Leg movements during sleep might be a predictor for heart disease in older men.

Leg movements that follow pauses in breathing during sleep might be a predictor for heart disease in older men with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, according to research by scientists in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).

The National Sleep Foundation reports that more than 18 million adults in the U.S. have sleep apnea  – a disorder in which breathing is repeatedly disrupted during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when muscles in the airway, such as the tongue, block breathing during sleep.

Previous studies have shown that obstructive sleep apnea is a risk factor for high blood pressure and heart disease. A BWH research team led by Dr. John Winkelman wanted to investigate whether respiratory-related leg movements (RRLM), muscle movements in the leg that follow a sleep apnea episode, may further contribute to heart disease risk.

Dr. Winkelman and his team examined data from 636 men in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study, with a mean age of 81 years, who reported moderate to severe sleep apnea and leg movements on patient questionnaires. They found that risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular events increased by 26 percent for every 20 to 25 such leg movements reported per night.

Read More »

Dr. C. Keith Ozaki (center) and his team suggest that a patient's pre-surgery diet can affect their post-surgery recovery.

Does it matter what a patient eats before surgery?

According to a new study led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers, the type of food that patients eat in the days leading up to surgery, as well as their long-term dietary habits, may have a significant impact on their recovery. Partners from the Center for Cancer Computational Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and from the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health also contributed to the findings.

Specifically, the research team found that consuming a high-fat diet, as compared to a low-fat diet, leads to higher levels of post-surgical inflammation in the fatty tissue traumatized during major surgery. This inflammation, in turn, may drive complications such as heart attacks and wound problems.

The pre-clinical study suggests that patients who habitually follow a low-fat diet may fare best in minimizing post-surgical fat inflammation. Importantly, the researchers also observed that short-term behavior modification can reap benefits. Their findings revealed that in the setting of a high-fat diet, patients might significantly lower their levels of post-surgical inflammation simply by shifting to a low-fat diet for a short time frame before surgery.

Read More »

Using checklists during an operating room crisis has the potential to markedly improve care and safety.

With important tasks at hand, many people find checklists useful in getting the job done. But what about a hospital operating room staff using a checklist in crisis situations?

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) researchers, along with colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health, have released a study showing that provider teams that use a checklist in the operating room (OR) were 74 percent less likely to miss key life-saving steps in care during an emergency situation.

“For decades, we in surgery have believed that surgical crisis situations are too complex for simple checklists to be helpful. This work shows that assumption was wrong,” says Dr. Atul Gawande, a BWH surgeon, senior author of the study and author of the book, The Checklist Manifesto.  (Surgical crises include complications such as cardiac arrest or excessive bleeding or hemorrhaging.)

Read More »

National Women’s Health Week (May 12-18), encourages women to take control of their health. We’ve assembled a collection of HealthHub posts focused on health issues for women of all ages.

Attention All Women, Do You Experience Mittelschmerz?

If you have regular pain in your lower abdomen, you may be experiencing mittelschmerz, a German word used to describe pelvic and abdominal pain around the time of ovulation, usually in the middle of your menstrual cycle. Learn when your should consult your doctor about pelvic and abdominal pain.

Young Female Athletes in Danger of Osteoporosis?

Stress fractures are common sports injuries in women. They also are a potential warning sign of the female athlete triad, a disorder characterized by inadequate nutrient intake, irregular menstrual cycles, and premature bone loss (osteoporosis). This can result in long-term loss of bone density among competitive and recreational female athletes.

Urogynecologists: Offering Women Help and Hope

Pelvic floor conditions affect one out of three women and can cause embarrassment, discomfort, and disruption to our daily lives. Urogynecologists can help, providing specialized care for pelvic floor conditions such as stress incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, overactive bladder, and bladder pain. Our experts review your treatment options.

Are Tight Deadlines Hurting Your Heart?

New research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) suggests that women with high job strain (high demands and low control) and active job strain (high demands and high control) are more likely to experience a cardiovascular-related event than women with low job strain.

