Prostate cancer survivors who eat a typical American diet loaded with red meat, cheese and white bread are far more likely to see their cancer come back and kill them, and they’re more likely to die sooner of any disease than patients who eat a healthier diet, researchers reported. Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, led the study.
At more than half the hospitals that perform children’s heart surgery no data is provided on how many of their patients live and how many die. David Shahian, professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Anticipating ³radical transformations² in medicine in coming decades, the dean of Harvard Medical School has authorized a full-scale department of biomedical informatics, effective July 1. Jeffrey Flier¹s move recognizes the growing importance of data in the healthcare professions, and, he said, builds on the school¹s ³outstanding record of achievement² in the field. Isaac Kohane, the Lawrence J. Henderson Professor of Pediatrics and director of the Countway Library of Medicine, will chair the new department.
Using radiation on the entire brain to prevent new tumors from forming in patients whose cancer has spread to the brain can have a devastating effect on their ability to think and remember, compared with more targeted treatment, new findings show. Brian Michael Alexander, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is quoted.
Genome sequencing can answer decades-old health questions for some, but testing seemingly healthy people can produce ambiguous results that raise more questions than they answer. Richard Haspel, assistant professor of pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Robert Green, associate professor medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are quoted.
For decades, researchers understood little about IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. But the new swell in Chinese cases offers researchers “an opportunity that is unparalleled” to understand what causes the disease and how it might ultimately be treated or prevented. Gail Cassell, senior lecturer on global health and social medicine, is quoted.
Pregnant women often fear taking the antidepressants they rely on. But not treating their mental illness can be just as dangerous. Lee Cohen, Edmund N. and Carroll M. Carpenter Professor of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Five families have come to Children’s Hospital researchers for help diagnosing yet-to-be-identified diseases, and scientists are hoping clues to potential cures lie in genetics. Alan Beggs, Sir Edwin and Lady Manton Professor of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital; and Isaac Kohane, inaugural chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School and Lawrence J. Henderson Professor of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, are quoted.
Top scientists are sounding the alarm over human gene-editing — now moving from the realm of science fiction into real labs — and they’re calling for an emergency summit on the medical technology that holds promise for people with deadly genetic diseases, but has raised fears. George Church, Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics, is quoted.
