Medicine

A study published in Nature shows that a rare gene variant can protect against Alzheimer’s. By sequencing the genome of about 1,800 Iceland residents, scientists were able to show that a precursor protein responsible for the clumping accumulations of brain plaques known as beta amyloid may actually prevent the disease. This means if this variant could Read more

We’re welcoming our second guest blogger, Mark Ryan, M.D.,  to The Doctor’s Tablet.  Dr. Ryan has been among the leaders in the adoption of social media by doctors and medical professionals, regularly writing about the subject.  How does he find the time for social media? @RichmondDoc, as he’s known on Twitter, shares some of his top tips in Read more

Medical students spend countless hours learning about disease and the bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that cause it. As they transition from the classroom to the hospital wards in their third year, the students finally get to put this knowledge to good use with patients. It’s a heavy responsibility—so heavy that a pair of second-year Read more

Reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning the Affordable Care Act has been swift. The high court’s ruling to largely uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has significant implications for patients, medical schools and academic medical centers. The Affordable Care Act was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court. What will that decision mean Read more

Why are New Yorkers living longer? It’s a question that deserves a deeper look in the wake of a widely publicized recent article  in The Lancet showing that life expectancy in New York City rose to a historic high of 80.6 years in 2009, surpassing the national average. As recently as 1990, life expectancy in Read more