Newsroom

With Fat: What’s Good or Bad for the Heart, May Be the Same for the Brain

A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that certain types of dietary fat were associated with worse memory and overall cognitive function.

Brigham and Women's Doctors Research New Treatment for Severe Asthma

Chronic asthma sufferers may have new hope for relief due to two new research studies that are getting underway at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH).  Researchers from BWH's Asthma Research Center are exploring whether two new therapies will relieve asthma symptoms.

Hot Sauce Ingredient Reduces “Beer Belly” Fat as a Weight-Loss Surgery Alternative

According to research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), the ingredient that gives hot sauce its heat could play a role in the future of weight loss.

A New Candidate Pathway For Treating Visceral Obesity

A team of researchers led by Jorge Plutzky, MD, director of The Vascular Disease Prevention Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School has discovered a way to turn bad fat into good fat.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Radiologists Study Necessity of Additional Imaging in PET/CT Oncologic Reports

Unnecessary imaging was recommended in a significant number of studies but referring physicians were less likely to adhere to radiologists’ recommendations.

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Can Portfolio Theory Save Lives? 

Researchers suggest that application of Nobel-prize-winning portfolio theory could provide objective funding allocations that would improve risk/reward trade-off in years of life lost.

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Brigham and Women's Hospital Announces New Chair of Neurosurgery

Beginning August 1, 2012, E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, will join Brigham and Women's' and Faulkner Hospitals as chair of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women's and Faulkner Hospitals.

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Double Duty: Versatile Immune Cells Play Dual Roles in Human Skin

A new study helps to resolve an ongoing controversy about whether Langerhans cells (LCs) in human skin function to suppress the immune response and promote tolerance to normal human skin and its “friendly” microbial flora or mobilize a lethal attack.

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New Standards for Treating Traumatic Shoulder Injuries to Improve Patient Care

The new standards, developed by a radiology resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will help ER radiologists diagnose secondary injuries in patients presenting with traumatic shoulder injuries.

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Berries May Help to Keep the Brain Sharp

A new BWH study suggests that there may be a link between berry consumption and delayed cognitive aging in older women.

Researchers Discover a Nonsurgical Test for Brain Cancer

In a breakthrough for the way brain cancer is diagnosed and monitored, a team of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have demonstrated that brain tumors can be reliably diagnosed and monitored without surgery.

Study Finds Dental X-Rays Are Linked to Tumor Risk

Frequent dental X-rays are found to be associated with an increased risk of developing the most common, noncancerous brain tumors, a finding that researchers say should serve as a reminder that even dental X-rays may be harmful if ordered too often.

Omega-3 Pills May Not Help Heart Disease

A new study suggests that fish oil supplements may not do much to ward off heart attacks and strokes in people who already have heart disease.

Sleep Interruptions Increase Diabetes Risk

A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, led by Dr. Orfeu Buxton, indicates that inconsistent or insufficient sleep may increase the risk of diabetes and obesity.

Nanoparticles Give New Hope for Cancer Treatment

BWH's Dr. Omid Farokhzad designs nanoparticles that can specifically target cancer cells, creating a safer and more effective way of teating cancer.

Dramatic Rise in Skin Cancer Among Young Adults

Joseph Merola, a BWH dermatologist, explains a new study that shows the risk of developing the most dangerous type of skin cancer is now six times higher than it was for young people forty years ago.

A New Study Finds it's OK to Drink Alcohol After Heart Attack

A new study from BWH suggests that moderate alcohol consumption, from men who experienced heart attack and previously consumed alcohol, should not be discouraged. And in fact, it may improve longevity.

Can Too Clean Be a Bad Thing?

New BWH research, led by Dr. Richard Blumberg, suggests that early exposure to bacteria is critically important for children to keep autoimmune diseases at bay.

New Findings Suggest Aspirin May Lower Cancer Risk

A new BWH study suggests that aspirin's benefits may extend  beyond helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes; but could actually help protect you against cancer.

Spring Allergies Arrive Early This Season

This unusually warm weather comes as a pleasant surprise, but for allergy sufferers, it means the start of miserable symptoms earlier than usual. Dr. Karen Hsu Blatman, a BWH Allergy and Immunology Specialist shares tips for combating all of this tree pollen.

Medical Groups Recommend Less Frequent Pap Smears

Leading medical groups made new recommendations for cervical cancer screening, advising against annual Pap smears and in favor of screening every three to five years for most women ages 21 to 65.

HealthHub Blog: Our Inside Stories

Brigham and Women's Hospital recently launched HealthHub, a blog sharing inside stories and commentary from medical experts.

New Findings Show the Benefits of Alcohol in Stroke Risk

According to new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk of stroke in women.

Mom's Voice May Improve the Health of Premature Babies

New research conducted by Dr. Amir Lahav, Director of the Neonatal Research Lab at BWH, links exposure to an audio recording of mom's heartbeat and her voice to lower incidence of cardio respiratory events in preterm infants. Dr. Lahav's personal story detailing how he became interested in researching this topic, is covered by Time.com.

Migraines Linked to Increased Risk of Depression in Women

New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital suggests that women who suffer from migraines or have had them in the past are at an increased risk for developing depression when compared to women who have never had a migraine.

Researchers Strive to Give Doctors a New View Inside the Human Body

Brigham and Women's researchers have designed a prototype of a controllable "pill camera".  A patient would swallow the pill-sized endoscopic capsule and doctors could then watch live pictures of a patient's digestive track as they steer the capsule through the body using an MRI machine.

BWH Makes Healthy Eating Easy

The Your Health, Your Choice program provides easy to use nutritional information on all food and beverages sold in the BWH Cafe.

