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Ending preventable stillbirth: A Q&A with Stanford global-health expert Gary Darmstadt

Today, prominent medical journal The Lancet publishes “Ending Preventable Stillbirth,” a series of articles calling for global efforts to greatly reduce fetal deaths that occur late in pregnancy or during labor. The series brings much-needed attention to a medical and societal problem that often goes ignored. “Millions of women and families around the world have suffered the pain of stillbirth in silence,” said Stanford global health expert Gary Darmstadt, MD.

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Chikungunya is on its way to a neighborhood near you

Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that has arrived from the tropics to affect patients in many U.S. states, usually strikes with a fever, aches, and joint pain. But sometimes it’s much worse. Stanford pediatric infectious disease expert Desiree LaBeaud, MD, is trying to figure out why some people are hit hard, and others experience a relatively minor illness, according to recent news coverage from NPR.

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An optimist’s approach to improving global child health

Globally, more than six million children die before their fifth birthday each year, most having been born into poverty. While great strides have been made over the last few decades in reducing global child mortality, some countries, like Pakistan, have lagged behind. In a recent Stanford podcast, Anita Zaidi, MD, an internationally renowned pediatrician and director of the Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke about the state of child health in her home country of Pakistan and what it takes to lift a nation up.

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Helping newborns through song

Instead of drugs or fancy devices, a small village in India is using dhollak and dafali — drums traditional to the region — to spread awareness about post-natal care and to battle infant mortality. The effort started as part of a public-health research project led by Stanford global health expert Gary Darmstadt, MD.

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Stanford Medicine magazine tells why a healthy childhood matters

I’ve forgotten most of my childhood experiences – which is perfectly normal. But apparently my body remembers many of those experiences – and I learned while editing the new Stanford Medicine magazine that’s normal too. The fall issue’s special report, “Childhood: The road ahead,” is full of stories of researchers realizing the impact early experiences can have on adult health. Some of their discoveries are surprising.