High blood pressure to be examined
Lots of people have high blood pressure, but doctors concede there's plenty they don't know about the underlying causes of the condition. That's why researchers at Tufts-New England Medical Center will be spending the next five years -- and $11.3 million in federal money -- working to better understand the molecular underpinnings of high blood pressure.
Scientists will concentrate their efforts on exploring the workings of smooth muscle cells that form blood vessel walls, said Dr. Michael Mendelsohn, executive director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at Tufts-New England Medical. It is those muscle cells that relax and contract -- a relaxed vessel keeps blood pressure normal.
Researchers at Tufts-New England Medical theorize that abnormalities in the proteins that populate those smooth muscle cells may influence the ability of blood vessels to contract and relax. If that turns out to be true, these proteins would be new potential targets for drugs and, by extension, could ensure that blood can flow smoothly.
STEPHEN SMITH
Visitors welcome in hospital ICU, 24/7
Cambridge Health Alliance chief executive Dennis Keefe remembers well how it felt to be shut out of the intensive care unit when he tried to visit his seriously ill father at a Boston hospital last year. "Sometimes I waited over an hour before I was granted permission to get in," Keefe recalled. "You're in this waiting room with no amenities for an hour. That's not being patient-centered."
So, when the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement recently challenged hospitals to drop limits on visitors to intensive care, Keefe's three hospitals -- Somerville, Cambridge and Whidden Memorial hospitals -- were among the first in Massachusetts to agree. As long as the patient wants visitors and there is no security threat to staff, loved ones can enter the ICU at the three hospitals around the clock.
SCOTT ALLEN
Keeping track of records at Children's
Imagine if a researcher studying a childhood disease could instantly review the records of every child treated for the condition at a leading pediatric hospital over the last 20 years. Or if a nurse manager could use a computer to predict not just how many patients to expect on a given week, but what illnesses and injuries they are likely to be have sustained. suffering.
A $600,000 computer program at Children's Hospital Boston allows just such instant-analysis and more, pooling clinical, research and administrative data in a single place for quick retrieval. Though the "enterprise data warehouse" went on line four years ago, the system became far more user-friendly last month with the addition of software that allows managers to easily compare information taken from different parts of the hospital.
"We are capturing just about everything that goes on in this organization," said Danny Shaw, chief knowledge officer at Children's.
Children's is at the forefront of computer upgrades at the Boston teaching hospitals, also investing $35 million to overhaul the systems used in clinical care. But virtually every hospital is spending millions on everything from computerized prescriptions to research databases. That's quite a change from six years ago when Shaw arrived at Children's to upgrade its information technology. Back then, he said, "I was kind of alone."
SCOTT ALLEN
Iacocca leads drive for diabetes cure
In November, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers announced a surprising diabetes accomplishment: Diabetic mice could be cured using spleen cells. The research was funded by retired auto magnate Lee Iacocca, whose wife died of diabetes two decades ago.
Iacocca has announced that his diabetes charity, the Iacocca Foundation, would donate $1 million toward pursuing clinical trials on the MGH discovery. Researchers there estimate $11 million will be needed to complete the trials. Iacocca said he would use his donation to kick-start a national fund-raising effort.
The spleen's function is mysterious. But MGH researcher Dr. Denise Faustman discovered that spleen cells, when injected into the damaged pancreases of diabetics, somehow repair that insulin-producing organ, leading to stable insulin levels and the ebbing of diabetic symptoms -- in mice. It remains to be seen whether the effect can be replicated in humans.
RAJA MISHRA
