http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from Harvard University Each day, an average of nine people are killed in the United States and more than 1,000 injured by drivers doing something other than driving. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drivers-attention.html Health Tue, 21 May 2013 06:14:56 EST news288335683 (Medical Xpress)—The breakthrough technique that allowed scientists to obtain one-of-a-kind, colorful images of the myriad connections in the brain and nervous system is about to get a significant upgrade. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-brainbow-version-refine-breakthrough-images.html Neuroscience Thu, 16 May 2013 08:09:06 EST news287910539 Two Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers – one a stem cell biologist and one a practicing cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital – have identified a protein in the blood of mice and humans that may prove to be the first effective treatment for the form of age-related heart failure that affects millions of Americans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-protein-reverses-effects-aging-mouse.html Medical research Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:14 EST news287306804 A slowdown in the growth of U.S. health care costs could mean that Americans could save as much as $770 billion on Medicare spending over the next decade, Harvard economists say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-slowdown-health-growth-americans-billion.html Health Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:05 EST news287059565 Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have discovered a hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic illness afflicting an estimated 26 million Americans. The researchers believe that the hormone might also have a role in treating type 1, or juvenile, diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-potential-diabetes-breakthrough-hormone-spurring.html Medical research Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:08 EST news286108507 In recent years, the world has reduced preventable child deaths by 4 million a year. But 7 million children still die from preventable causes annually, and little progress has been made in the death rate of newborn babies and their mothers from the strains of childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-forum-explores-high-price-children.html Health Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:20:03 EST news285840411 Suppose you had $1,000 to invest in the stock market. How would you decide to pick one stock over another? Scientists have made great progress in understanding the neuroscience behind how people choose between similar options. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-rats-average-reward.html Neuroscience Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:04:50 EST news285581065 Using a new stem-cell based drug screening technology with the potential to reinvent and greatly reduce the cost of the way new pharmaceuticals are developed, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have found a compound more effective in protecting the neurons killed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – Lou Gehrig's disease – than two drugs that failed in human clinical trials after hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-reinventing-drug-discovery-als.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:20:45 EST news285506437 In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge killed 2 million people in Cambodia's "killing fields," roughly a quarter of the population. Today, 80 percent of Cambodians say they're victims of the regime, including half of respondents too young to have lived under it, but nonetheless affected by it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-thirst-justice-explore-cambodian-attitudes.html Other Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:27:41 EST news284801254 Not long ago, Karl Pillemer had a revelation. A gerontologist with close to 30 years of experience, Pillemer, who is director of the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging, realized that his research was "entirely focused on older people as problems." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-lessons-long-lived-elderly-pragmatic-masters.html Health Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:40:06 EST news284369116 The prevalence of malaria in the population on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar has fallen to just 2 percent from 70 percent over the last century. Much of the progress came in just the last 10 years, leading to a new challenge: how to sustain eradication efforts now that the disease has become relatively rare. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-puzzles-halting-malaria-hidden-parasites.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:45:13 EST news284103903 Scientists at Harvard may have new hope for anyone who's tried to fight the battle of the bulge. New research, conducted in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, has found that the gut microbes of mice undergo drastic changes following gastric bypass surgery. Transfer of these microbes into sterile mice resulted in rapid weight loss. The study is described in a March 27 paper in Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-weight-gut-microbiota-role-loss.html Medications Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:00:15 EST news283610632 The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that it was awarded a $9.25 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to further advance a blood-cleansing technology developed at the Institute with prior DARPA support, and help accelerate its translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-wyss-awarded-darpa-advance-sepsis.html Medical research Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:56:47 EST news283424200 When it comes to the sort of beneficial mutations that drive natural selection, there's new evidence that, evolutionarily speaking, timing is everything. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-beneficial-mutations-specific-circumstances.html Genetics Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:40:02 EST news282983087 Professor of Psychology Matthew Nock is the author of a new paper, co-authored with other Harvard faculty, which examines suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. In a recent conversation with the Gazette, Nock discussed his research, and the resources available at Harvard for students and others in the community. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-psychology-professor-discusses-suicide-adolescents.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:50:01 EST news282551011