The documentary “Sleepless in America” exposes the crucial need for sleep and the life-threatening consequences of its absence. Charles Czeisler, Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hosptial; Robert Stickgold, associate professor of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; and David P. White, clinical professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are featured in the documentary.
Eric Leskowitz, clinical instructor in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, authored this blog post about Wikipedia’s reportage of energy psychology.
Young adults addicted to opiates like oxycodone and heroin may have the best chance at long-term abstinence in residential treatment—often known as rehab—programs, according to a recent study. Zev Schuman-Olivier, clinical instructor in psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, led the study.
The drug industry has long paid influential doctors to speak to peers as a way of building word-of-mouth marketing. But such practices can cross the line, legal experts say, when doctors promote uses of the drug that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and when speaking fees are paid in exchange for the doctors’ prescribing behavior. Eric Campbell, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Many older people silently harbor a blood “pre-cancer”—a gene mutation acquired during their lifetime that could start them on the path to leukemia, lymphoma or other blood disease, scientists have discovered. The discovery was made by two international research teams working independently, decoding the DNA of about 30,000 people. Steven McCarroll, assistant professor of genetics, is senior author of one of the papers. Benjamin Ebert, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is senior author of the other paper.
James (Jim) O’Connell, assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, participated in an interview about Massachusetts governor-elect Charlie Baker’s enthusiasm for tackling the epidemic of opiate addiction as soon as he takes office in January and his past advocacy for Boston’s homeless.
President Obama’s executive order preventing the deportation of up to 5 million undocumented immigrants won’t preclude all of them from getting affordable health coverage. But it remains to be seen just how many will be presented with that option. Julia Koehler, assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
