The Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) is a dictionary that defines and classifies all mental health disorders. First published in 1952, the DSM is used by everyone from clinicians to pharmaceutical companies to policy makers. Since its inception, the DSM has been revised only four times — one such occasion was in 1980 when homosexuality was no longer defined as a mental disorder. In the fifth edition, another big change may come to the DSM. Autism is up for a redefinition which could potentially reduce the number of people considered "autistic" by half.

Dr. Abraham Verghese first joined The Takeaway as part of the "My America" series. Verghese was raised in Ethiopia, by parents from India. He immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s for a medical residency, and then to rural Tennessee treat gay men afflicted with HIV. Later, he became a professor at Stanford University Medical School and the author of the best-sellers, "My Own Country" and "Cutting for Stone."

In an unprecedented move, the United States government has asked two scientific journals to redact details of biomedical experiments which it fears could be used by terrorists to create deadly viruses. Two labs in the U.S. and the Netherlands recently created easily transmittable versions of the A(H5N1) virus, which causes bird flu. Though bird flu is highly lethal, it is not easily contracted by humans. Scientists have long been concerned an easily transferable version of the virus could create one of the deadliest pandemics in history. 

It was supposed to help pregnant women deal with their morning sickness. But when the women who took thalidomide gave birth they were confronted with a horror story. Children were born with a birth defects and other problems that could be fatal. It was 50 years ago the drug Thalidomide was withdrawn after it became clear it was causing serious and sometimes fatal harm to the unborn babies of thousands of women in Europe and around the world.

Governors Christine Gregoire of Washington and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have petitioned the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses. Rhode Island and Washington state have already decriminalized medical marijuana in their states. But marijuana is currently classified by the federal government as a Schedule I controlled substance — the same category as heroin and LSD. It's a confusing distinction for many medical marijuana patients in those states. Governors Gregoire and Chafee say the federal government should reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II controlled substance in order to cut down confusion for medial marijuana patients.

In honor of Thanksgiving, The Takeaway looks back at some of our favorite interviews from the past year and gives thanks. Our conversation with Dr. Abraham Verghese is among those we're especially grateful for. Verghese was raised in Ethiopia, by parents from India. He immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s for a medical residency, and then to rural Tennessee treat gay men afflicted with HIV.  Later, he became a professor at Stanford University Medical School and the author of the best-sellers, "My Own Country" and "Cutting for Stone."

Administering HPV vaccines for girls and young women has become a controversial topic, with some parents uncomfortable vaccinating children as young as 11 for a sexually transmitted disease. The vaccine has also become a hot topic among the GOP presidential candidates, with Rep. Michele Bachmann falsely claiming the vaccine caused a girl to become "mentally retarded." Doctors say there have been no proven cases of any harmful side-effects and that the vaccination is important in preventing several cancers, which HPV can lead to. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that boys and young men take the vaccine to prevent throat and anal cancer, as well as the spread of HPV to women.

When Seth Godin, who writes a popular blog at sethgodin.com, learned that his friend and colleague Amit Gupta had leukemia, he quickly offered up a challenge to his readers: the first bone marrow donor match to Gupta who would donate stem cells would receive $10,000. Gupta, who is of South Indian descent, is a poor candidate for a bone marrow match in this country, where minorities in general — and South Indians specifically — are under-represented in the donor pool.

The movie "Contagion" swept the box office this fall. While the film featured an ensemble cast of famous faces — from Kate Winslet to Matt Damon to Gwyneth Paltrow — the real star of "Contagion" was the virus that murdered millions throughout the movie. Biologist Nathan Wolfe served as a consultant on the film. And while the movie is fiction, Wolfe’s new book warns of the very real threats posed by global pandemics.

The Nobel Prize committee decided on Monday to posthumously award Dr. Ralph Steinman a prize in medicine and physiology. Steinman's ground-breaking winning research into dendritic cells helped treat his own pancreatic cancer, but he died just three days before the committee awarded him with the prize. Nobel rules say the award can only go to living scientists, but the foundation did not know Steinman had died on Friday and thus did not reverse their decision. Steinman shares this year's award with two other researchers, Bruce Beutler and Jules Hoffmann.

