https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Brigham and Women’s Hospital A new study led by investigators from Mass General Brigham and Yale School of Public Health reveals that red blood cell exchange transfusion (ET) may provide critical benefits for patients hospitalized with severe babesiosis. Babesiosis is a tick-borne parasitic disease that infects red blood cells and can have life-threatening complications. ET, a procedure sometimes used in severe cases, involves removing a patient's infected red blood cells and replacing them with healthy donor red blood cells. The study's results, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, have the potential to improve outcomes for patients with severe disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-severe-babesiosis-red-blood-cell.html Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:00:01 EDT news693834791 Isaiah Kletenik, MD, and Julian Kutsche, of the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics within the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute, are the senior and lead authors of a paper published in Cortex, titled "Lesions Causing Aphantasia are Connected to the Fusiform Imagery Node." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-qa-exploring-neural-basis-visual.html Neuroscience Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:30:01 EDT news691770117 Many more people work very early morning shifts than overnight ones, and a large proportion struggle with excessive sleepiness from shift work disorder, leading to problems with focus, performance, and safety. A recent clinical trial by investigators from Mass General Brigham has found that the wake-promoting drug solriamfetol (Sunosi) helped early morning shift workers with shift work disorder stay more alert. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-clinical-trial-early-morning-shift.html Sleep disorders Wed, 28 Jan 2026 14:12:56 EST news688831921 Although adolescents and young adults comprise only one quarter of the sexually active population in the United States, approximately half of new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are diagnosed in people of these ages. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-hiv-drugs-young-women.html Medications Wed, 21 Jan 2026 06:12:07 EST news688198261 A team of scientists and physicians at Mass General Brigham has developed a single-dose oral cholera vaccine and tested it in a phase 1 clinical trial, with results published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-dose-oral-cholera-vaccine-phase.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:30:01 EST news686935672 New research led by Mass General Brigham investigators suggests that long COVID is more prevalent in school-aged children and adolescents who experience economic instability and adverse social conditions. The multi-center, observational study found that the risk of long COVID was significantly higher in households that faced food insecurity and challenges such as low social support and high levels of discrimination. Results are published in JAMA Pediatrics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-food-insecurity-covid-kids.html Pediatrics Mon, 05 Jan 2026 11:00:03 EST news686575861 At any given moment in time, more than 400 million individuals worldwide are battling depression. The antidepressant treatments currently available don't work for many and there is a real need for new, effective treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-subset-patients-depression-benefit-anti.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:09 EST news684492711 Researchers led by a team from Mass General Brigham and the Ragon Institute have discovered why some people living with HIV who are given a treatment called broadly neutralizing anti-HIV antibodies (bNAbs) can safely stop taking standard, lifelong HIV medications and maintain control of the virus for years, while others given the same treatment do not achieve this remission. The findings, which are published in Nature, could potentially be used to design combination therapies that work for more people. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-people-hiv-remission-antibody-treatment.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 01 Dec 2025 15:50:01 EST news683826171 New research led by Mass General Brigham followed more than 3,500 patients, finding that 10.3% had symptoms consistent with long COVID three months after infection, 81% of whom continued to experience persistent or intermittent symptoms a year later. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-covid-trajectories.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 18 Nov 2025 13:22:03 EST news682694521 A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham has used next-generation imaging technology to discover that when the brain is falling asleep, it shows a coordinated shift in activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-brain-energy-blood-people-fall.html Neuroscience Fri, 24 Oct 2025 05:00:01 EDT news680456401 School is in session, and viral illness is on the rise. A new study suggests that lowering exposure to respiratory viruses in classrooms isn't as simple as adding high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifiers to the room. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-hepa-purifiers-viral-exposure-schools.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 10 Oct 2025 11:00:10 EDT news679243556 New research led by Mass General Brigham researchers reveals an association between insufficient sleep and the witnessing of neighborhood violence by adolescents. Based on nationwide survey data from more than 40,000 teenagers, the study also showed that individuals who slept less than the recommended 8–10 hours per night were more likely to engage in violent behaviors, such as carrying weapons or fighting. Results are published in SLEEP. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-exposure-gun-violence-insufficient-teens.html Pediatrics Mon, 22 Sep 2025 13:21:03 EDT news677766061 Mass General Brigham researchers have identified seven molecules in the blood linked to excessive daytime sleepiness, including factors related to diet and hormones. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-blood-molecules-linked-daytime-sleepiness.html Sleep disorders Tue, 19 Aug 2025 18:30:05 EDT news674735221 Recent findings suggest that a personalized approach to recommending CPAP machines to patients with obstructive sleep apnea may decrease adverse cardiovascular events. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-treatment-obstructive-apnea-lowers-heart.