HHS launches health IT challenge to improve care transitions for hospital-discharge patients. The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology today announced a Discharge Follow-Up Appointment care transitions challenge – the second as part of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Investing in Innovation (i2) Initiative.  With the support of Health […]

URMC Finds Leukemia Cells Are “Bad to the Bone” University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have discovered new links between leukemia cells and cells involved in bone formation, offering a fresh perspective on how the blood cancer progresses and raising the possibility that therapies for bone disorders could help in the treatment of leukemia. Graduate […]

With a little help from our ancient friends. Study suggests social networks sparked evolution of cooperation. … Dawn of Social Networks: Hunter-gatherers Provide Clues About the Evolution of Cooperation Coren Apicella, a research fellow in the Christakis lab at Harvard Medical School, spent the summer of 2010 traveling around the remote Lake Eyasi region of […]

Limiting Protein or Certain Amino Acids Before Surgery May Reduce Risk of Surgical Complications Boston, MA — Limiting certain essential nutrients for several days before surgery—either protein or amino acids—may reduce the risk of serious surgical complications such as heart attack or stroke, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study. The […]

Multitasking may harm the social and emotional development of tweenage girls, but face-to-face talks could save the day, say Stanford researchers Too much screen time can be detrimental to girls 8 to 12 years old, but there is a surprisingly straightforward alternative for greater social wellness. When it comes to media use, the researchers’ guidance: […]

Gladstone Scientists Identify Protein that Contributes to Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease Research Breakthrough Could Improve Lives of Millions with Neurodegernative Disease … RGS4: A New Target for PD Therapy?  Dysregulation of striatal plasticity contributes to the pathology of Parkinson’s disease. Anatol Kreitzer and colleagues identify RGS4 as a key regulator of synaptic plasticity in striatal […]

When Coughs Cross the Line: Simple Sniffles, or Something Serious? It’s that time of year. Your home, school, or office sounds like a veritable orchestra of sniffles, coughs and sneezes. Between the frantic tissue-grabbing, you might wonder: How do I know if the congestion is normal, or if it’s indicative of something worse? How long should […]

Physicians Emphasize Importance of Story Telling to Advance Patient Care Two doctors who have learned the art of telling stories are convinced that it has become indispensable to top-notch medical care. “A slow cultural shift over the past 20 years led by television — from “St. Elsewhere” to “ER” — has been humanizing society’s view […]

PFCs may hinder vaccine response. PFCs, Chemicals Widespread in Environment, Linked to Lowered Immune Response to Childhood Vaccinations. Boston, MA — A new study finds that perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), widely used in manufactured products such as non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, and fast-food packaging, were associated with lowered immune response to vaccinations in children. It is […]

Scourge source. Extracellular matrix identified as key to spreading in biofilms. Top view of a Bacillus subtilis colony in conditions where extracellular matrix is produced, leading to biofilm formation./ Courtesy of Hera Vlamakis New research at Harvard explains how bacterial biofilms expand on teeth, pipes, surgical instruments, and crops. Through experiment and mathematical analysis, researchers […]