Deep brain stimulation can alleviate treatment-resistant depression for some patients. PM Images/Digital Vision via Getty Images ~~~~~ It can be challenging to create a treatment plan for depression. This is especially true for patients who aren’t responding to conventional treatments and are undergoing experimental therapies such as deep brain stimulation. For most medical conditions, doctors...
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Could a single drug treat the two leading causes of death in the US: cancer and cardiovascular disease?
Identifying the commonalities between cardiovascular disease and cancer could lead to improved treatments for both. Sveta Zi/iStock via Getty Images Plus ~~~~~~ What would you guess are the two biggest killers in the world? Based on media coverage, maybe you guessed gun violence, accidents or COVID-19. But the top two killers are actually cardiovascular disease and cancer. These two diseases...
Rapid experiments to improve health-care delivery
Public health experts are borrowing a technique from the tech world to make messaging more effective — so that patients are more likely to get preventive care Death from colorectal cancer can be prevented by early detection. Controlling high blood pressure would prolong the lives of the nearly 500,000 Americans who die from this disease each year. Vaccinations prevent tetanus, which could...
Unstoppable: This Doctor Has Been Investigated at Every Level of Government. How Is He Still Practicing?
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series - Arterial Motives: The Big Business of Clogged Arteries Millions of Americans suffer from clogged arteries. But doctors have dangerous incentives to perform excessive and risky procedures. Cheryl Lee Carr clutched her phone, willing it to...
The psychopathic path to success
Psychopathic tendencies may be present to some extent in all of us. New research is reframing this often sensationalized and maligned set of traits and finding some positive twists. Think of a psychopath and any number of Hollywood villains might come to mind, from charming killers like Hannibal Lecter to Anton Chigurh, portrayed with chilling menace by Javier Bardem in the film No Country for...
What Charles Ponzi’s Scheme and US Entitlement Programs Have in Common
When Charles Ponzi’s investment opportunity to sell international postage stamps was exposed to be a scam in 1920, its basic premise would forever be associated with the man’s name. A Ponzi Scheme promises investors massive returns on an investment that does not really exist. Instead, unknown to everyone but the person or people running it, old investors are paid with money that comes in from...