Can a robotic teddy bear help alleviate anxiety, pain and isolation for children in a hospital? Peter Weinstock, associate professor of anaesthesia at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
Life-threatening complications from bacterial infections are on the rise among hospital patients, increasing at a double-digit rate as the population ages and costing U.S. health-care programs billions of dollars a year. Adrienne Randolph, professor of anaesthesia at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
Federal health authorities, who are seeking ways to reduce hospital-acquired complications, are pondering what actions to take to reduce the incidence of delirium, which is not among the complications for which Medicare withholds payment or for which it penalizes hospitals. Delirium is estimated to cost more than $143 billion annually, mostly in longer hospital stays and follow-up care in nursing homes. Sharon Inouye, professor of medicine at Hebrew SeniorLife, is quoted.
Use of antidepressants late in pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of babies born with a serious respiratory disorder, but the increased risk appears to be less than previous research has suggested, according to a new study. Krista Huybrechts, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, led the research.
Brad Manor, assistant professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, participated in an interview about the links between cognitive function, balance and falls.
Louise Ivers, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, participated in an interview about the struggle to control a cholera epidemic in Haiti that began after the 2010 earthquake.
Researchers have started tracking immune responses to different genomically defined cancer subtypes in an attempt to find those most apt to respond to immunotherapy-based treatment approaches. Kyle Strickland, clinical fellow in pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is mentioned.
Scientists have discovered signs of early aging in the brains of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans caught near roadside bomb explosions, even among those who felt nothing from the blast. Regina McGlinchey, associate professor of psychiatry at VA Boston Healthcare System and William Milberg, professor of psychiatry at VA Boston Healthcare System, are study co-authors.
It’s hard to say goodbye at any age, whether you’re a toddler getting dropped off at day care, or a teenager bidding teachers and friends goodbye at the end of the school year. But learning how to navigate transitions is a crucial part of growing up. Susan Linn, instructor in psychiatry at Judge Baker Children’s Center, is quoted.
Surgeons have pioneered the use of the auditory brainstem implant in children who are born deaf and can’t receive a cochlear implant. Daniel J. Lee, associate professor of otology and laryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, is quoted.
