Health

All Health

  • The ties that bind

    Harvard scientists say natural selection alone can explain “eusociality,” the cooperative social structure in many of Earth’s dominant species.

  • What’s right for me?

    In a new study, Harvard scientists find that humans can make difficult moral decisions using the same brain circuits as those used on more mundane choices such as money or food.

  • Health leaders push for better cancer care in developing countries

    Once thought to be a problem primarily in the developed world, cancer is now a leading cause of death and disability in poorer countries. Almost two-thirds of the 7.6 million cancer deaths in the world occur in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Hard on the ears

    Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital have determined that hearing loss in adolescents has increased over the past 15 years.

  • Early action cuts claims, costs

    Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and the University of Michigan analyzed a program of full disclosure and compensation for medical errors and found a decrease in new claims for compensation (including lawsuits) and liability costs.

  • A man of endless curiosity

    Emre Basar seeks to understand how small interfering RNA (siRNA) can be harnessed and integrated into cells with the goal of silencing the expression of certain proteins that allow diseases like breast cancer and HIV to proliferate inside the body.

  • Love life

    A new Harvard study shows that ratios between males and females affect human longevity.

  • Excess maternal weight gain increases birth weight, study finds

    Expectant mothers who gain large amounts of weight tend to give birth to heavier infants who are at higher risk for obesity later in life. But it’s never been proven that this tendency results from the weight gain itself, rather than genetic or other factors that mother and baby share.

  • Insights on healthy aging

    New research from Harvard scientists shows that exercise and caloric restriction rejuvenate synapses in laboratory mice, illuminating a reason for the beneficial effects of these regimens on aging.

  • Exercise, calorie restrictions can rejuvenate older synapses

    Harvard researchers have uncovered a mechanism in mice through which caloric restriction and exercise delay some of the debilitating effects of aging by rejuvenating the connections between nerves and the muscles that they control.

  • Vaccine vacuum

    Small increases in vaccine costs can cause large gaps in protection, study finds. Also, vaccine “scares” may do more harm than previously believed to a population’s “herd immunity.”

  • Warnings of suicidal intent

    Two powerful new tests developed by Harvard psychologists show great promise in predicting patients’ risk of attempting suicide, researchers say. These tests may help clinicians to overcome their reliance on…

  • Scadden, Zon win Hematology Society awards

    Two Harvard professors will receive awards from the American Society of Hematology for their “significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of hematologic diseases.” David Scadden, who is co-director of the…

  • Medical School revises conflict of interest policy

    Harvard Medical School (HMS) released a series of revisions to its conflict of interest (COI) policy today that strengthens its commitment to transparency and financial disclosure while recognizing the School’s commitment…

  • Constant temps key to biodiversity

    New paper answers the long-standing scientific question about cause of tropics’ stunning biodiversity.

  • Two HSCI groups find residual genetic ‘memory’ in iPS cells;

    Two groups of Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have independently made similar discoveries about the characteristics of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), but they have reached somewhat different conclusions about the implications…

  • Better odds

    Test could predict which children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia are best candidates for clinical trials of new therapies, research finds.

  • A bloomin’ spectacle

    A rare and curious plant from Sumatra’s rainforest has bloomed at Harvard.

  • ‘Test and treat’ won’t stop HIV/AIDS epidemic, study finds

    Implementing a program of universal HIV testing and immediate antiretroviral treatment (ART) for infected individuals could have a major impact on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Washington, DC, but a new study by led by…

  • Throwing a genetic switch

    Study finds that maternal genes in mice predominate in the developing brain, while paternal genes gain the upper hand in adulthood. Researchers also find 1,300 imprinted genes in the brain, far more than previously known.

  • Mom’s influence comes first

    Genome-wide analysis of mice brains has found that maternally inherited genes are expressed preferentially in the developing brain, while the pattern shifts decisively in favor of paternal influence by adulthood.…

  • Study finds higher STD rates among users of erectile dysfunction drugs

    Users of erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs have higher rates of sexually transmitted disease (STD) than do non-users, Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have found after analyzing insurance records of…

  • More Than Two Billion People Worldwide Lack Access to Surgical Services

    More than two billion people worldwide do not have adequate access to surgical treatment, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The Harvard researchers…

  • Rare variants in gene coding may up risk of autoimmune disorders

    Rare variants in the gene coding of an enzyme that controls the activity of a key immune cell occur more often in people with autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and…

  • With fasting, enzyme turns off body’s production of fats, cholesterol

    Fasting helps cause an enzyme with several important roles in energy metabolism to turn off the body’s generation of fats and cholesterol, Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have found. …

  • Using nanotechnology to improve a cancer treatment

    Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers have devised a method that may allow clinicians to use higher doses of a powerful chemotherapy drug that has been limited because it is toxic not only to tumors but to patients’ kidneys.

  • Improving a cancer drug

    Researchers, led by Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor Shiladitya Sengupta, have devised a way to improve a low-cost, effective cancer drug, cisplatin, whose use has been limited by its toxicity.

  • The immune system and HIV

    Researchers gather to share information about the latest advances in understanding how the oldest part of the body’s immune system might help in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

  • A long look at growing old

    The Glenn Laboratories hosted the annual symposium on aging, reviewing new developments in understanding the mechanisms of growing old.

  • Be wary of the cassowary

    Nature writer Sy Montgomery talked about her hunt for the dangerous cassowary, as well as her passion for nature, during a presentation at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.