Benefits of Hormone Therapy for Early Menopause Symptoms

Many women experience bothersome symptoms during menopause. Hormone therapy can relieve symptoms, but may come with added health risks. Now a new study, led by BWH researcher Dr. Joann Manson, finds that hormone therapy, if given early in menopause and at low doses, can provide women relief from menopause symptoms with minimal health risks.

Corticosteroids, if taken regularly, can have major effects on the bones.

Today’s post was written by Dr. Christopher Fanta, a pulmonologist, and Dr. David Sloane, an allergist, both physicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Partners Healthcare Asthma Center. The post originally appeared on the Partners Asthma Center’s Asthma Blog.

Asthma is a disease of the lungs, not the bones. So what’s the connection? The most important connection relates to the anti-inflammatory steroids (corticosteroids) used to treat asthma. Corticosteroids, if taken regularly or for many months of the year, can have major effects on the bones. This is especially true of steroids taken orally. In children, they can impair bone growth, leading to lesser height as an adult. In adults, steroids can decrease bone mass and predispose them to osteoporosis, a thinning of the bones. Osteoporosis can put you at risk for fractures, sometimes with minimal or no trauma. It can cause vertebrae in your back to collapse in on themselves (vertebral compression fractures), ribs to break with coughing or twisting, and hips to break when you fall.

Read More »

Two healthy hearts – Brad and his son, Darby. (Photo by Alexandra Elizabeth Photography)

Before he had a life-saving heart transplant in 2007, Brad Biscornet was a warm-hearted, jovial, and active guy. He’s the same way today.

Despite being born with congenital heart disease, doctors were able to effectively manage Brad’s condition for many years. However, as his condition continued to decline and complications intensified during his early 30s, it became clear that he would need a heart transplant to save his life.

It did that and more.

Brad looked at his new gift as a way to not only save his life, but also to restore his life. It even inspired him to take on a role that wasn’t considered realistic before he received a new heart – fatherhood.

“Brad was so sick that we couldn’t look forward to doing something like that. We really didn’t know what kind of time Brad had left,” explains his wife, Mandra. “To be able to, a few years later, start a family has been just such a blessing for us.”

Read More »

In addition to annual exams by a medical professional, you also should examine your own skin regularly.

The following post is based on a recent presentation at the BWH Kessler Health Education Library, given by Dr. Vinod Nambudiri, a resident in the BWH Department of Dermatology and BWH Department of Medicine. 

Did you know that skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States each year, surpassing breast, lung, prostate, and colon cancers combined? In fact, one in five Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in his or her lifetime.

The most common skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, followed by melanoma and other skin cancers. When identified early, almost all skin cancers can be cured with treatment.

Read More »

Face transplant recipient Carmen Blandin Tarleton embraces her donor's daughter, Marinda Righter.

Recent events have made us grimly aware of the intense suffering that just a few people can cause. But in the wake of such tragedies, we also have seen the other side – the eagerness of neighbors, friends, and strangers to help as best they can.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton, a 44-year-old registered nurse and mother of two from Thetford, Vermont, has experienced both extremes first hand, but her heart is now focused on what she has been given, not what has been taken away.

On June 10, 2007, Carmen’s estranged husband doused her with industrial-strength lye and beat her. Over 80 percent of Carmen’s body was severely burned. Despite the subsequent efforts of 55 surgeries over five years, including 38 during a three-month period immediately after the attack, Carmen remained in pain, severely disfigured, and legally blind. She also suffered from uncontrolled drooling and an inability to rotate her neck.

Read More »

Keeping your mind active can help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Keeping your mind active, exercising, and spending social time with family and friends have been suggested as ways to help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The results of a new study led by Dr. Dennis Selkoe, co-director of the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, now provide scientific reasons for why a mentally stimulating environment, which includes learning new activities, may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease occurs when a protein called amyloid beta accumulates and forms plaques in the brain. Amyloid beta build-up is thought to cause memory problems by interfering with brain activity that occurs in the synapses, the spaces between nerve cells that allow communication of information. This interference may lead to a decline in a person’s memory, attention, and the ability to learn, understand, and process information.

Read More »