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 | Medical News Releases >
Medical News Releases
August 2008
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Rapid changes in key Alzheimer's protein described in humans
Aug. 28,
2008 -- For the first time, researchers have described hour-by-hour changes in the amount of amyloid beta, a protein that is believed to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease, in the human brain. A team of scientists at the School of Medicine and the University of Milan report their results this week in Science.
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Silver is the key to reducing pneumonia associated with breathing tubes
Aug. 19,
2008 -- People have long prized silver as a precious metal. Now, silver-coated endotracheal tubes are giving critically ill patients another reason to value the lustrous metal. In a study published in the Aug. 20, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at the School of Medicine and the NASCENT Investigation Group, report that the silver-coated tubes led to a 36 percent reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
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$3 million project will study one-sided hearing and cochlear implants
Aug. 14,
2008 --
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| image courtesy of Advanced Bionics |
| Cochlear implant |
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Jill B. Firszt, a cochlear-implant specialist at the School of Medicine, was working on her doctoral dissertation when she met with a 47-year-old patient who been deaf in one ear since childhood. The patient was scheduled to get a cochlear implant in her deaf ear because she recently had a tumor operation that destroyed the hearing in her good ear. Firszt knew there wasn't enough pertinent information to predict how well the woman would hear with the implant. That experience inspired Firszt to propose an in-depth study, now funded by the NIH, of one-sided hearing.
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Gene's newly explained effect on height may change tumor disorder treatment
Aug. 11,
2008 -- A mutation that causes a childhood tumor syndrome also impairs growth hormone secretion, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. The discovery provides new insights into an old mystery, revealing why patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 are frequently shorter than their peers. The surprising details have led scientists to consider modifying their search for treatments for the inherited disorder, which is caused by a mutation in the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene and is characterized by an increased risk of cancer.
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Parents shape whether their children learn to eat fruits and vegetables
Aug. 6,
2008 --
Providing fruits for snacks and serving vegetables at dinner can shape a preschooler's eating patterns for his or her lifetime. To combat the increasing problem of childhood obesity, researchers are studying how to get preschoolers to eat more fruits and vegetables. According to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, one way is early home interventions — teaching parents how to create an environment where children reach for a banana instead of potato chips.
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Researchers track common arm injuries among NFL players
Aug. 4,
2008 --
Injuries are a fact of life for football players. A torn knee ligament, ruptured Achilles tendon or a serious concussion can end a season or even a player's career. New research from sports medicine specialists at the School of Medicine shows arm injuries are also causing NFL players to miss significant game and practice time.
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July 2008
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Brain tweak lets sleep-deprived flies stay sharp
July 31,
2008 --
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| Scientists testing sleep's effects on learning have devised a model that presents fruit flies with a simple choice: fly into a lighted vial or a darkened one. |
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Staying awake slows down our brains, scientists have long recognized. Mental performance is at its peak after sleep but inevitably trends downward throughout the day, and sleep deprivation only worsens these effects. For the first time, researchers at the School of Medicine have found a way to stop this downward slide. When scientists genetically tweaked a part of the brain involved in learning and memory in fruit flies, the flies were unimpaired even after being deprived of sleep.
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More than 300 Washington University physicians named to "Best Doctors" List
July 30,
2008 -- More than 300 physicians at the School of Medicine have been named to The Best Doctors In America for 2008. The number is twice that of any other physicians' group in St. Louis and more than any other physicians' group in the Midwest.
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New disease-fighting nanoparticles look like miniature pastries
July 29,
2008 --
Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped particles — called nanobialys because they resemble tiny versions of the flat, onion-topped rolls popular in New York City — could soon be carrying medicinal compounds through patients' bloodstreams to tumors or atherosclerotic plaques. The nanobialys are an important addition to the stock of diagnostic and disease-fighting nanoparticles developed by researchers at the School of Medicine.
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First U.S. incision-free procedure for obesity performed at Washington University
July 24,
2008 --
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| Photo by Tim Parker |
| Sreenivasa Jonnalagadda, M.D., and J. Christopher Eagon, M.D., performing the first TOGA procedure in the United States. |
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Doctors at the School of Medicine have performed the first non-surgical procedure in the United States that restricts the size of the stomach to treat obesity. The investigational procedure was performed under direct endoscopic visualization with specialized instruments passed into the stomach through the mouth. The first U.S. patient received the treatment on July 23 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
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Exercise could be the heart's fountain of youth
July 23,
2008 -- Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but endurance exercise seems to make it younger. According to a study conducted at the School of Medicine, older people who did endurance exercise training for about a year ended up with metabolically much younger hearts. The researchers also showed that by one metabolic measure, women benefited more than men from the training.
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WUSTL to lead new international Alzheimer's disease research network
July 22,
2008 -- The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) at the School of Medicine will lead a six-year, $16 million international research collaboration dedicated to understanding inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) will fund the project.
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Sleckman named director of Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine
July 21,
2008 -- Barry Sleckman, associate professor of pathology and immunology, has been named director of the Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine at the School of Medicine. The appointment was announced by Skip Virgin, Edward Mallinckrodt Professor and head of Pathology and Immunology.
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Researchers discover primary sensor that detects stomach viruses
July 17,
2008 --
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| WU researchers have identified a protein sensor that detects norovirus (shown here), a highly contagious stomach bug. |
There's no cure for the so-called stomach flu, a group of highly contagious viruses that can hit with a vengeance, causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Doctors' standard advice: drink lots of fluids and let the virus run its course. Symptoms typically last only a couple of days, but they can be miserable ones. Now, scientists at the School of Medicine report they have identified the primary immune sensor that detects the presence of stomach viruses in the body.
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How cells die determines whether immune system mounts response
July 17,
2008 -- Every moment we live, cells in our bodies are dying. One type of cell death activates an immune response while another type doesn't. Now researchers at the School of Medicine and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis have figured out how some dying cells signal the immune system. They say the finding eventually could have important implications in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
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