harvard medical school

Lots of mental illness in U.S., but not much treatment

The United States has a higher prevalence and lower treatment rate of serious mental illness than a number of other developed countries, according to a study published in a special edition on international health care in the May/June issue of the policy journal Health Affairs. Treatment was also to be more strongly related to the ability to pay and less to need for care in the United States than the other countries. The study analyzed data from community surveys with more than 22,000 respondents in Canada, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. All these countries, except the United States, have universal health insurance.

Sudden death not surprising in many women

Most women who die from an abrupt loss of heart function (called sudden cardiac death) have no prior history of heart disease. However, 94 percent of these women have at least one cardiac risk factor such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or obesity, according to a report in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Male gene sparks immune reaction to stem cell transplants from female donors

Researchers report that in some cases of stem cell transplants from female donors to male recipients, the transplanted cells mount an immunological attack against the product of a gene carried by most cells in the body of male recipients. Emmanuel Zorn, PhD, says it is the first time that the gene, located on the Y chromosome and known as DBY, has been identified following a female-to-male stem cell transplant for leukemia.

Researchers Determine Fundamental Mechanisms Involved in Immune Response

Scientists from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and their colleagues have unraveled some of the fundamental mysteries about the genetic mechanisms that endow the immune system with its life-saving ability to generate specialized antibodies. Without genetic fine-tuning, antibodies would be relatively ineffective in finding a good match on the surface of viruses, parasites, and other potentially dangerous foreign pathogens. The findings also reveal the workings of a gene mutation process that can go awry, leading to the development of certain forms of cancer or allergic reactions.

Smoking stokes risk for bleeding strokes

Men who smoke increase their risk for hemorrhagic stroke every time they light up, and smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day doubles their risk compared to nonsmokers or men who’ve kicked the habit, according to a long-term prospective study reported in today’s rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Premature Infants Have Smaller Brains; Do They Normalize Over Time?

The brains of premature infants are smaller than those of full-term babies, even when measured at the same developmental stage after birth, according to recent studies of brain images at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Woman’s Hospital.
A number of recent studies have associated educational disadvantages with low birth weight, a hallmark of premature delivery. This deficiency continues into adulthood.
One surprising report that came out in 2000 showed that newborns weighing less than 5.5 pounds are nearly four times more likely to drop out of high school by age 19 than siblings born in the normal weight range. The study did not examine physiological differences.

Eating breakfast may reduce risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease

People who eat breakfast are significantly less likely to be obese and diabetic than those who usually don’t, researchers reported today at the American Heart Association’s 43rd Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. In their study, researchers found that obesity and insulin resistance syndrome rates were 35 percent to 50 percent lower among people who ate breakfast every day compared to those who frequently skipped it. “Our results suggest that breakfast may really be the most important meal of the day,” says Mark A. Pereira, Ph.D., a research associate at Children’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. “It appears that breakfast may play an important role in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

Fast food and 'the tube': a combo for heart disease risk

Eating fast food and watching TV add up to a high risk for obesity and diabetes, according to a study reported today at the American Heart Association’s 43rd Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. “Fast food consumption in this country has increased dramatically,” says Mark Pereira, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston. “The association between eating fast food and the incidence of obesity and abnormal glucose control has not been thoroughly examined before.”

Mutant protein linked to heart failure

A rare case of familial heart failure has shown that a loss of calcium regulation in heart cells may directly cause this hereditary form of the disease. The researchers who studied the case, from the Harvard Medical School lab of Christine Seidman, professor of medicine, and Jonathan Seidman, the Bugher Foundation professor of genetics, developed transgenic mice for their work that now offer a model for further investigation of heart failure and calcium signaling. The study, led by research fellow Joachim Schmitt and published in the Feb. 28 Science, suggests a specific protein target for future heart disease therapies.

Study may help explain sunlight's role in melanoma development

A strong link exists between lifetime exposure to ultraviolet light, particularly lifetime sunburns, and the development of melanoma ? the most lethal form of skin cancer. Now, for the first time, scientists have identified a specific molecular pathway within cells that becomes mutated by ultraviolet light exposure, thereby speeding up melanoma development.

Researchers Combine Dietary Supplement, Antibiotic to Treat Lou Gehrig's disease

A new study shows that combining the supplement creatine and the antibiotic minocycline significantly slows disease progression and prolongs survival in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The combined treatment was significantly more effective than either compound administered alone. Both creatine and minocycline have previously been shown to improve outcomes in a mouse model of this disabling neurological disease, but this study is the first to test a combination of the two.