospital & Clinics recognizes this fundamental idea …
DOA: Dead on assessment
Year: 1989 Setting: Medical office in We, New Caledonia Position: First and only private general practitioner on the island As I am consulting with patients …
Don't it make your brown eyes green
A woman with dark-brown eyes has identical-twin green-eyed daughters. Their dad also has brown eyes, as did everyone else in the previous three generations, with …
The link between teen depression and suicide
Teen suicide often gets sensationalized by the media, says Frances Wren, MD, a child psychiatrist who directs the Child and Adolescent Depression Clinic at Lucile …
Victor Fuchs on federal health insurance
Victor Fuchs, PhD, one of the nation's foremost health economists, says a government-run plan will not solve the huge financial issues that plague health-care in …
STD saved the doctor
Year: 1983 Setting: Branch of the St Francis Hospital, Ikoyi island in Lagos, Nigeria Position: Only European private general practitioner in Lagos A few days …
Beyond compare
The concept behind comparative effectiveness research seems simple enough. Researchers would compare two or more strategies for treating a specific illness and then determine which …
Stimulating science
Federal stimulus funds are beginning to be distributed, and among the initial awards from the National Institutes of Health are 18 projects at Stanford, ranging …
The high-cost capital: Key to health reform?
There's been so much talk lately about health care reform and runaway costs, but nothing really quite gets to the heart of it as much …
Information overload harming patients?
Champion of bed-side medicine, Abraham Verghese, MD, advises his medical students at Stanford to meet their patients first then scour the overwhelming amounts of medical …
It's official: There's a swine-flu pandemic
The World Health Organization has officially declared a swine-flu pandemic. While somewhat anti-climactic from a news perspective, the action does promise to spur accelerated development …