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More Medical News
January 2007
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MRI scans of premature infants' brains predict developmental delays
Jan. 4,
2007 --
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| Terrie Inder |
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can determine abnormalities in the gray and white matter of the brains of very pre-term infants, those born at 30 weeks or less, and this insight may lead to better diagnosis and earlier treatments. Utilizing MRI scans, Terrie Inder, associate professor of pediatrics, and several colleagues were able to predict the risk of severe cognitive delays, psychomotor delays, cerebral palsy, and hearing or vision problems that may be seen in these children by age 2.
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Improved treatments give cystic fibrosis patients a brighter future
Jan. 2,
2007 -- Advances in research and treatment have greatly improved the outlook for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Just several decades ago, few CF patients expected to see adulthood, but now more and more patients are leading longer, productive lives. The adult CF program at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, under the direction of WUSM pulmonologist Daniel Rosenbluth, uses a multidisciplinary approach to provide leading edge care for CF patients.
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'Obese bacteria' harvest calories better, may cause weight gain
Dec. 28,
2006 --
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| Gordon |
The trillions of bacteria living within the human digestive tract have a great effect on an individual's weight. The genetic makeup of that bacteria can determine how well a person breaks down food in the gut. Listen to WUSM scientist Jeffrey Gordon, a leading researcher on gut bacteria and obesity, as he explains in an NPR segment how different types of bacteria can affect a person's weight.
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More than one third of lung cancer patients resume smoking after surgery
Dec. 22,
2006 -- Smoking is a powerful addiction. A study at the School of Medicine shows that even after lung cancer surgery, some patients return to smoking within a year.
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WUSM pediatrician fights hunger in Malawi
Dec. 11,
2006 -- Peanut butter is energy rich food, and it doesn't spoil. That's exactly why WUSM pediatrician Mark Manary chose it to nourish hungry children in Malawi. Manary's nonprofit organization, Project Peanut Butter, was approved by the World Health Organization in 2005, but he continues to search for better ways to feed a starving nation.
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Psychiatry professor trades rocket dreams for career of treating depression
Dec. 8,
2006 --
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| Photo by Robert Boston |
| Garcia reviews patient charts with administrative coordinator Patricia Sharp. |
When Keith Garcia was a boy, he wanted to build rockets. He probably wasn't the only one in his neighborhood, growing up in Houston, the home of the Johnson Space Center and Mission Control for the Apollo moon flights. But that changed in high school when a chemistry teacher got him interested in biochemistry. Now a WUSM psychiatrist, Garcia stays busy searching for better ways to treat depression.
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Alzheimer's researcher seeks cause of disease in younger patients
Dec. 6,
2006 -- Contrary to what many people believe, Alzheimer's disease isn't just for the elderly. Better diagnostic testing and earlier detection have revealed to physicians that dementia may affect more than 600,000 Americans under the age of 65. John Morris, director of the WUSTL Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, is a leader in the search for causes and new treatments of Alzheimer's disease.
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Looking out for the overlooked: Surgeon saves children's vision
Dec. 5,
2006 --
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| Photo by Robert Boston |
| Tychsen examines a patient. |
As the only boy among nine children, ophthalmologist Lawrence Tychsen often was asked by his sisters to fix things and figure things out. As Tychsen grew, his hobbies involved designing and building things or taking things apart and fixing them. It just seemed natural that Tychsen would become a surgeon who fixes vision of children with neurological impairments. He intended to be an English professor, but when registering for his first semester of college, a physiological psychology course — offered in the time slot he needed to fill — took him down a different career path.
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Fulbright Scholar from Rwanda studies HIV disorders at WUSTL
Dec. 4,
2006 -- Eugene Mutimura, a lecturer at the Kigali Health Institute in Rwanda, is spending five months at the School of Medicine learning how to improve care for his fellow countrymen who suffer from the metabolic syndromes associated with HIV and AIDS.
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Teenage smoking may increase risk of developing drinking problems
Dec. 1,
2006 -- Keeping teenagers from smoking may reduce their vulnerability to alcoholism and other addictions, according to a study by WUSM epidemiologist Richard Grucza.
