Health Notes Health Notes (January 14, 2004)

DESK YOGA . . . Think yoga's just for people who own leotards and can contort into backbends? Now desk-jocks can get in on the action, according to Renate Kempf, who will be teaching "Yoga for the Desk-bound" on Feb. 4 and 18 from noon-1 p.m. at Stanford. Kempf, a certified yoga instructor, has designed a workshop on yoga poses that address the upper body, including arms, shoulders, neck, hands, and upper torso. Most poses can be done at the desk and help prevent repetitive stress injuries. The fee is $25. To register, call the Stanford Health Improvement Program at (650) 723-9649 or visit http://hip.stanford.edu.

CANCER CENTER DEBUT... Stanford University Medical Center will open its newly constructed Center for Cancer Treatment and Prevention on March 1 adjacent to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The three-story, 218,000-square-foot facility has been designed as a one-stop center to meet the demand for outpatient services and offer the advanced therapies to patients, the university reported. It will house all adult cancer programs and pediatric radiation oncology. The $85-million center will include 80 exam rooms, a 24-hour infusion center, 50 chemotherapy stations, and a radiation therapy suite, with an ambulatory-care pavilion on the top floor for outpatient surgeries. The center will also feature nutritional services, a pharmacy, a clinical research office, a conference center and the third branch of the Stanford Health Library.

EYE TECH . . . The leading cause of blindness among Americans over age 65, macular degeneration, is the target of Stanford medical research that proposes using technology to enable sight. Researchers are designing a chip that functions like the natural retina of the eye, using chemicals to transmit nerve impulses to the brain. Chemical engineer Stacey Bent and ophthalmologist Harvey Fishman are leading the research efforts. Their team has already successfully implanted prototype devices into animals. The chip is a pinpoint-sized electronic device implanted into the eye. When hit with light, the prosthesis would release a burst of neurotransmitter chemicals through a system of tiny valves. Those chemicals would stimulate the neurons. Human trials of the chip could begin in two to three years.
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