Matt Holliday, outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, is teaming with the Siteman Cancer Center to promote colon cancer screenings. Kathy Holliday, mother of Matt Holliday, was diagnosed with colon cancer last year.  She and her son are teaming up with the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, where Kathy was treated, to encourage colon screenings for anyone age 50 and older. “It could save your life,” says Kathy Holliday, who is cancer free after being treated by Washington University surgeon Steven Hunt, MD. Colon cancer strikes 1 of …

Estrogen levels drop dramatically in menopause, a time when the risk of urinary tract infections increases significantly. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new evidence in mice that the two phenomena are connected by more than just timing. If further research confirms these links, boosting estrogen levels may get a second look as an approach for reducing urinary infections in menopausal women. “Scientists tested estrogen as a treatment for post-menopausal women with urinary tract infections in the 1990s, but the results were either ambiguous or …

Washington University School of Medicine is seeking participants for a weight loss study. The study is for those between 30-100 pounds overweight, Dr. Shelby Sullivan told Fox 2 News.  The procedure involves placing a silicone dual-balloon system in the stomach during a 30-mintue outpatient procedure. The balloons occupy space to reduce the capacity for food. Sullivan said the calloons stay in the stomach for six months while participants learn to live a healthier lifestyle with the support of dietitians, doctors and nurses.  To participate, call 888-978-8398 or visit ReduceTrial.com to see …

Children suspected of having appendicitis are more likely to receive CT scans, which involve radiation, if they are evaluated at a general hospital, a new study by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown. Similar patients who went to St. Louis Children’s Hospital were more often evaluated with an ultrasound scan, a safer option that uses sound waves instead of radiation to confirm or rule out the need for surgery to remove the appendix. Use of either scanning technique can potentially reduce the occurrence of unnecessary surgeries and expedite the diagnosis of …

Flu season is coming early in parts of the United States: This time last year, flu cases were lower in the St. Louis area than they are now, according to data on Google's Flu Trends. (U City-specific data is not available on Flu Trends.) Overall in Missouri, activity is considered high now, while it was considered low at this time in 2011, according to Flu Trends. If you're considering getting a flu shot, here are some places in or around University City that offer the vaccine: Walgreens, 7501 Olive Blvd., Walgreens, 630 N. McKnight, Walgreens, 9395 Olive Blvd., Olivette More locations …

A mother. A sister. A daughter. For every three women, one will develop some type of cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. To combat this sobering statistic and to continue its steadfast mission to support research of cancers affecting women, the Mary Kay Foundation awarded grants to 13 respected doctors and medical scientists nationwide. Each grant provides crucial funding in the amount of $100,000 for a total of $1.3 million. One of the 13 grants awarded this year fuels new research at Washington University School of Medicine.   Barry Sleckman, MD, Ph.D., a …

It’s a popularly held belief that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gravitate toward STEM majors in college (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). A new study, co-authored by Paul Shattuck, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, confirms that view yet finds that young adults with an ASD also have one of the lowest overall college enrollment rates. The study, “STEM Participation Among College Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder,” was published online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. “STEM …

Gastric bypass surgery has been thought to offer advantages, independent of weight loss, for improving insulin sensitivity and blood glucose levels in obese patients. But new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that those improvements are related to weight loss alone and not to the surgical procedure itself.  Gastric bypass reduces the size of the stomach and re-routes food to lower in the intestine. Gastric banding places a ring around the upper portion of the stomach to make it smaller. In a study comparing gastric bypass to laparoscopic adjustable …

Respiratory conditions that restrict breathing such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common killers worldwide. But no effective treatments exist to address the major cause of death in these conditions – excess mucus production. “There is good evidence that what kills people with severe COPD or asthma is mucus obstructing the airway,” said Michael J. Holtzman, MD, the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “It’s a huge unmet medical problem and is only increasing in this country and throughout the …

There’s nothing wrong with a cookie or a glass of eggnog at the holidays, says Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD, director of the Center for Obesity Prevention and Policy Research and the Center for Diabetes Translation Research at Washington University in St. Louis and associate dean for research at the Brown School. The key, Haire-Joshu said, is balance. “The holidays are a great time of the year – time spent with family and friends – and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t enjoy them,” Haire-Joshu said. “But the key is to balance those treats with healthy habits and choices. “Drink more water. Reduce …

