Faculty Bibliography

In real life, Lawrence J. Henderson (1878-1942) was a pioneer in human physiology, who investigated how the acidity of body fluids is regulated.His career encompassed the disciplines of chemistry, physiology, and biology, as well as philosophy and sociology, and it was his belief that man is in dynamic equilibrium with his environment that made him one of the great thinkers of the 20th century.

House [Television Program] -- Can MRI contrast media cause a scleroderma-like condition? -- The reality With a specific mutation of the 46th chromosome that leads to male and female sex chromosomes, it's possible for a person to be born with both a testis and an ovary, says Dr. Eric Vilain, chief of medical genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA -- but it's extremely rare

The source of the salmonella has been traced to industrial peanut butter and peanut butter paste made by Peanut Corporation of America, which was sold to other manufacturers and added to cookies and crackers, ice cream and dog treats.

Nip/Tuck [Television Program] -- [...] sexual relationships with patients are considered unethical not just by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons but also by every other doctors organization

NCIS [Television Program] -- A new neurological problem such as a stroke, cancer or infection cannot be excluded without a work-up including an MRI of the brain, blood tests and possibly a spinal tap, says Dr. John R. Burton, director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Education Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore

Given the recent US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations discouraging the routine use of mammograms in ages 40 to 50, it is important to re-examine this test But this analysis ignores the fact that though only 1/1,900 women between 40 and 50 have their lives saved by 10 years of screening, many more see a significant improvement in their quality of life when their cancer is diagnosed before it escapes the breast

For this year's H1N1 swine flu pandemic, experts are relying mostly on old technology from the 1950s. This involves growing the flu virus in hen eggs, and extracting a dead virus (inactivated) for use in the vaccine. It is ironic to think that the fact that the vaccine is being made by tried and true techniques is the very fact flu experts are using to reassure people. Vaccines are not very profitable, but they are important, and vaccine makers should be applauded rather than subject to knee-jerk criticism

The tragic death of teen Jett Travolta was a prime example. Media reports that he might have been neglected were unsubstantiated -- as well as cruel. At the same time, the family's statements linking the child's untimely death with the rare inflammatory condition of the arteries known as Kawasaki's disease were also misleading. That didn't entirely jive with the medical facts. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-deadliest form of cancer, with only a five-per-cent, five-year survival rate. It's almost never curable without an extensive operation (known as a Wipple) that [Patrick Swayze] reportedly never had. Apple's Steve Jobs just took a leave of absence from his company. But he reassured his investors by proclaiming publicly that his progressive weight loss wasn't due to his pancreatic tumour recurring but was instead 'a hormone imbalance that has been 'robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy.'

United States of Tara [Television Program] -- Is her description of different rooms in her head and 'something clicking' when she goes from one personality to the next believable? -- The reality Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) can result when a child with an unstable identity is subject to severe emotional trauma over an extended period of time, says Dr. Richard P. Kluft, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Temple University and a psychiatric consultant to 'The United States of Tara.'