Stanford Medicine

11/15/2025

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, it’s natural to ask: “What can I do differently?” Among the first areas of focus is diet—especially sugar. It’s common to hear the simple phrase: “Sugar feeds cancer.” That idea circulates in online forums, support groups, and even sometimes in well-intentioned advice. However, according to researchers and dietitians at Stanford Medicine, this framing is misleading, anxiety-provoking, and may lead to harmful restrictions and beliefs.

“The phrase ‘Sugar feeds cancer’ is a dangerous statement,” says Stanford Medicine oncology dietitian Erika Connor. “It switches people’s anxiety on and sets them up for misinformation and panic.”

11/14/2025

Stanford Medicine researchers on the hunt for an elusive cardiac fibrosis drug were surprised when a malaria drug with ancient origins emerged as their top candidate.

11/14/2025

While cancer risk typically increases with age, research led by Stanford Medicine suggests that the very old may be less vulnerable — and they’re exploring why advanced age could offer protection.

Although cancer incidence rises with age, the very old seem to be at less risk. A study led by Stanford University shows this phenomenon in mice and explores the protective effect of advanced age.

11/14/2025

A sepsis test developed at Stanford Medicine uses machine learning and publicly available medical datasets from around the world to speed up life-saving diagnoses.

FDA clears Stanford Medicine-spawned sepsis test, developed using machine learning, that leverages publicly available medical datasets from around the world.

11/14/2025

Many young ADHD patients are medicated as soon as they’re diagnosed, possibly because the behavioral therapy they need isn’t available, a Stanford Medicine-led study found.

11/13/2025

The weeks leading up to a major surgery can be a time of uncertainty and worry for patients, many of whom anticipate the need for rehabilition to get back on their feet. But if patients improve their physical and mental health prior to surgery, a process called prehabilitation or prehab, they can reduce the risk of complications afterward.

The problem is that many patients, even when directed to change their diet, increase their physical activity and get plenty of sleep, fail to make significant changes before surgery.

A new study by Stanford Medicine researchers finds that a personalized prehab coaching program focused on nutrition, physical activity, cognitive training and mindfulness can motivate patients, enhance their immune system and result in fewer complications.

A Stanford Medicine-led trial found that a few weeks of personalized prehab improved patients’ physical and cognitive resilience before surgery, with noticeable changes in their immune system.

11/13/2025

The genetic variant APOE4, carried by one-fifth of the world’s people, substantially boosts Alzheimer’s risk. But scientists have been puzzled about how to reverse that risk: punch up the gene variant’s potency, or smack it down? Now we know.

11/12/2025

Chemical biologist Laura Dassama’s lab is exploring a simple, inexpensive and quick way to switch back on production of the fetal version of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in the blood, as a way to treat sickle cell disease.

https://stan.md/4mwjMQX

11/12/2025

A tiny wireless chip implanted in the back of the eye and a pair of high-tech glasses have partially restored vision to people with an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration. In a clinical trial led by Stanford Medicine researchers and international collaborators, 27 out of 32 participants had regained the ability to read a year after receiving the device.

In a Stanford Medicine-led clinical trial of a wireless retinal prosthesis, people with advanced macular degeneration regained enough vision to read books and subway signs.

11/12/2025

In the realm of memories, “where” holds special importance. Where did I leave my keys? Where did I eat dinner last night? Where did I first meet that friend? Recalling locations is necessary for daily life, yet spatial memory — which keeps track of “where” — is one of the first cognitive abilities to fade in old age. And deficits earlier in life can be a telltale sign of dementia.

Now, researchers at Stanford Medicine and their colleagues are uncovering what goes awry in older brains when spatial memory falters and whether these changes can be prevented.

Studying mice of different ages, Stanford Medicine scientists and colleagues found that neurons involved in spatial memory become less reliable later in life.

11/12/2025

It looks like a magic trick: Cells at the bottom of a liquid medium begin levitating, then hovering at a particular height. With no physical contact, an invisible force directs certain cells to float up or down in unison, like mini-submarines.

But there’s no sleight of hand going on here. It’s all taking place in a new cell-sorting device that uses electromagnetic levitation to precisely direct the movement of cells. Developed by Stanford Medicine researchers and collaborators, the device can be used to separate different types of cells — cancer cells from healthy cells, or live cells from dead cells, for example — with many potential applications in the lab and in the clinic.

Stanford Medicine researchers invent an electromagnetic device that can gently sort different types of cells by levitating them to different heights.

11/11/2025

A study led by researchers at Stanford Medicine shows that differences in blood sugar responses to certain carbohydrates depend on details of an individual’s metabolic health status.

The differences in blood sugar response patterns among individuals were associated with specific metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance or beta cell dysfunction, both of which can lead to diabetes. The study findings suggest that this variability in blood sugar response could lead to personalized prevention and treatment strategies for prediabetes and diabetes.

Stanford Medicine-led research identifies blood glucose response patterns to different carbohydrates that correspond to insulin resistance, beta cell dysfunction and hypertension.