On April 12, 1955, Edward R. Murrow interviewed Dr. Jonas Salk on the CBS show, "See it Now." Salk’s polio vaccine had just been proven effective in preventing the disease. Murrow asked who owned the vaccine. "The people I would say," Salk answered. "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" Medical research culture has changed dramatically since Salk's time. Had it been invented today, it seems likely that the polio vaccine would have been patented immediately, and that Salk would have worked for a pharmaceutical company, rather than a university.

A study released on Monday shows that women using two popular hormonal contraceptives put themselves — and their partners — at greater risk for HIV. While this is a problem for all users of these drugs, it is particularly worrying to people in southern and eastern Africa, where these affordable and easily available contraceptives are used in a very high risk environment.

This weekend, the virus disaster film "Contagion" was the top-grossing new movie in box offices across America. The film stars a heavy-hitting cast of well-known actors, including Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow. It's unsettling to watch for many people, because it's about a global pandemic of a deadly virus, which threatens to end civilization as we know it — which prompts the question: could this really happen?

Pat Summitt has had a successful career, leading the University of Tennessee’s Lady Vols to eight NCAA championships. Yesterday, the 59-year-old legendary coach announced that she has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. WNBA player Tamika Catchings played for Coach Summitt at the University of Tennessee for four years. She said she was shocked by the news, but, she explained, "When you think about all of the things Pat’s been able to accomplish, a lot of it has come from her determination and she’s had so many trials and tribulations throughout her life, but look at her. You know, she’s still standing strong." Despite her fighting spirit, Summitt's diagnosis raises questions about Alzheimer's disease, particularly because Summitt is younger than most who suffer from Alzheimer's.

Until recently, few medical schools taught what most of us call "bedside manner," the ability to empathize and compassionately care for patients. Even fewer schools considered prospective candidates on their ability to communicate with patients. But now a growing number of medical schools are evaluating students through the Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) in addition to M-CAT scores and grade point average. The MMI tests for ethical reasoning and communication ability. 

All week, we’ve been speaking with influential Americans about what patriotism and America means to them as part of our series "My America." Today’s guest is Dr. Abraham Verghese, professor of the theory and practice of medicine at Stanford University Medical School, and best-selling author of "My Own Country: A Doctor's Story" and "Cutting for Stone."

Google announced last week that they would close the doors on their medical project, Google Health, leaving an opening for a new player in the medical record tech industry. Google Health was designed as a “personal health record service," a place where patients could voluntarily store all of their health records, in hopes of centralizing their treatment information. The medical industry has limitless room for growth, considering that almost 80 percent of medical records are on paper.

This week, The Spine Journal, a scientific peer-reviewed journal of the North American Spine Society, came out with a special issue that critically compared clinical reports of products used to foster bone growth, in a case of a major conflict of interest with potentially devastating results. Doctors had been writing positive peer-reviewed research reviews about a product called Infuse, by a medical device company called Medtronic, but failed to mention that their own research showed the product had proven complications, including higher cancer rates and male infertility. The same doctors were also collecting royalties and fees totaling at least $62 million from Medtronic.

After an emotional and tense two-day hearing in Silver Springs, Maryland, federal advisers voted to revoke the approval of the world’s top-selling cancer drug Avastin as a treatment for women with advanced breast cancer. The Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee heard from patients who say Avastin is a miracle drug, and from cancer advocates who point to adverse side-effects in other users. Finally, the committee concluded that research showed that the drug, which costs $88,000 a year per patient, failed to significantly extend patients’ lives or their quality of life. 

According to a new report, scientists have come one step closer in the development of neuroprosthetics that may help restore memory loss. A brain implant, tested in rats, successfully restored lost memories and strengthened old ones. Its use in humans will require far more research. Benedict Carey, science reporter for The New York Times, explains the findings.