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:00:02 EDT news673542477 A new study from Mass General Brigham researchers offers a stark reminder of how pervasive cell phone use while driving is among young people. The study team developed and disseminated a questionnaire to over 1,100 participants and conducted 20 interviews for high school students to identify the factors influencing them to engage in distracted driving. They found an average of 21% of teen drivers drive distracted and share other insights behind the behavior. Their results are published in Traffic Injury Prevention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-explores-social-norms-distracted-teens.html Health Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:10:02 EDT news670679341 Microscopic colitis (MC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that severely reduces quality of life. MC is responsible for over 30% of all chronic diarrhea cases in people over 65 years of age, and its prevalence is rising worldwide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-evidence-medications-trigger-microscopic-colitis.html Medications Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:00:01 EDT news670492261 Telehealth can make health care easier to access for patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who need treatment, but experts worry about an increased risk of substance use disorder for patients being prescribed controlled medications such as stimulants for ADHD during these appointments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-adhd-medications-telehealth-substance-disorder.html Attention deficit disorders Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:00:01 EDT news668763737 Sleep experts recommend against snoozing after a wake-up alarm, but a study led by researchers at Mass General Brigham shows the practice is common, with more than 50% of sleep sessions logged ending in a snooze alarm and users spending 11 minutes on average snoozing https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-snooze-alarms-disrupt-key-stages.html Health Mon, 19 May 2025 10:04:03 EDT news666867841 Matthew Sacchet, Ph.D., Director of the Meditation Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is senior author of a paper in Clinical Psychological Science, "Risk Factors for Emergence of Sudden Unusual Mental or Somatic Experiences and Subsequent Suffering." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-sudden-unusual-mental-somatic.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 28 Apr 2025 11:00:01 EDT news665053716 Mass General Brigham researchers found that interactions between immune and brain cells drive fear responses, but treatment with psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin may reverse these effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-psychedelics-reverse-neuroimmune-interactions-boost.html Neuroscience Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:00:12 EDT news664622712 Research on gastrointestinal diseases, especially cancer, has mainly focused on epithelial cells, which line the surfaces of organs, are important for various functions, and are believed to be the cells that go awry to cause these diseases. However, studying these cells using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA) methods is tricky because the cells are delicate and can be damaged when taken out of their natural environment in the mucosal lining of the gut. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-cell-profiling-methods-gut-biopsy.html Genetics Tue, 15 Apr 2025 05:39:52 EDT news663914389 A study led by researchers at Mass General Brigham suggests that, when it comes to cardiovascular health, food timing could be a bigger risk factor than sleep timing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-daytime-people-heart-shift.html Cardiology Tue, 08 Apr 2025 05:00:01 EDT news663235981 Hanna Zurl, MD, a research fellow in the Department of Urology at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and the Center for Surgery and Public Health at BWH, is the lead author of a paper published in JAMA Network Open, titled "Carbon Emissions from Patient Travel for Health Care: Insights from a National Transportation Survey." https://phys.org/news/2025-03-qa-patient-health-contribute-carbon.html Environment Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:19:04 EDT news662653141 Generalized epilepsy has traditionally been considered a seizure of the "'whole brain.'" However, new research has challenged this longstanding idea, since carefully targeting specific brain areas through deep brain stimulation (DBS) can help reduce generalized seizures. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-scientists-brain-network-linked-generalized.html Neuroscience Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:56:12 EDT news662036163 An estimated 6–17% of children have sleep-disordered breathing, ranging from snoring to sleep apnea, which can cause behavioral, neurocognitive, cardiovascular, and cardiometabolic issues. A randomized trial from Mass General Brigham researchers reveals that adenotonsillectomy—the surgical removal of tonsils and adenoids—is an effective early intervention for these children. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-early-surgical-intervention-shown-effective.html Pediatrics Mon, 17 Mar 2025 11:00:01 EDT news661421641 Results indicate that the closer the Doomsday Clock ticks to midnight, the higher the rates are for mortality specific to Alzheimer's disease, suicide, unintentional injuries, alcohol and substance-related disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-links-doomsday-clock-mortality-mental.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 12 Mar 2025 05:00:01 EDT news660903501 Sleep quality is a crucial aspect of health, yet while adults spend around a third of their lives sleeping, there is surprisingly little research on mattresses. Mass General Brigham researchers developed and tested the Boston Mattress Satisfaction Questionnaire (BMSQ), a new tool to rigorously assess mattress satisfaction and characteristics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-mattress-tool.html Sleep disorders Wed, 12 Mar 2025 01:00:01 EDT news660900301 Mass General Brigham researchers found that total weight loss did not increase for patients who took semaglutide before having weight-loss surgery, suggesting that a surgery-first strategy could lead to better outcomes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-semaglutide-bariatric-surgery-weight-loss.html Surgery Wed, 05 Mar 2025 11:00:33 EST news660299821 Investigators at Mass General Brigham have developed a tool that can identify older adults at increased risk of emergency health care needs, rehospitalization or death. The tool measured patient frailty, an aging-related syndrome, by integrating the health records of more than 500,000 individuals collected across multiple hospitals at Mass General Brigham. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-frailty-tool-vulnerable-older-adults.html Gerontology & Geriatrics Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:00:05 EST news659347371 A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University reveals a distinct relationship between circadian rhythms, weight, and eating habits in teens, a vulnerable age group whose eating patterns influence their life-long health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-biological-clock-linked-teens-late.html Overweight & Obesity Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:00:03 EST news658746422