Insights from a genetic condition that causes brain cancer are helping scientists better understand the most common type of brain tumor in children. In new research, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a cell growth pathway that is unusually active in pediatric brain tumors known as gliomas. They previously identified the same growth pathway as a critical contributor to brain tumor formation and growth in neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1), an inherited cancer predisposition syndrome. “This suggests that the tools we’ve been developing to diagnose and …

People with diabetes often develop clogged arteries that cause heart disease, and new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that low vitamin D levels are to blame. In a study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the researchers report that blood vessels are less likely to clog in people with diabetes who get adequate vitamin D. But in patients with insufficient vitamin D, immune cells bind to blood vessels near the heart, then trap cholesterol to block those blood vessels. “About 26 million Americans now have type 2 diabetes,” said …

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a $50 million grant to help speed the translation of scientific discoveries into improvements in human health.  The grant, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports the School of Medicine’s Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), one of 60 such centers in the United States. “We’re working to advance clinical and translational research throughout the university,” said ICTS Director Bradley A. Evanoff, MD, assistant dean for clinical and translational research. “The ICTS is not built around one …

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a five-year, $2.7 million grant to detect and analyze differences in the brains of children with a rare illness, Wolfram syndrome. The disorder, which is caused by mutations in a single gene, includes a severe form of diabetes, hearing and vision loss and kidney problems. Eventually, patients lose muscle control and coordination due to degeneration in the brain. More than half of the patients die before they turn 40, often due to atrophy in the brainstem that contributes to respiratory failure. The illness …

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of heart disease and increase longevity, does not appear to offer these benefits in healthy women, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates.The study, reported online Oct. 25 in Cell Metabolism, involved 29 post-menopausal women who did not have type 2 diabetes and who were reasonably healthy. For 12 weeks, half took an over-the-counter resveratrol supplement, and the rest got a placebo, or sugar pill. Studying healthy, middle-aged women, researchers found that …

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a key difference in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and those who are cognitively normal but still have brain plaques that characterize this type of dementia. “There is a very interesting group of people whose thinking and memory are normal, even late in life, yet their brains are full of amyloid beta plaques that appear to be identical to what’s seen in Alzheimer’s disease,” said David L. Brody, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology. “How this can occur is a tantalizing clinical question. It …

A process developed to increase efficiency and productivity in Japanese car factories has helped improve stroke treatment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, report researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. By applying the principles of Toyota’s lean manufacturing process, doctors sharply reduced the average time between patient arrival and treatment, known as door-to-needle time, from 58 to 37 minutes.  The findings are reported Oct. 18 in the journal Stroke. In an average year, the medical school’s physicians treat 1,300 stroke patients at Barnes-Jewish.  Beginning stroke…

A major study in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) shows that bathing patients daily with an antimicrobial soap and applying antibiotic ointment in the nose reduced by 44 percent the bloodstream infections caused by dangerous pathogens, including the drug-resistant bacteria MRSA. The effort to remove potentially harmful bacteria from ICUs also lowered by 37 percent the number of patients who harbored MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) on their bodies. These patients were not sick from the bacteria but at risk for later illness and for spreading the germ to others.  The …

At least 15 states, from Texas to Idaho now report cases of fugal meningitis, believed to be connected to steroid shots to treat back pain, the Associated Press reports. There are no cases tied to the state of Missouri. The shots, manufactured by New England Compounding Center in Massacusetts, have been the subject of a voluntary recall, according to the Centers For Disease Control, along with any other products compounded or distributed by the company's facility in Framingham, MA. As of Tuesday, there have been more than 230 injuries and 15 deaths reported natonwide. Tuesday afternoon, …

Scanning the DNA of two people with a rare disease has led scientists to identify the precise genetic error responsible for their disorder, primary ciliary dyskinesia.  The condition affects the tiny hair-like structures, called cilia, that extend from various cells in the body, and causes a range of symptoms: persistent lung, sinus and ear infections, male infertility, and sometimes a reversed orientation of major organs in the body.  The new discovery, by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is reported online in the American Journal of Human Genetics.  The …