Author: Jim Dryden

Your DNA influences how much you smoke and whether you will develop lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A study, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, is the first large-scale effort to match genetics with smoking, lung cancer and COPD combined. The investigators studied 38,000 smokers and found that two groups of gene variants on chromosome 15 influence the risk for all three problems.

Standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) involves alternating chest compressions with rescue breaths. But heart attack patients who receive CPR from bystanders fare better if their resuscitators skip the rescue breaths and do only chest compression, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized in the past, according to a new study, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  

A Washington University scientist has been working with the federal government to determine what makes heart disease disabling. To determine cardiac disability, the committee recommended more functional testing and also discussed the need to evaluate not only a patient’s heart but the patient’s mood as well because depression can make heart disease worse. 

An international team of Alzheimer’s disease experts, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has uncovered a gene variation that appears to predict the rate at which Alzheimer’s disease will progress. Whereas previous studies have focused on factors that influence the risk for developing Alzheimer’s, the new research points to a way to determine how rapidly the disease will progress. 

Young athletes are especially vulnerable to concussions because their brains are still developing. A team of concussion experts, led by a Washington University sports medicine specialist, recommends that no athlete be allowed back into competition the day of injury. It may be weeks or even months before it’s safe to go back on the playing field.  

Surgeons and rehabilitation specialists concentrate on the anatomical and mechanical aspects, but Linda Sandell, PhD, looks at the biology behind arthritis, broken bones and cartilage tears.The Mildred B. Simon Professor and director of research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery says there are a number of opportunities to apply biology to orthopaedic problems.  

Adults diagnosed with ulcerative colitis after age 50 are more likely to achieve remission from their symptoms than patients diagnosed at younger ages, even when those patients receive similar treatments, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study is the first to look at patients whose colitis was treated with modern medications. Nearly 1 million U.S. adults have ulcerative colitis. 

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to significantly reduce atherosclerosis in mice that does not involve lowering cholesterol levels or eliminating other obesity-related problems. Atherosclerosis is the process through which fatty substances, such as cholesterol and cellular waste products accumulate in the lining of arteries. The research team inhibited atherosclerosis in the mice by interfering with production of a substance called fatty acid synthase, an enzyme that converts dietary sugars into fatty acids in the liver.  

The saying “You are who you hang around with” seems especially true when it comes to alcohol, cigarette and drug use. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting that people who hang out with marijuana, cigarette or alcohol users are not only more likely to do the same, but that exposure allows genetic tendencies for substance use to become more robust.