When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, he should not have to undergo surgery and chemotherapy if the malignant cells in his prostate gland more than likely will be slow growing and not spread to create other malignancies in his body.

To Edwin Kofler, a fundamental cornerstone of a healthy society is that the behavioral health and emotional well being of every child and adolescent in the community are ensured. Kofler is the CEO of the San Diego Center for Children, an organization he came to 10 years ago after 17 years in administration at Scripps Health.

Melissa Hayden Cook, president and chief executive officer of Sharp Health Plan, was born in San Diego at Sharp Memorial and raised in La Jolla. As a proud San Diegan, Hayden Cook's mission is to reach out to the community. Her ambition to connect the community with the right care at the right time, in a cost-effective and personalized manner, is reflected in the way she utilizes Sharp Health Plan's unique relationship as a subsidiary of Sharp HealthCare, San Diego's largest integrated health care system.

As new technologies and treatment options continue to change health care, the importance of ongoing training for paramedics and emergency medical technicians has become a critical element in providing quality pre-hospital care.

Face-lifts, tummy tucks, nose jobs and other cosmetic surgeries cost thousands of dollars that health insurance doesn't cover. But some health plans are now offering a new type of benefit -- access to a list of plastic surgeons who have agreed to reduce their fees.

WASHINGTON -- Tiny motion sensors are attached to the walls, doorways and even the refrigerator of Elaine Bloomquist's home, tracking the seemingly healthy 86-year-old's daily activity.

Listen up physicians: Don't want to take the time to communicate effectively with your patients? It may cost you.

Whether it's the constant up and down of sitting at a desk or the weekly golf outing, most business professionals deal with some sort of joint pain. Every year in the United States, joint afflictions lead to over 400,000 knee replacements and 300,000 hip replacements as age, activity and injuries take their toll. While the baby boomer population ages, minimally invasive surgical techniques are beginning to provide options to patients for pain treatment, with significant improvements in patient recovery time and overall success.

Alternative, by definition, means not of the mainstream. And although alternative health therapies have certainly made their way out of the fringe in usage and awareness -- from yoga's use by high school football teams to Deepak Chopra's increased prominence -- these practices are still largely secondary to traditional medicine in the health care arena.

A stem cell line launched Friday by Carlsbad-based Invitrogen Corp. will allow scientific researchers the ability to discern cell differences with the aid of a green glow.

Quick response times and agile teamwork can help save lives in the event of a life-threatening emergency. But classroom teachings rarely capture the scope of real-life situations.

By the time Palomar Pomerado Health welcomes patients to its newly built Escondido hospital four years from now, it will have experimented with surgical robots, real-time patient information displayed on hand-held devices and plates made of corn.

Like the fireman who runs into the burning building when everyone else is running out, a hospital needs to be a building everyone can go to after leaving their homes or offices in a disaster.

It was the 1970s medical drama "Emergency!" that caught the attention of an adolescent Mike Murphy, who said the show's fast-paced life-threatening scenarios were just what he had in mind for his future career.