SUMC in the News (12/15/08)
Press release
Snoring or soaring? Strength of fruit-fly immune system varies with daily cycle, Stanford researchers find
A new Stanford study has found that the body's immunity may be stronger at night.
Print media coverage
Wall Street Journal, 12/15/08
This year, more than ever, it's tough to be a compulsive shopper
This article discusses compulsive shopping. A 2006 Stanford study on the disorder is referenced here.
HealthDay News, 12/15/08
Immune system works better at night
Mimi Shirasu-Hiza, a postdoctoral scholar in microbiology and immunology, is quoted in this article on the Stanford study on the body's immune system.
Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Mich.), 12/14/08
Strength in numbers
Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment in this article on self-help groups and recovery programs for addiction.
San Francisco Chronicle, 12/14/08
UCSF says reports on drug trials skew positive
Researchers from UCSF are reporting that major drug companies distort the results of their trials in medical journal publications, making it hard for doctors to judge for themselves the pros and cons of prescribing new drugs. Although Stanford isn't referenced, this article may be of interest to readers.
Sacramento Bee, 12/13/08
UC Davis Medical Center to close liver transplant program
UC Davis Medical Center is shutting down its liver transplant program and announced Friday that it will help patients get on waiting lists elsewhere. Stanford is among the three other Northern California hospitals that perform liver transplants.
Wall Street Journal, 12/12/08
Sound research
Vinod Menon, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment in this piece on the physical and mental benefits of listening to music.
Health matters
This article mentions a Stanford study showing that the use of a pedometer - a small, inexpensive device that counts the number of steps walked per day - is associated with significant increases in physical activity and weight loss and improvements in blood pressure.
Globe and Mail (Canada), 12/12/08
Experts back brain booster for all
This article discusses "cognitive enhancement" - the use of brain-stimulating drugs and devices by healthy people. Hank Greely, with the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, was one of seven co-authors who published a commentary in the journal Nature supporting its use and is quoted here.
Internet/ New media coverage
AdAge.com, 12/12/08
Return to the golden age of cigarette advertising
Robert Jackler, the Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in Otorhinolaryngology, is the brainchild of an exhibit showcasing cigarette ads from the 1920s through the early 1950s; the exhibit is now being shown at the New York Public Library. Jackler is interviewed in this video.
Broadcast media coverage
KNTV-TV 12/14/08
Doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital helped deliver the unborn, premature baby of a woman who slipped into a liver-failure-induced coma.
KXAN-TV (Austin, Texas), 12/12/08
A panel of federal drug experts voted Thursday that two drugs - Serevent and Foradil - should be banned from use in the treatment of asthma. Shelley Salpeter, clinical professor of medicine, was interviewed during this segment.
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