Health
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How to take yourself less seriously
Clinical psychologist draws line between self-deprecating humor (with its health, social benefits) and self-flagellation
Part of the Wondering series -
Researchers ID 17 risk factors shared by age-related brain disease
Study finds that modifying one factor can reduce risk of stroke, dementia, and late-life depression
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Mortality rates between Black, white Americans narrow — except in case of infants
70-year study finds widening gap despite longer life expectancy for both racial groups
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More evidence for power of exercise in study of colon cancer survival
Post-treatment physical activity narrows gap between patients and general population
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Is your shirt making you sick?
ChemFORWARD, winner of Belfer Center award, explains how its database of industrial chemicals can help protect human, environmental health
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Sniffing out signs of trouble
Researchers develop at-home test to ID those at risk of Alzheimer’s years before symptoms appear
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Using AI to prevent blood clots, strokes
Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence-based method to predict the risk of atrial fibrillation within the next five years based on results from electrocardiograms.
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Skip the salt, grab the bananas
With a new level of accuracy, research has shown that a decrease in sodium and an increase in potassium may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
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Chess is more than a game for researcher focused on brain health
The Chan School’s David Canning wants to follow the cognitive performance of chess players over time.
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Pills could prove COVID game changer
Harvard specialists say COVID-19 pills may cut hospitalizations and deaths and offer big boost to nations struggling with low vaccination rates.
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Blocking tau may help ALS patients
Mass. General study uncovers potential new treatment strategy for disease.
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Breakthrough within reach for diabetes scientist and patients nearest to his heart
One hundred years after the discovery of insulin, replacement therapy represents “a new kind of medicine,” says Douglas Melton, co-director of Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
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Baby teeth may be window to child’s risk of mental health disorders
Baby teeth may reveal clues about the effects of childhood adversity, which research suggests is responsible for up to one-third of all mental health disorders.
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Potential fixes for COVID-related GI issues
A human Intestine Chip has helped identify drugs that can target GI symptoms associated with both the common cold and SARS-CoV-2 virus infections.
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Vaccine side effects or a doctor carrying COVID?
A new decision-support tool helped preserve the health care workforce by distinguishing symptoms associated with COVID-19 vaccinations from symptoms of the virus itself.
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Wondering about COVID-19 vaccines for kids 5 to 11?
Pediatric infectious disease specialist Kristin Moffitt offers parents insight on recently approved COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11.
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How acupuncture fights inflammation
Researchers have identified a subset of neurons that must be present for acupuncture to trigger an anti-inflammatory response.
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Love, death, fear, guilt, pride, hope, friendship, alienation, and so much sorrow. Through it all, they kept showing up.
Love, death, fear, guilt, pride, hope, friendship, alienation, and so much sorrow. Through it all, they kept showing up.
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How death shapes life
With help from Kierkegaard, Rilke, and Heidegger, Susanna Siegel, Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy, examines the ways we process mortality.
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Rapid rollout of COVID vaccine as important as its efficacy
Scientists find that a rapid rollout of the COVID vaccine to low- and middle-income countries is as important as the vaccine’s efficacy.
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Do we need to draw you a picture? Yes, or maybe a satiric cartoon
Wrestling with a health care conundrum: how to get people to listen?
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Years after cancer treatment, sleepless nights
Researchers found that 51 percent of cancer survivors surveyed experienced sleep disturbances.
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In a war zone, COVID isn’t the only health problem
A Chan School panel details need for broader health campaigns that also include various vaccines in conflict areas.
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When COVID robbed children of their friendships, learning suffered
Relationships with peers, teachers, and counselors protect mental health and boost learning, experts say.
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Why are you yelling?
When we are yelling, what’s behind all that noise?
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New thinking on aspirin and colorectal cancer needs dose of nuance, expert says
The Gazette spoke with Andrew Chan, director of cancer epidemiology at the Mass. General Cancer Center, about the new thinking around aspirin.
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Viewing climate change as a human health problem
Renee Salas, an ER doctor and assistant professor of medicine, addressed questions about a new climate and health report from The Lancet.
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This is your body on carbs, in real time
By studying how cells from healthy normal weight and overweight participants broke down carbohydrates in real time, researchers have found clues about what triggers metabolic distress.
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Behind ‘Dopesick,’ anger and hope
The new Hulu series is based on the bestselling book “Dopesick” by Beth Macy, a journalist and former Nieman Fellow.
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Fetal sex a factor in COVID-19 immune response, study says
A new study finds that placentas of male and female fetuses respond very differently when a mother is infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy.
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Every step counts
Using an eight-year span within the Framingham Heart Study, researchers are able to pinpoint how many extra steps or how many fewer minutes of sitting are needed to achieve improved cardiorespiratory fitness.
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Children could be dangerous carriers of virus
A new study confirms that children can carry high viral loads of SARS-Co-V-2, making them possible spreaders of current and emerging variants.
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Tracing med student’s progress through notes on cancer patient
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Suzanne Koven traces her progress as a medical student through her notes on one cancer patient.
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Beating colorectal cancer’s immunotherapy resistance
Now, new research led by investigators at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Geneva provides insights on why some types of colorectal cancer don’t respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors, and offers a strategy to overcome their resistance.
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Did we really gain weight during the pandemic?
Looking at data from 15 million patients, researchers found that 39 percent had gained weight.
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The peril of 5 percent
The delta variant’s increased infectiousness, coupled with remaining pools of unvaccinated people and those whose immunity has waned, are enough to drive a winter COVID-19 surge even in highly vaccinated parts of the country, a Harvard infectious diseases expert said.