Health
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Heavy drinking linked to worse strokes
Study finds larger, deeper brain bleeds at an earlier age for patients who have 3 or more alcoholic drinks a day
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Are you getting enough sleep? Probably not.
In podcast, experts discuss how to tap into powerful but often neglected key to health and well-being
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Walking 3,000-5,000 steps a day may delay Alzheimer’s
Findings could explain why some older adults at risk for the disease decline faster than others
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Can revenge be addictive?
Psychiatrist explains how humans are hardwired to crave payback and why forgiveness is the ultimate antidote
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COVID in pregnancy raises child’s risk for developmental disorders
Infection poses greatest threat during third trimester, according to study analyzing more than 18,000 births during pandemic peak
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Shining a light on the dark matter of our genome
New research unveils powerful mapping tool that may help transform treatment of genetic disease
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Giant leap against diabetes
Harvard stem cell researchers announced a giant leap forward in the quest to find a truly effective treatment for type 1 diabetes, a disease that affects an estimated 3 million Americans.
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Java in the genes
Research led by Harvard investigators has found six new genes underlying coffee-drinking behavior.
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Reduced residents’ hours a healthy move
A Harvard study finds that reduced resident work hours mandated by 2003 national reforms have not led to lower-quality physicians completing residency, as measured by hospital length of stay and inpatient mortality.
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Study of lizards shows trade as a force in biodiversity
New research shows that trade is one of the major drivers of biodiversity among lizard species in the Caribbean islands.
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A wake-up call on Ebola
The Dallas Ebola case was a black eye for emergency room workers who sent a Liberian man home even though they were told he had just arrived from the epidemic zone. But the case could act as a wake-up call for emergency workers around the country, panelists say.
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Confronting Ebola
Three nonprofits with strong Harvard ties have joined forces at the front lines of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
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A way to inhibit inflammation of blood vessel linings
A study led by Harvard-affiliated researchers is the first to demonstrate that BET bromodomain-containing proteins help execute inflammation in the endothelium while inhibition of BET bromodomain can significantly decrease atherosclerosis in vivo.
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Sweet feat
New research by Harvard scientists shows how hummingbirds evolved a novel mechanism of taste.
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Spread of multiple myeloma halted in mice
In an advance against cancer metastasis, scientists at the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that a specially developed compound can impede multiple myeloma in mice from spreading to the bones.
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Weapons for battling viruses
Bangladesh has used stepped-up surveillance, an understanding of transmission routes, and expert advice on cultural and traditional practices to devise interventions against Nipah, an Ebola-like virus with a high mortality rate.
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All goes swimmingly
Using simple hydrodynamics, a team of Harvard researchers was able to show that a handful of principles govern how virtually every animal — from the tiniest fish to birds to the largest whales — propel themselves through the water.
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Deadly violence a natural tendency in chimps, study finds
A new study shows that chimps engage in violent and sometimes even lethal behavior regardless of human effects on local ecology.
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The communications gap on vaccines
Panelists at the School of Public Health called for a stronger communications effort by physicians to counter misinformation on vaccines.
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Diabetes’ genetic variety
Harvard researchers working at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have uncovered nine rare genetic mutations that dramatically increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The discovery of the mutations highlights the dizzying genetic diversity of a disease rapidly spreading around the world.
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Undermining leukemia
A Harvard Stem Cell Institute study comparing how blood stem cells and leukemia cells consume nutrients found that cancer cells are far less tolerant of shifts in their energy supply than their normal counterparts. The results suggest there could be ways to target and kill cancer cells without affecting healthy cells.
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Ebola’s ripple effects
The fight to end the Ebola epidemic is not just about saving lives, it’s also about heading off a potentially broader humanitarian crisis, according to a Harvard Kennedy School panel.
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Linking ‘natural mutants’ and evolution
Researchers uncovered a variety of features in the genomes of five species of African cichlid fish that enabled them to thrive in new habitats and ecological niches. The findings from these “natural mutants” shed new light on the molecular process of evolution in all vertebrate species.
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Three decades of treating trauma
For 30 years, the Victims of Violence program at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance has been a force in trauma care.
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From chance meeting, a chance to save lives
Harvard scientists have developed a new test for sickle cell disease that provides results in just 12 minutes and costs as little as 50 cents — far faster and cheaper than other tests.
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Forces of isolation
Research led by a Harvard biologist demonstrated a method for measuring the strength of selection in favor of reproductive isolation.
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U.S. diet shows modest improvement
Dietary quality in the United States has improved steadily in recent years, but overall dietary quality remains poor and disparities continue to widen among socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health.
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Ebola genomes sequenced
A team of researchers from the Broad Institute, Harvard University, and elsewhere has sequenced and analyzed dozens of Ebola virus genomes in the present outbreak. Their findings could have important implications for rapid field diagnostic tests.
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Erasing traumatic memories
Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital are reporting that xenon gas, used in humans for anesthesia and diagnostic imaging, has the potential to be a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other memory-related disorders
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Of books, trees, and knowledge
In the Hunnewell Building is the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library, whose books, papers, and photographs ― stored near living collections of many of the same plants they describe ― draw scholars from around the world.
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When cooperation counts
A new study conducted by Harvard scientists shows that in deer mice, a species known to be highly promiscuous, sperm clump together to swim in a more linear fashion, increasing their chances of fertilization.
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Fewer clinics, less care
The protective gear needed to get Sierra Leone’s health clinics reopened, coupled with public education about the Ebola epidemic, are the greatest areas of need, according to a Harvard Fulbright Fellow and physician from Sierra Leone.
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Sense of scents
A new study sheds light on the extent to which animals can make distinctions among scents.
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Understanding Ebola
Though the threat to the U.S. population from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is low, the need in epidemic countries is great, says Michael VanRooyen, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
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Drug delivery system prevents transplant rejection
In pre-clinical studies conducted by the researchers, a one-time, local injection of the hydrogel-drug combo prevented graft rejection for more than 100 days. This compared with 35.5 days for recipients receiving only tacrolimus, and 11 days for recipients without treatment or only receiving hydrogel.
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Enemy of ash
The Gazette spoke with Arboretum officials about the recent arrival of the emerald ash borer.