Health
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A dietary swap that could lengthen your life?
Study finds replacing butter with plant-based oils cuts premature death risk by 17 percent
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New hope for repairing eye damage once thought untreatable
Stem cell therapy safely restores cornea’s surface in clinical trial
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Cancer? No, thank goodness, it’s just high cholesterol.
Cardiovascular disease remains nation’s top cause of death, but patients seem too casual about prevention, experts say
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Food, water — and a friendly face
Health professionals view social contact as basic human need. Now researchers have tracked neurological basis for it.
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Older adults at highest risk for suicide, yet have fewest resources
Study highlights imbalance in targets of online suicide prevention efforts
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Early details of brain damage in COVID-19 patients
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers examined six patients using a specialized magnetic resonance technique and found that COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms show some of the same metabolic disturbances in the brain as patients who have suffered oxygen deprivation from other causes.
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Turning the problem of cancer metastasis into an opportunity
Delivering immune-stimulating nanoparticles to the lungs via red blood cells halts tumor growth in mice.
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12-minute exercise bursts offer big benefits
A new study describes how a 12-minute burst of cardio exercise impacted more than 80 percent of circulating metabolites, including pathways linked key bodily functions such as insulin resistance, oxidative stress, vascular reactivity, inflammation, and longevity.
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Antibody evolution may predict COVID-19 outcomes
For COVID-19, the difference between surviving and not surviving severe disease may be due to the quality, not the quantity, of the patients’ antibody development and response, suggests a new study.
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AI revolution in medicine
As part of our series, artificial intelligence is examined through the medical lens. It may lift personalized treatment, fill gaps in access to care, and cut red tape, but risks abound.
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Keeping safe from pandemic during the holidays
William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, offers key advice as the holidays approach.
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Feeling election stress? Stop hitting ‘refresh’
Harvard psychologists offer tips to survive political stress and strain
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Vaccine close, but it likely won’t be a silver bullet
Medical experts say a vaccine will be a key development in the fight against the coronavirus, but warned against thinking its deployment will mean the fight is over.
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Nipping COVID in the bud
A new trial at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is aiming to disrupt COVID-19’s attack early in its course by treating patients immediately after symptoms appear with a widely used antiviral drug that, if it works, could be rapidly repurposed to fight the coronavirus.
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COVID’s triple whammy for Black students
College students of color not only face a disproportionate risk of contracting COVID-19, they are particularly vulnerable to its psychological damage — especially when the longtime struggle against inequality and the current financial crisis are factored in, said speakers at a virtual Harvard forum.
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Calculating possible fallout of Trump’s dismissal of face masks
Looking at the public health effects, and perhaps mortality rate, from President Trump’s running dismissal of wearing face masks to minimize the spread of coronavirus.
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An unhealthy influencer
Risk factors for heart health, such as smoking, unhealthy diets and minimal physical activity, may seem personal, but for people who are married or in a domestic partnership, the behavior patterns of one person may be strongly linked to the patterns of the other.
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Investigational ALS drug slows progression
An experimental medication that was recently shown to slow the progression of ALS has now demonstrated the potential to also prolong patient survival.
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Breakthrough blood test developed for brain tumors
Researchers have developed a liquid biopsy that can more accurately detect the most common type of adult brain tumors.
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Is go-slow schools’ reopening failing kids?
Harvard Chan School’s Joseph Allen gives America an “F” on school reopening efforts, and says we’re in danger of losing thousands of virtual dropouts and wasting mild late summer/early autumn weather we could use to boost in-person learning.
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Heart attack uptick attached to 2016 presidential election
Two days after the 2016 presidential election, hospitalization rates for heart attacks and strokes were 1.62 times higher than the same two days the week prior, based on information supplied by a large southern California health system.
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Protection against reinfection
A new study shows that people who survive serious COVID-19 infections have long-lasting immune responses against the virus.
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COVID-19 and cancer
Study represents the most comprehensive scientific survey to date about the interrelationship between COVID-19 and cancer.
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International forum cites strong government response as key in battle against COVID
The international forum “Global Perspectives on COVID-19,” co-sponsored by Harvard Medical School, cited the importance of strong, coordinated government response as a key to stopping the novel coronavirus’ spread.
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At-home COVID testing launches in Boston
The TestBoston study will facilitate at-home testing on 10,000 people for both the SARS-CoV-2 virus and antibodies against it to increase access to testing and surveillance.
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Sleep test predicts dementia in older adults
A noninvasive sleep test may help diagnose and predict dementia in older adults by measuring brain activity.
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Trial run
Monica Bertagnolli is ensuring that more people in her home state of Wyoming are getting the health care that they need.
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The positive effects of optimism
A Harvard Chan School study has found a link between optimism and hypertension, describing the positive force as having a “protective effect” on individuals, including those in combat.
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Let there be light
MGH-led study shows light therapy is safe, modulates brain repair, and may benefit patients with moderate traumatic brain injury.
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Battle against malaria taken to next level
A team of researchers has developed a CRISPR-based malaria test that is fast, inexpensive and can be conducted in low-resource settings.
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What crowdsourced big data may be able to tell us about COVID
How We Feel app lays groundwork to use big data to understand and predict coronavirus infection.
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Coffee connection gets stronger
Data from a large observational study suggests coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of metastatic colorectal cancer progression and death.
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A public-relations campaign to build trust in COVID vaccine?
A public campaign to build trust may be needed if a successful vaccine candidate is to be taken by enough Americans to interrupt the COVID pandemic, a Harvard public health expert said.
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Child’s best friend
Mass. General study finds that the loss of a pet can potentially trigger mental health issues in children.
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Curating the experience of Black America in the age of pandemic
To document the effects of COVID-19 on Black Americans, two colleagues and friends created an open-source library guide to serve as a repository of material and a platform to start a dialogue.