SUMC in the News (11/15/05)

Press releases

Aspirin-a-day advice unheeded by those who need it, Stanford study finds
A new Stanford study shows that aspirin therapy is being used by fewer than one-third of the U.S. outpatients who would benefit from it.

Rheumatic disease increases risks in pregnancy, Stanford study finds
Researchers at Stanford have found that women with rheumatic disease experience greater pregnancy risks and longer hospital stays than the average pregnant woman.

Print media coverage

New York Times, 11/15/05
Doctors ponder drugs for sleepless nights of adolescence
This article discusses the adolescents' use of sleeping pills. No prescription sleep aids are approved by the FDA for use in people under 18. Clete Kushida, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Stanford Center for Human Sleep Research, provides comment in this story, which also appears in the Lakeland Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.)

HealthDay, 11/15/05
Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis raise pregnancy risks
This article discusses the rheumatic disease/pregnancy study. Eliza F. Chakravarty, assistant professor of medicine, is quoted here

MSNBC.com, 11/15/05
Egg ethics spark stem cell rift
Citing ethical concerns, a University of Pittsburgh scientist has decided not to participate in an international consortium designed by South Korean stem cell researchers. Stanford is referenced in this Associated Press article, which also appears on ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com and in several newspapers across the country, including the Contra Costa Times, Fresno Bee, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, New York Times, Philadelphia Daily News, Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, San Mateo Daily Journal, Washington Post and Wired. An article was also prepared by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.), 11/15/05
Scientists may have found appetite's 'off switch'
This article discusses how Stanford researchers have discovered obestatin, a hormone that suppresses appetite. The finding offers a key to researchers developing treatments for obesity.

Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minn.), 11/15/05
Repairing spinal cord injuries: Geron wants to test stem-cell injections
Researchers at the company Geron hope to get federal permission to inject embryonic stem cells into damaged spinal cords. Irving Weissman, the Virginia and DK Ludwig Professor for Clinical Investigation and director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, provides comment in this article.

Stanford Daily, 11/15/05
Gender can determine humor
This article discusses a discusses a Stanford study that found gender affects the way a person's brain responds to humor. Allan Reiss, the Howard C. Robbins Professor and lead author, is quoted here.

WebMD.com, 11/14/05
Study: Bipolar kids often more creative
Researchers here have shown for the first time that a sample of children who either have or are at high risk for bipolar disorder score higher on a creativity index than healthy children. Kiki Chang, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Pediatric Bipolar Disorders Program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and Terence Ketter, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, are included in this story, which also appears on FOXNews.com.

Palo Alto Online, 11/14/05
Hospital workers' contract unresolved
Negotiations on a new labor contract between Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Packard and the SEIU ended Sunday night without resolution.

The Scientist, 11/07/05
Brain stains
The work of Karl Deisseroth, assistant professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is discussed in this article on genetically encoded optical reporters that monitor neural activity.

Broadcast media coverage

KGO-AM, 11/14/05
William Haskell, professor of medicine, emeritus, was interviewed during this segment on a new study that shows people who exercise can add three years to their lives.

KSTU-TV (Salt Lake City), 11/14/05
This segment discussed the obestatin study.

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (NPR), 11/12/05
Allan Reiss' study on gender and humor was mentioned during this segment. Similar segments on the study aired on Notes from Emerging Science (NPR), KGUN-TV (Tucson) and WJCB-TV (Gainesville, Fla.).