Colon cancer patients who were heavy coffee drinkers had a far lower risk of dying or having their cancer return than those who did not drink coffee, with significant benefits starting at two to three cups a day, a new study found. Charles Fuchs, professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, led the research.
As hospitals chase better patient ratings and health outcomes, an increasing number are rethinking how they function at night ― in some cases reducing nighttime check-ins or trying to better coordinate medicines ― so that more patients can sleep relatively uninterrupted. Melissa Bartick, assistant professor of medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, is quoted.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the powerful narcotic painkiller OxyContin for children as young as 11. While doctors who treat young cancer patients hailed the approval, others expressed concern that prescribing OxyContin to children could put them at risk for addiction. Scott Hadland, instructor in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
A proposed 2016 ballot measure to legalize the possession and sale of consumer fireworks in Massachusetts is drawing heat from fire officials and doctors, setting the stage for what could be a divisive debate over the economics and safety of pyrotechnics. Philip Chang, instructor in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
The state’s largest health system plans to open as many as a dozen urgent care clinics over the next three years. Gregg S. Meyer, lecturer on medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Some women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer might benefit from a broader genetic test that includes more than 20 genes that have been found to increase cancer risk, a new study suggests. Leif Ellisen, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the study’s senior author.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the second-oldest living former U.S. president, disclosed he has cancer and will undergo treatment. Charles Fuchs, professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is quoted.
In communities across the nation, the collateral damage of the heroin epidemic is rippling through the health-care system. Leslie Kerzner, assistant professor of pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
