Author: Jim Dryden

A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a pair of proteins excreted in the urine that could lead to earlier and more accurate diagnosis of kidney cancer. The research is the first to identify proteins in urine that appear to accurately reveal the presence of about 90 percent of all kidney cancers. 

The Longer Life Foundation has awarded grants to six research projects on issues related to aging at Washington University School of Medicine. Over the last 10 years, the foundation has awarded more than $2 million to the university to fund independent research into improving methods for predicting long-term mortality.

Most people at risk for developing glaucoma due to high eye pressure do not need treatment, according to a large, multi-center study.

A genome-wide study into the genetic roots of alcoholism has identified several areas of DNA that appear to contribute to the disease. But researchers say those genes make relatively modest contributions to overall risk of alcoholism.

Orthopedic surgeons from the School of Medicine operated Feb. 19 to save the leg of 11-year-old Jean Patrickson, who survived the earthquake in Haiti and was flown to St. Louis for treatment.

Exposure to severe stress early in life increases the risk of alcohol and drug addiction. Yet surprisingly, some adults sexually abused as children — and therefore at high risk for alcohol problems — carry gene variants that protect them from heavy drinking and its effects, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

New School of Medicine research did not find long-term cognitive declines attributable to surgery in a group of older patients.

School of Medicine researchers will join forces in the fight against musculoskeletal disorders at the Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine.

School of Medicine vision scientists have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt to darkness very quickly.

Giving depressed heart patients omega-3 fatty acids with antidepressants did not improve their symptoms, a School of Medicine study found.