Massachusetts General Hospital News

Although a family history of Alzheimer's disease is a primary risk factor for the devastating neurological disorder, mutations in only three genes - the amyloid precursor protein and presenilins 1 and 2 - have been established as causative for inherited, early-onset Alzheimer's, accounting for about half of such cases.

Studies that are funded by pharmaceutical companies or involve industry-backed scientists tend to be more prominent at cancer meetings than independent studies, a new report suggests.

One did wonder at the time if this was a feature of fibromyalgia and if so what was the cause of the neuropathy .

A study from investigators at MassGeneral Hospital for Children found that African-American or Hispanic children diagnosed with autism were significantly less likely than white children to have received subspecialty care or procedures related to conditions that often accompany autism spectrum disorders.

Julia H. Hayes, MD; Daniel A. Ollendorf, MPH; Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc; Michael J. Barry, MD; Philip W. Kantoff, MD; Pablo A. Lee, BS; and Pamela M. McMahon, PhD From Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, Institute for Technology Assessment, and ... (more)

From University of Connecticut School of Medicine and St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut; and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

The valedictorian of Caribou High School's Class of 1995 is among eight Americans selected by NASA to begin training for future space missions that may one day take them to Mars.

African American children in particular are more likely to be initially misdiagnosed, and face an average delay in autism diagnosis of 18 months Editor's note: Dr. Arshya Vahabzadeh is a resident psychiatrist at Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.

Treating girls with anorexia might now involve an estrogen patch, according to research presented at the Endocrine Society meeting this week.

Although a family history of Alzheimer's disease is a primary risk factor for the devastating neurological disorder, mutations in only three genes - the amyloid precursor protein and presenilins 1 and 2 - have been established as causative for inherited, early-onset Alzheimer's, accounting for about half of such cases.

A study from investigators at MassGeneral Hospital for Children found that African-American or Hispanic children diagnosed with autism were significantly less likely than white children to have received subspecialty care or procedures related to conditions that often accompany autism spectrum disorders.

Joan H. Parker of Cambridge, philanthropist, activist, writer and wife of the late acclaimed mystery writer Robert B. Parker, died Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital after a lengthy battle with lung cancer.

Readers helped raised more than A 200,000 in a week to send the seven-year-old to America for life-saving cancer therapy.

A writer, philanthropist, and activist, Joan Parker was also a muse extraordinaire to her late husband, mystery writer Robert B. Parker, and the inspiration for Susan Silverman, the fictional girlfriend of Spenser, the private investigator who was her husband's greatest creation.

Mill Street's McLean Hospital is set to increase the number of beds on its Belmont facility by just about 17 percent and double the size of its Admissions Building after the state's Public Health Council approved expansion plans at the historic campus.

Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound Also Included In: Alzheimer's / Dementia ; Parkinson's Disease Article Date: 13 Jun 2013 - 0:00 PDT One of the biggest hurdles of hybrid positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging is the prevalence of motion artifacts - blurring and ghostly visual anomalies caused by patient motion on the table ... (more)

Last March, John Morelli underwent double transplant surgery, receiving a heart and liver during an 18-hour procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital.

W. Scott Butsch , Nadia Ahmad, Louis Aronne, Caroline Apovian, and Lee M. Kaplan participated in an HMS-MGH forum looking at obesity in the U.S. Credit: Nikhil Pai Five specialists in obesity came together at Cambridge's Royal Sonesta Hotel on Friday for a forum called "Why Is Weight Loss So Hard?" The event was part of the four-day Blackburn ... (more)

A 2,500-year-old mummy named Padihershef got a "facelift" last week at a Boston hospital.

Cambridge, MA - While the number of online health care services is growing, most consumers have their own personal doctors and feel comfortable consulting them directly for their health needs.