Ask Stanford Med: Neuroscientist responds to questions on pain and love’s analgesic effects Stanford neuroscientist Sean Mackey, MD, PhD, recently took questions about pain research and the analgesic effects of love as part of our ongoing Ask Stanford Med feature. Mackey began his responses with a message for everyone who submitted questions: “I would like to first complement the […]

How cutting the walking time to a water source can reduce childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa Reducing the amount of time families spend fetching water can improve the health of young children in sub-Saharan Africa, according a recent Stanford study. Over a third of the world’s population doesn’t have potable water piped into the home, but […]

Medications can be effective when they are used properly, but some can be addictive and dangerous when abused. This chart provides a brief look at some prescribed medications that—when used in ways or by people other than prescribed—have the potential for adverse medical consequences, including addiction. In 2010, approximately 16 million Americans reported using a […]

Almost Alcoholic. Is My (or My Loved One’s) Drinking a Problem The First Volume in The Almost Effect Series by Robert Doyle, MD and Joseph Nowinski, PhD   “A stunning achievement. ALMOST ALCOHOLIC shines light on behavior that has thus far largely escaped scrutiny—namely drinking that is definitely causing problems even though it doesn’t rise […]

 The Almost Effect What is The Almost Effect™? Welcome to The Almost Effect website. The Almost Effect was developed at Harvard Medical School in collaboration with many experts from Harvard Medical School, Hazelden and other institutions. Most medical conditions present along a continuum that begins just to the right of “normal” if you were to […]

Stanford chair of otolaryngology discusses federal court’s ruling on graphic cigarette labels Earlier this week, a federal judge declared unconstitutional new rules that would have required tobacco companies to display graphic images on packs of cigarettes. At issue were regulations published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year mandating tobacco companies affix large warning labels to cigarette packages, cartons […]

Study shows seniors sleep better than younger adults The belief that sleep gets more difficult as we age may be false, according to findings recently published in the journal SLEEP. In the study (subscription required), University of Pennsylvania researchers examined data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, in which 155,877 participants from around the United States were […]

Breastfeeding: “Not only a lifestyle choice” Given my history of writing about – and my passion for – this issue, I couldn’t let more time go by without flagging a recent Time Healthland piece on the health benefits of breastfeeding. In the article Bonnie Rochman highlights a “quietly worded statement” in which the American Academy of Pediatrics earlier this week called breastfeeding a “public […]

Web-based therapy may be effective in treating chronic fatigue syndrome among teens   Online therapy could be an effective new tool for treating teens with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), according to findings published today in the Lancet. In the study (subscription required), Dutch researchers assigned 135 teens, who had CFS symptoms for nearly two years, to receive Internet-based behavioral therapy, […]

e-Moms of Rochester e-Moms of Rochester is a joint study between the University of Rochester and Cornell University that is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (NIH Grant Number: HL096760-2) > About e-Moms of Rochester e-Moms Roc is a study that uses a website and cell phones to help […]