Health

A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital finds that pregnant women taking the common anti-nausea medication ondansetron during the first trimester have no increased risk of cardiac malformations and only a slight increased risk of oral clefts.

Amid studies showing e-cigarette use rising rapidly among teens, public health officials who recognize the devices’ potential to reduce health hazards discuss the need to tailor their message to keep the devices out of the hands of the young, according to the head of Harvard’s Center for Global Tobacco Control.

New Harvard Chan School study supports claims that antibiotic resistance in the U.S. is linked more closely to the widespread use of these drugs than to their heavy use among a small fraction of the population.

With a $1.5 million gift, Harvard Medical School launched the Sexual and Gender Minorities Health Equity Initiative, a three-year plan to amend the core M.D. curriculum so that all students and faculty clinicians can become exceptionally well equipped to provide high-quality, holistic health care for sexual and gender minority patients of all ages.

Scientists have discovered that irisin, a hormone released by muscles during exercise, directly acts on key regulatory cells that control the breakdown and formation of bone.

Harvard researchers have identified in mice a set of neurons responsible for sustained pain and pain-coping behaviors. The new study is the first one to map out how these responses arise outside the brain.

Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Paola Arlotta is seeking to develop a new tool to understanding brain function and dysfunction: self-generating brain organoids.

Against a backdrop of recent jumps in drug overdose deaths and suicide, McLean Hospital psychologist R. Kathryn McHugh discusses the opioid crisis and increasing suicide deaths with the Gazette.

A paper published earlier this year argues that shamanism develops as specialists compete to provide magical services to people in their communities, and the outcome is a set of traditions that hacks people’s psychological biases to convince them that they can control the uncertain.

Professor Robert Blendon of Harvard Chan School led discussion of a new poll that shows devastating costs in serious illness even among patients with health insurance.

Rwanda has a population of more than 12 million people and fewer than 40 registered dentists. This past fall, 10 graduates with a bachelor’s degrees in dental surgery joined their ranks, thanks in part to Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

Former health and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius gave the keynote at a Harvard Medical School event marking the 30th anniversary of the Department of Health Care Policy.

The types of calories consumed may influence how likely you are to keep that weight off for the long term, according to a Harvard study.

A Harvard study has found that children born in August in states with a Sept. 1 cutoff birth date for school enrollment have a 30 percent higher risk for ADHD diagnosis than peers born in September, which may reflect overdiagnosis.

Medical School professor and VITAL lead researcher JoAnn Manson details results from a large probe of vitamin D and omega-3 as possible disease fighters.

The Gazette talked to Joe Allen of the Harvard Chan School about the health threats posed by wildfire smoke in California.

The water crisis in Flint, Mich., has been a recent focal point, but the issue of lead pollution is both global and pervasive. Harvard conference focuses on the ongoing tragedy of lead in our lives.

Nutrition researchers with widely varying views on dietary guidelines for fats and carbohydrates offered a model for transcending the diet wars, with both sides agreeing on overall diet quality.

Denis Mukwege and activist Nadia Murad received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to combat sexual violence. Harvard Health Initiative Director Michael VanRooyen applauded the news.

The National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, a joint program of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, prepares leaders for disasters that they probably will encounter.

Harvard dental students’ hands-on learning provides an affordable option for patients who might otherwise skip dental care.

A pledge for $200 million to Harvard Medical School will support translation of medical research into treatments and cures.

A Harvard Chan School forum discussed the stakes for U.S. health care in the midterm elections, including the prospect of Medicaid expansion.

Harvard scientists have created a first-of-its-kind cellular atlas of an important region in the brains of mice. Using a cutting-edge imaging technology, researchers pinpointed where the cells were located and their various functions.

MGH Charlestown HealthCare Center was part of the first wave of community health centers that spread across the nation in the late 1960s. This fall it celebrates 50 years of neighborhood care.

A Massachusetts General Hospital study found that abstaining from cannabis use for one month resulted in measurable improvement in memory functions important for learning among adolescents and young adults who were regular users.

Philip Demokritou, director of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology, sat down with the Gazette to talk about the aims of the center, its recent work on novel nanoparticles, and the potential benefits of a safer-by-design approach.

New findings on cancer driver mutations creates hope for targeted therapy. “It appears there is a limit to cancer’s complexity,” says one of the study’s researchers, Martin Nowak of Harvard University.

Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Chan School came together to discuss how education, trust, and acknowledging the role of faith in community members’ lives is crucial to helping curtail malaria in Africa.

Professor Ellen Langer once apologized when she bumped into a mannequin, the kind of automatic, mindless response she says robs us of the benefits of being mindfully engaged in day-to-day…