Gifts and payments to US doctors from drug firms are seen by some as encouraging unnecessary prescriptions. Do such transfers make any difference and will President Obama’s healthcare reform help, by forcing companies to disclose them? Research by Eric Campbell, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is cited. Tom Stossel, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is also quoted.
Most medical devices that have been recently approved for use in pediatrics weren’t actually tested on kids first, according to a new study. Thomas J. Hwang, research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Florence Bourgeois, assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, are authors of the study.
Researchers have learned more precisely what risks pregnant women face, and what they can do to protect their health — and the health of their unborn children. Hope A. Ricciotti, chairwoman of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Sarosh Rana, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology, both of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, are quoted.
A single exposure to loud but not deafening noise may be enough to precipitate irreparable harm to nerves in the auditory system. Research by M. Charles Liberman, the Harold F. Schuknecht Professor of Otology and Laryngology, and Sharon G. Kujawa, associate professor of otology and laryngology, both of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, is featured.
Harvard researchers recently published the results of a long-term study showing that watching greater amounts of television is associated with lesser amounts of sleep for children in their infancy and middle childhood. Matthew W. Gillman, professor of population medicine, is the principal investigator of a related study and advisor to this study. The co-authors of the television-sleep study, Elizabeth M. Cespedes, Ken P. Kleinman, Shreyl L. Rifas-Shiman, Susan Redline and Elsie M. Taveras, work across HMS, HPHCI, HSPH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.
A new metric to describe the symptoms of delirium may help researchers and clinicians better study aging-related ailments such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Sharon K. Inouye, professor of medicine at Hebrew SeniorLife, led the study.
Olivia Okereke, assistant professor of psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, provides advice for people to consider when becoming a multigenerational household.
The price of care can hurt health, and some say physicians have a responsibility to treat patients accordingly. Neel Shah, instructor in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology, and Lowell Schnipper, the Theodore W. and Evelyn G. Berenson Professor of Medicine, both of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, are quoted.
The history of oncology is rife with reports of patients with advanced cancer who staged miraculous recoveries. Now, several research institutions including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Broad Institute are collecting data to conduct a more complete survey of exceptional responders. The plan is to create a national database for researchers. Research by Nikhil Wagle, instructor in medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Lecia Sequist, associate professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is cited.
U.S. agencies want to expand their use of social media to spot potential biological attacks and outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases. HealthMap, an online tool created by Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University researchers, is cited. John Brownstein, associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and a co-founder of HealthMap, is quoted.
When we aren’t feeling well or sense something is wrong with us, we head to the doctor to get professional insight. But what happens if we don’t agree with our doctor’s expert opinion? Thomas Delbanco, the Richard A. and Florence Koplow-James L. Tullis Professor of General Medicine and Primary Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and founder of OpenNotes, is quoted.
