Health Notes Health Notes (June 08, 2005)

PROTECT YOURSELF. . . The Camino Medical Group will be holding a "Skin Cancer and You" lecture on Wednesday, June 22 from 7 to 8 p.m. Attendees to the free event will learn about the risks and ways to prevent skin cancer. The lecture will be held at the Sunnyvale City Council Chambers, 456 West Olive Ave. in Sunnyvale.

CLICK AND LEARN. . . The Palo Alto Medical Foundation has two new Websites designed to help people who suffer from obesity or heart disease. The Heart Failure Program at PAMF Website (www.pamf.org/heartfailure) offers detailed information about heart failure, including definitions and causes of the condition, as well as information on treatment options, exercise, nutrition and medications. For individuals who are more than 100 pounds overweight and who have not been successful in permanently reducing their weight through other methods, PAMF's new Weight Loss Surgery Website (www.pamf.org/wls) provides information on its gastric bypass procedure. The procedure requires a mandatory six month preoperative nutritional counseling course by a registered dietician, bi-monthly shared medical appointments, exercise guidelines and individual psychological therapy.

THE ALLURE OF STEM CELLS. . . It appears as though there's more than just sun drawing people to the Golden State. Ever since California voters approved a $3 billion measure to fund stem cell research here, scientists have been flocking to the state. Stanford just announced that two top-notch researchers, Stefan Heller , associate professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School, and Michael Clarke, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, are the latest transplants. Heller's research focuses on childhood deafness and Clarke's work involves isolating breast cancer tumors. Clarke will work with Irvin Weissman, director of the Institute for Cancer/ Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, to learn more about how to stop cancer cells from diving and to cure the disease.
Health Notes runs every second Wednesday of the month. To be considered for Health Notes, please submit news items at least one week prior to publication. Items may be e-mailed to jaquino@paweekly.com or sent to the Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.

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