Thursday, January 3, 2013
According to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine.
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 appendicitis. But recent reports have suggested that the radiation exposures in CT scans can significantly increase children’s lifetime cancer risk. As a …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The grant will fund innovative cancer research.
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 professor of pathology and immunology, and his team are researching an innovative approach to screen and identify inhibitors of DNA repair that will …
Friday, November 30, 2012
According to new study from Washington University School of Medicine.
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 gastric banding, the researchers report that although both procedures help patients lose weight, gastric bypass does not provide additional advantages for …
Monday, November 26, 2012
According to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine.
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 world.” Now, Holtzman and his colleagues have described the molecular pathway responsible for excess mucus in airway cells and have used that …
Monday, November 19, 2012
New research from Washington University School of Medicine is helping scientists better understand common brain tumor.
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 treat NF1 may also be helpful for sporadic brain tumors,” said senior author David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor of …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
According to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine.
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 principal investigator Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD. “And as obesity rates rise, we expect even more people will develop diabetes. Those patients are more …
Heuckeroth is a pediatric gastroenterologist.
Robert O. Heuckeroth, MD, PhD, has been named the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist and sees patients at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The professorship was established by gifts from medical alumni, former medical residents and other supporters of the School of Medicine. Heuckeroth studies the nervous system in the intestine and colon that controls most aspects of digestion. Defects in this nervous system can cause constipation, vomiting and even life-threatening medical problems. For example, about one in every 5,000 children is born with Hirschsprung’s disease, a serious birth defect that often leads to intestinal blockages. In these …
Monday, October 29, 2012
According to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine.
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 supplementation with resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, does not offer the medical benefits previously thought. “Resveratrol supplements have …
Friday, October 19, 2012
According to new research from the Washington University School of Medicine.
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 treatment earlier can help prevent the brain damage that causes paralysis and loss of speech after a stroke. The researchers say the drop in …
Thursday, October 18, 2012
According to a new study designed by the head of the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.
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 study’s findings will be presented Wednesday, Oct. 17, in San Diego at IDWeek, a meeting of specialists involved in treating or studying infectious …
Joy Richard
6:20 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
When it comes to reducing your risk of heart disease and cancer, there are not many easy and pleasurable ways of prevention. That might be why studies touting the health benefits of red wine consumption always obtain a lot of attention. But is red wine truly the toast of the town with regards to health paybacks? The answer is yes and no. While properties in red wine do help prevent heart disease … more ›