Health Notes Health Notes (March 14, 2001)

Depression treatment

Stanford Medical Center is seeking participants in a study of alternative treatments for people experiencing long-term depressed mood. Participants must be at least 18 years old, must speak English, and must have experienced mild to moderate depression for at least two years. They must not now be in psychotherapy.

The study is being conducted by Dr. David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Spiegel is investigating whether meditation or group therapy featuring hypnosis will help people who have experienced depressed mood for two years or longer.

Treatments will be free of charge, and group participants will attend about 12 weekly sessions lasting about two hours each. Participants will receive $50 at the end of the study for completing questionnaires and interviews at three intervals during the study period.

Those interested in participating or needing more information should call 736-0642, or e-mail hastings@stanford.edu.

Health news online

Personal or family health and medical research is one of the most popular topics for Internet research, but how does one know the Web sites offering information are reliable?

"Health Resources on the Internet" will be the topic of a free program sponsored by the Redwood City Library and Kaiser Permanente on Wednesday, March 21, 10:30 a.m., at the Redwood City Library, 1044 Middlefield Road.

Rosalind Kutler will be the quest speaker. Internet novices are welcome.

For more information, call the library at 780-7026.

Health Library program

"Families, Resources and Care at the End of Life: A New Perspective" is the topic of a program presented Thursday, March 22, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Health Library, 2-B Stanford Shopping Center.

The featured speaker will be Rita Ghatak, a psychologist with a specialty in gerontology who is involved in research in the areas of depression, dementia and caregiver training.

The program is free. For information, call 498-7826.

Lane Lecture program

Colorectal cancer, its screening and treatment, will be the topic of the Lane Community Lecture program on Wednesday, March 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Fairchild Auditorium, Stanford Medical Center.

A panel of medical professionals will present the free program. They are: Dr. Sarah Donaldson, professor of radiation oncology and associate director of the Clinical Cancer Center at Stanford; Dr. Augusto Bastidas, assistant professor of surgery at Stanford; Dr. George Fisher, assistant professor of medicine in Stanford's Division of Oncology; and Dr. Jacques Van Dam, professor of medicine and chief of clinical gastroenterology at Stanford.

The lecture will describe current guidelines for endoscopic screening for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. It also will highlight the recent advances in chemotherapy.

Although admission is free, advance registration is advised. Call 498-7826.

Health policy Web site

The Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Menlo Park, has created a free Web site offering comprehensive and up-to-the-minute health policy information.

The site can be accessed at kaisernetwork.org.

"The Kaiser Family Foundation strongly believes that better access to information leads to more informed policy debates," said Drew Altman, president of the foundation. "That is why we are committed to making kaisernetwork.org a comprehensive, trusted and free resource for the health policy community and any American who wants to be involved in the process."