Gay and bisexual teenage boys are more than five times more likely to misuse steroids than their heterosexual counterparts, U.S. researchers say. Aaron J. Blashill, instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, and Steven A. Safren, professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, both of Massachusetts General Hospital, were authors on the study.
President Obama’s pick for surgeon general, Affordable Care Act advocate and physician Vivek Murthy, is scheduled to testify Tuesday before a Senate panel that will decide whether to send his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. Murthy is an instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Call it humanity’s unexpected U-turn. One of the biggest events in the history of our species is the exodus out of Africa some 65,000 years ago, the start of Homo sapiens’ long march across the world. Now a study of southern African genes shows that, unexpectedly, another migration took western Eurasian DNA back to the very southern tip of the continent 3000 years ago. David Reich, professor of genetics, was one of the study leaders.
For thousands of years, humans have turned to opioids to relieve their pain. But it’s well known that opioids have a dark side, so scientists are working to develop an effective, nonaddictive painkiller. Clifford Woolf, professor of neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
At 83, Roman DeSanctis, the Evelyn and James Jenks and Paul Dudley White Professor of Medicine, is the oldest practicing doctor that Mass. General leaders can recall. Today DeSanctis retires after six decades at the hospital.
Jason Wasfy, instructor in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and others report that recurrent chest discomfort is the most common cause for readmission after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Cognitive ability and psychological well-being correlate directly with the amount of attention and nurturing children receive when they are young, according to recent research that includes studies of Romanian institutions. Research by Charles Nelson, professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, is cited. Nelson is also the author of a new book on the topic due out this month called, “Romania’s Abandoned Children.”
Sam Dickman, HMS student; David Himmelstein, lecturer on medicine; Danny McCormick, associate professor of medicine; and Steffie Woolhandler, lecturer on medicine; all of Cambridge Health Alliance, authored this blog post that estimates the number and demographic characteristics of people likely to remain uninsured as a result of states’ opting out of Medicaid expansion as well as the likely health and financial impacts of states’ opt-out decisions.
Women who take estrogen-only hormone-replacement therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms might also be reducing their risk for a common form of the eye disease glaucoma, according to new research. Louis Pasquale, associate professor of ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, is an author on the paper. Angela Turalba, instructor in ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, is quoted.
Ever since the discovery in 2010 that Neanderthals interbred with the ancestors of living humans, scientists have been trying to determine how their DNA affects people today. Now two new studies have traced the history of Neanderthal DNA, and have pinpointed a number of genes that may have medical importance today. David Reich, professor of genetics, led one of the studies.
