Author: Jim Dryden

Either physical therapy or arthroscopic surgery can relieve pain and improve mobility in patients with a torn meniscus and arthritis in the knee, according to researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and six other centers. But the results are not simple because many of the patients assigned to physical therapy eventually had surgery.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can coax cells to move toward a beam of light. The feat is a first step toward manipulating cells to control insulin secretion or heart rate using light.

Researchers at Washington University have identified a new set of genetic markers for Alzheimer’s disease that point to a second pathway through which the disease develops. Much of the genetic research in Alzheimer’s centers on amyloid-beta, a key component of brain plaques in people with the disease. But the new study identified several genes linked to the tau protein, which is found in tangles.

A new study raises the intriguing possibility that drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that age-related macular degeneration shares a common link with atherosclerosis. Both problems have the same underlying defect: the inability to remove a buildup of fat and cholesterol.

Leesa M. Galatz, MD, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship program, is pioneering new treatments for rotator cuff injuries.​

Studying gene activity in tissue removed from injured knees, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that genes related to obesity and aging may contribute to the development of osteoarthritis, the most common knee disorder and the most common disorder in all of the joints.

Teens who were depressed as children are far more likely than their peers to be obese, smoke cigarettes and lead sedentary lives, even if they no longer suffer from depression. The research, by scientists at the School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh, suggests that depression, even in children, can increase the risk of heart problems later in life.

People with HIV have an elevated risk of heart attacks, diabetes and insulin problems, and there are not many drug options to prevent those problems due to concerns that they will weaken the immune system. But a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine has shown that a diabetes drug appears to be safe in patients and does not dampen their immunity.

A Washington University retina specialist is one of 10 U.S. scientists selected by the National Eye Institute for an innovative project to improve or restore vision. The winning proposal from vitreoretinal surgery fellow Rajesh C. Rao, MD, was chosen from nearly 500 entries. Rao was the youngest winner in the national competition.

People who grew up in states where it was legal to drink alcohol before the age of 21 are more likely to be binge drinkers later in life. Washington University researchers found that people who lived in states with lower minimum drinking ages weren’t more likely to consume more alcohol overall, but when they did drink, they were more likely to drink heavily.