Features
25 Years of AIDS
They were hooked from the start, four pioneers whose work
changed the course of a modern plague— and they're not done yet.
Spring 2006
The Addicted Brain
Addiction significantly alters the brain, drawing drug users
into its irresistible chemistry. Treatment, then, can’t just block the high.
Fall 2006
All Too Human
Today's patient simulators breathe, bleed, talk and die,
challenging even the most experienced clinicians.
Fall 2005
Anatomy Theater
A cadaver, an anatomist and a press of onlookers in a
sixteenth-century engraving inspire a twenty-first century verse
Fall 2006
Are We Running Out of Doctors?
First, a predicted glut; now, an apparent shortage. Getting physician supply to match demand is hard; getting it wrong could be devastating.
Summer 2007
At Home in Hospice
With the number of the dying set to double by 2040, a philosophy has become an
industry, raising questions about access, quality and profits.
Spring 2007
Borrowing From the Best
What can hospitals learn from Toyota and other industry icons? Four paradigm-shifting strategies that improve efficiency and care.
Summer 2007
The Body in Pain
Genetic variations, it turns out, explain why everyone experiences pain differently.
Now medicine can push toward personalized relief.
Spring 2007
Care Across Cultures
As today’s caregivers face a rainbow coalition of cultures, issues of
race, religion and language can make or break a treatment plan.
Winter 2007
Calming the Explosive Child
When troubled kids erupt, the traditional view calls for tougher parenting. A new approach substitutes skill-building for punishment.
Fall 2007
Claire's Knee
Human joints wear out, and often replacements do too. Now innovative designs are improving longevity and function.
Winter 2008
The Digital Hospital
The Veterans Health Administration, of all places, has embraced
the computer age. Will the rest of medicine (finally) follow?
Winter 2006
Down the Hatch
A new opening would lead surgeons past endoscopy and laparoscopy
to a procedure that leaves no scars.
Spring 2006
Energy Crisis
When the powerhouses of cells—mitochondria—black out, a host of diseases ensue. The trick is to get them humming again.
Summer 2007
An Epidemic of Excess
The link between obesity and diabetes is well established. But
it’s not the only reason for the skyrocketing incidence of the disease.
Summer 2006
Fearing the Flu
Avian influenza has sparked near panic over an imminent pandemic.
But some biologists argue that the dread is overdone.
Fall 2005
To Grow Hairy
Scientists are untangling puberty’s central mystery: What
combination of genes and environmental cues flips the switch?
Fall 2006
The Hardest Word
A timely apology and adequate compensation may persuade patients not to sue over medical mistakes. So why do most hospitals stonewall?
Fall 2007
In Pursuit of Prions
Kuru, scrapie, a fatal form of insomnia—all caused by renegade proteins.
Cure one and other, more familiar diseases may follow.
Spring 2007
Is Heart Surgery History?
Treating the heart today involves less cutting and more cutting-edge technology.
But where does that leave cardiac surgeons?
Spring 2007
A Killer Called Staph
If God wanted to send a plague to expose the Achilles' heel
of American medicine, that plague would be MRSA.
Winter 2006
Losing Sleep
Yardsticks developed in 1968 can’t explain many disorders. New tools may reveal what really happens when one’s head hits the pillow.
Fall 2007
Medicine Gets Personal
Understanding the patient’s genetic makeup is leading to better,
more precisely targeted treatments.
Summer 2006
More Questions Than Answers
Esophageal adenocarcinoma is increasing at a rate unmatched by any other cancer.
There’s no simple explanation—just many complex clues.
Spring 2007
Nature's Design
Often, biology knows best, which is why these medical innovations borrow
liberally from natural properties and processes.
Winter 2007
The New Heredity
It appears that natural selection isn’t the only way traits are passed along. Environmental influences, too, may get embedded in our DNA.
Fall 2007
No More Lies
Brain-scanning breakthroughs
are proving remarkably able to detect falsehoods. But is it wrong
to invade a liar's skull?
Spring 2006
Not Fade Away
As the population ages and Alzheimer’s disease proliferates, millions of minds are being lost. A spate of new drugs could stem the damage.
Summer 2007
Once and Future Threats
The best protection against bioterror could be an enhanced immune system. But human biology might pose a problem.
Fall 2007
One Town's Treasure
Medicine's debt to Framingham, Mass., is almost incalculable. And after 60 years, the famous study may be just getting started.
Winter 2008
Out of Despair
For 100,000 depressed patients each year, electroconvulsive
therapy has been the last best hope. Now options are expanding.
Summer 2006
Out of the Shadows
The cause of hepatitis C was a mystery solved only after years of groundbreaking research. But the battle continues.
Summer 2007
The Placebo Problem
In some trials, subjects have responded just as well to sugar pills as they have
to real treatment. So how can we trust any trial results?
Summer 2006
The Polypill
A third of the population may benefit from this all-in-one medication.
Should everyone else take it too?
Winter 2007
Quest for Quality
Pay for performance seems simple: Give doctors financial incentives to improve care.
So what’s taking so long?
Fall 2006
Reversal of Misfortune
Promising yet far from proven, this approach to treating post-traumatic stress
neutralizes a memory just before it comes back to haunt you.
Winter 2007
The Robot Surgeon
A remarkable machine lets doctors operate from across the room and quickly gets
patients back on their feet. But will hospitals pay the price?
Winter 2007
Saving Faces
Disfigured patients will risk anything for a shot at being normal. Three breakthroughs
may improve their odds.
Winter 2006
The Scarlet Gene
With the human genome laid bare, scientists are narrowing their search for the roots
of mental illness.
Fall 2005
Shoot the Messenger
Injected RNA, which can turn off genes and halt production of harmful proteins, could profoundly affect the way we treat disease.
Winter 2008
Slime and The City
Biofilms are microbial metropolises: teeming, diverse and, when attached to
surgical implants, nearly impossible to subdue.
Fall 2006
Survival Tech
These remarkable devices are saving soldiers, improving lives after combat - and
benefiting civilians too.
Winter 2006
Still a Scourge
After crippling millions worldwide, polio may soon be wiped out. But to the last, the
virus is proving an elusive, stubborn foe.
Spring 2006
That's Some Pig
Sugar-free and engineered for tolerance, hogs may one day fill a need for transplant
organs.
Fall 2005
Turning Off Cancer
A "new" approach, 40 years in the making, attempts to keep blood vessels
from feeding tumors. It's starting to work.
Spring 2006
Understanding Anesthesia
The waning of consciousness during surgery is as mysterious as
it is routine. Finally, the curtain may be about to part..
Summer 2006
What the Tongue Tastes
Salty, sweet, sour, bitter and ... umami. Science could have used a cooking lesson to discover one very important amino acid.
Winter 2008
Why Strokes Still Kill
Terrible things happen fast in a victims's brain. Now new drugs and
smart systems can extend the treatment deadline.
Fall 2005
Will Animals Ever Leave the Lab?
Computers aren't guinea pigs (or mice or rats), and they certainly aren't human. But they are changing the face of medical research.
Winter 2008
You Can Hurry Science
Frustrated by the glacial pace of autism research, activist parents
have taken matters into their own hands.
Winter 2006
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