Boston’s six major trauma centers, which treated the most seriously injured bombing victims, have already made some changes for handling mass emergencies and are continuing to review their performance for ways to strengthen the city’s already sophisticated trauma system and share their lessons with hospitals nationwide — so they’re prepared for the next time. Eric Goralnick, HMS instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Ron Walls, HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and Alasdair Conn, HMS associate professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, are quoted.
Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at HSPH and HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is profiled. Eric Rimm, HMS associate professor of medicine and JoAnn Manson, the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health, both of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are also quoted.
High-deductible plans are the increasingly common kind of health insurance that have cheaper premiums than traditional plans, but they put you on the hook for thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs before the insurance kicks in. Frank Wharam, HMS assistant professor of population medicine, is quoted.
Heavy smokers who are at least 55 should have an annual CT scan to check for lung cancer, a government panel says. The recommendation, which could apply to about nine million, would mean Medicare and many health insurance companies start providing the test for free to patients. Christopher Lathan, HMS assistant professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is quoted.
Recent research out of Harvard suggests men who skip breakfast are far more likely to have a heart attack or die from heart disease. But, Cornell University scientists earlier this month found skipping breakfast might in fact be a healthy way to lose weight. Leah E. Cahill, a postdoctoral research fellow in the nutrition department at HSPH is the lead author of the Harvard study. Eric Rimm, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is the co-author.
It is the question asked by so many people trying to will the story of Amy Lord’s slaying to a different end: Why didn’t she run when she appeared to have the chance? Beaten and terrorized, Lord was probably in such fear of her assailant that escape did not seem possible, specialists said yesterday. Harold Bursztajn, HMS associate clinical professor of psychiatry, is quoted.
A neurological researcher who worked at a Harvard-affiliated hospital is facing a homicide charge in Pennsylvania after allegedly poisoning his wife with cyanide in their Pittsburgh home in April.
From madness to seizures, to crime and lack of sleep, people have long blamed the full moon for a range of problems. Research, on the other hand, has found little evidence over the years to support these anecdotal accounts of the moon’s powers over the human body and brain. Frank Scheer, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
If current trends continue, the number of Americans who experience a dangerous irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation will more than double in the next 16 years, according to a new study. Daniel Singer, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is a co-author of the paper.