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Eating your way to a longer life
Nov. 29,
2006 -- Eat less, age slower? According to an interview on ABC's Nightline, Luigi Fontana, M.D., Ph.D., of the School of Medicine, says those who practice calorie restriction with optimum nutrition appear to be reversing the aging process. See the video.
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MRI scans on premature infants may lead to improved quality of life
Nov. 22,
2006 -- Brain abnormalities in extremely premature babies can be discovered by administering an MRI scan at the time the infant was due to be born, doctors have determined. This discovery may enable pediatric neurologists to better identify the risk level for cerebral palsy, severe vision and hearing impairment, and cognitive and psychomotor developmental delays.
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Moderation may be dieters' answer to enjoying holiday food
Nov. 6,
2006 --
Moderation, not deprivation, is the key to enjoying holiday foods while watching your weight, says WUSM nutritionist Connie Diekman. "The first rule of thumb for eating at holiday gatherings," she says, "is never go to the party hungry."
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Students get hands-on experience in Forest Park Southeast
Nov. 3,
2006 --
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| Photo by Beth Miller |
| (From left) Theodore Armstrong, a pre-doctoral fellow, and Jourdan Stuart, a first-year medical student, discuss a patient they examined with faculty supervisor Will Ross. |
Instead of sleeping in, some School of Medicine students spend their Saturday mornings providing free health care to residents of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. From 9 a.m.-noon each Saturday, teams of students and one volunteer attending physician from the School of Medicine see walk-in patients at the Family Care Health Center at 4352 Manchester Ave.
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Scientist's passion benefits bone cancer research
Nov. 2,
2006 --
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| Photo by Robert Boston |
| Weilbaecher (right) and Angela Hirbe, an M.D./Ph.D. student, view a film of a mouse with bone metastasis. |
Oncologist Katherine Weilbaecher says when she first came to Washington University, she referred to the School of Medicine as "Candyland" — and that says a lot about her. She's the kind of person who can get as excited about science and medicine as the proverbial kid in a candy store. Her tenacity for research has been a big boon to the fight against bone cancer.
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VATS procedure vanquishes lung cancer less invasively
Nov. 1,
2006 --
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| Neudecker |
Thanks to video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for lung cancer, you can deal Joye Neudecker a new hand to play. Neudecker, 83, had always played sports, exercised and been an avid bridge player, but she was a lifelong smoker. Her doctor referred her to Washington University thoracic surgeon Bryan Meyers at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and he found a small, early stage carcinoma in the lower lobe of her right lung.
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The dark side of daylight-saving time
Oct. 31,
2006 --
Daylight-saving time doesn't exactly receive glowing reviews from a number of sleep experts. The semiannual time change has been affecting Americans' sleep patterns for more than 100 years, but Charles Hildebolt, associate professor of radiology, shuns the idea for a different reason — the lack of natural light people get during those suddenly sunless October evenings.
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Procedure provides less invasive help for severely obese patients
Oct. 27,
2006 -- School of Medicine doctors have safely and effectively performed a new type of endoscopic stomach stapling on a dozen patients. The patients in this pilot group reported significant weight loss with no serious side effects, professor Steven Edmundowicz said.
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Researcher seeks link between blood sugar levels and miscarriages
Oct. 23,
2006 --
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| Photo by Robert Boston |
| Moley in her lab with technician Maggie Chi (left). |
Kelle Moley, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is one of a handful of people in the world studying the effects of maternal type 1 and type 2 diabetes on the implantation and development of mice embryos. In 1999, she found that short-term exposure to high concentrations of glucose or insulin during the first 72 hours after fertilization is enough to alter the embryos and could help explain the higher rates of miscarriage and malformed babies among diabetic women.
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Genetic atlas will help researchers battle breast cancer
Oct. 6,
2006 -- Using the same barcode technology found at the supermarket, WUSM researchers are working to create an atlas of genetic changes associated with breast cancer. Their goal is to eventually customize cancer treatment for each individual patient.
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