An Inside Look at the Country's First Full Face Transplants

The Brigham and Women's Hospital team that performed the country's first three full face transplants describes the details of how patients were prepared for the surgeries, how the operations were executed and the early functional outcomes.

One of a Kind Operating Room Amazes Patients

The Boston Globe reports on Brigham and Women's Hospital's high-tech AMIGO operating room -- the only one of its kind in the world.

Sleep Disorders Linked to Poor Health and Reduced Occupational Performance in Police Officers

New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital finds that 40 percent of officers screened positive for a sleep disorder.

How to Eat Healthy During the Holidays

Tips from the experts at Brigham and Women's help you enjoy the holidays while eating right.

Researchers Awarded $9.6 Million to Study Whole Genome Sequencing in Clinical Settings

BWH has been awarded $9.6 million over four years from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to fund the Medical Sequencing (MedSeq) Research Project.

BWH Researchers Develop a Vaccine Prototype Stronger than Traditional Vaccines

Researchers have created a vaccine that is more potent than traditional vaccines available today. The glycoconjugate vaccine prototype is 100 times more effective than traditional glycoconjugate vaccines.

Research Using Adult Stem Cells For Heart Failure Triple Researchers’ Projections

In a BWH research study, patients suffering from heart failure due to heart attack showed an average 12 percent improvement one year after an investigative treatment that involved infusing them with their own stem cells.

BWH Faculty Shine at AHA Scientific Sessions

BWH was represented in full force at this year’s American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions Nov. 12-16 in Orlando, Fla. The event drew 20,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. BWH faculty received awards, delivered named lectures and presented late-breaking research. Many of the research findings presented made national headlines in major publications, such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Man Receives Bilateral Hand Transplant at BWH

Last week at BWH, a 40-person surgical team worked more than 12 hours to perform a bilateral hand transplant for Richard Mangino, 65, a quadruple amputee who had lost much of his arms and legs after contracting sepsis in 2002.

 Seasonal Flu 2011- 2012

The start of flu season is around the corner and influenza vaccination remains the most effective flu prevention strategy to ensure patient safety and to protect you, your family and your colleagues from contracting the flu.  The CDC recommends influenza vaccination for all persons 6-months-of-age and older. It's especially important for high-risk patients, including pregnant women, to be vaccinated.   Brigham and Women's Hospital is hosting patient and visitor vaccination programs and employee vaccination programs at the hospital and off-campus locations.

Biomarker for Huntington’s Disease Identified

BWH and MGH researchers find transcriptional biomarker that could help monitor disease activity, evaluate potential treatments.

Older, Busier Clinicians More Likely to Adopt New Electronic Health Record Functionality

New research from BWH finds that contrary to conventional wisdom, older physicians who are clinically busier and see more complex patients were more likely to use novel EHR functionality than younger clinicians.

One Alcoholic Drink per Day Linked to Successful Aging in Women

New research finds that women who consume one alcoholic drink at midlife may be healthier when older when compared to women who do not drink at all. This research is published in the September 7, 2011 issue of PLoS Medicine.

Alzheimer’s Disease Research: Where to Next?

Dennis Selkoe, MD, discusses progress and problems in recent research on this enormously common and devastating disorder in a Perspective in Nature Medicine.

Researchers Identify Protein Essential in Transmission of Ebola Virus

Researchers identified a novel small molecule that inhibits EboV entry into cells by more than 99 percent; they found that the target of the inhibitor is the cell protein Niemann-Pick C1.

Poor sleep quality increases risk of high blood pressure

New research finds that reduced slow wave sleep (SWS) is a powerful predictor for developing high blood pressure in older men.

First Photo and Statement from Face Transplant Recipient Charla Nash is Released

BWH has released the first post-surgery photograph of Charla Nash, who received a full face transplant in late May of this year.

Multiple sclerosis research doubles number of genes associated with the disease

Critical insight provided into the disease mechanisms behind multiple sclerosis

Sleep Disordered Breathing Associated with Higher Risk of Cognitive Impairment in Older Women

New research finds that sleep disordered breathing is associated with and precedes a higher risk of cognitive impairment in older women.

New Imaging Technique Captures Brain Activity in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) uses a new imaging technique, arterial spin labeling, to show the areas of the brain that are activated when patients with low back pain have a worsening of their usual, chronic pain.

Research Yields New Insights into Virulence and Evolution of German E. coli Pathogen

New research conducted by an international team of scientists, including Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) physician scientist, Matthew Waldor, MD, PhD, has used state of the art genome sequencing technology to rapidly determine the genome sequence of the E. coli strain responsible for the outbreak in Germany that began in May this year.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Physicians Named to U.S. News List of ‘Top Doctors’

U.S. News Media Group today announced the list of U.S. News & World Report’s Top Doctors, including 241 physicians from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).  The directory of nearly 30,000 peer-nominated physicians from across the country builds on the Best Hospitals rankings, in which BWH placed eighth this year. 

New Imaging Technique Captures Brain Activity in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) uses a new imaging technique, arterial spin labeling, to show the areas of the brain that are activated when patients with low back pain have a worsening of their usual, chronic pain.

BWH Ranks 8th on U.S. News & World Report List of Top Hospitals

For the 19th consecutive year, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) secured its place on the U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals, ranking eighth. In the grading of the best hospitals, BWH ranked among the top 10 in six categories: Cancer, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gynecology, Nephrology, and Rheumatology.  BWH also placed in the top 20 in these additional specialty areas: Gastroenterology, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology, and Urology.