A long list of Lynda Hollander’s paternal relatives had heart disease, and several had undergone major surgeries. So when she hit her mid-50s and saw her cholesterol levels creeping up after menopause, she said, “I didn’t want to take a chance.” A cardiologist told Hollander that based on factors like age, sex, cholesterol, and blood pressure, she faced a moderate risk of a major cardiac event,...
Advanced light microscopy techniques have come into their own — and are giving scientists a new understanding of human biology and what goes wrong in disease Using a tiny, spherical glass lens sandwiched between two brass plates, the 17th century Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to officially describe red blood cells and sperm cells in human tissues, and observe...
Both scientists and the public are frustrated with the scientific enterprise. Scientists spend considerable amounts of time writing grants that are not funded. The publication process is tedious. There is a lack of open scientific discourse, leading to questionable medical and public health practices and an increasingly distrustful public. Change is needed, and this Perspective presents a...
Rob Kennedy mingled with about a dozen other people in a community space in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The room, decorated with an under-the-sea theme, had a balloon arch decked out with streamers meant to look like jellyfish and a cloud of clear balloons mimicking ocean bubbles. Kennedy comes to this memory cafe twice a month since being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in his...
Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative was started in honor of his son, Beau Biden, who died from brain cancer. AP Photo/Elise Amendola ~~~~~ Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. But what does it mean for this type of cancer to be called aggressive? As a urologic surgeon who specializes in diagnosing and treating...
Studies show psychological strain can accelerate tumors — could beta blockers slow them down? About two millennia ago, the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen suggested that melancholia — depression brought on by an excess of “black bile” in the body — contributed to cancer. Since then, scores of researchers have investigated the association between cancer and the mind, with some going as far...
