While nearly one-third of children experience sleep issues at some point in their lives, about 2 to 4 percent have structural defects such as sleep apnea that cause breathing difficulties during sleep. Craig Canapari, HMS instructor in pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children; Umakanth Khatwa, HMS instructor in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital; and Eliot Katz, HMS assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, are quoted.
Some obese people may improve their health by donating blood, a preliminary study from Germany suggests. Pieter Cohen, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, is quoted.
Human genome sequencing is already helping researchers find new treatments for illness. Now an unusual case study suggests that the benefits of sequencing may be enhanced in combination with detailed blood tests. Research by George Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at HMS, is featured.
Additional coverage of advances at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in which biologists have devised microscopic tiles made of DNA that self-assemble into letters, Chinese characters, emoticons and other shapes. Peng Yin, HMS assistant professor of systems biology, led the research with Bryan Wei, a postdoctoral fellow and Mingjie Dai, a graduate student.
In a new study, researchers reviewed information on a host of websites run by government agencies and environmental activist groups and found that consumers who want to know which fish to eat often encounter contradictory advice. Emily Oken, HMS associate professor of population medicine, is the leader of the study.
A decade after women tossed out their hormone pills in disgust and prescriptions for drugs like Premarin and Prempro plummeted, the management of menopause and its related symptoms has become much more personal, with highly individualized treatment plans and more nuanced assessments of risks and benefits. JoAnn Manson, the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health, is the lead investigator of the study.
A woman from Kingswood, Texas, could become the first person in the United States to receive transplants for both arms above the elbow. Bohdan Pomahac, HMS assistant professor of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
The amazing case of Phineas Gage — the 25-year-old Vermont railroad worker who survived having a long, cylindrical tamping iron driven completely through his skull and brain — has fascinated the medical community for more than 150 years. The article mentions that his skull and the tamping rod are on display at the Warren Anatomical Museum at HMS.
