Author: Jim Dryden

Mania can be confused with ADHD.Child psychiatry researchers at the School of Medicine have identified a small group of preschoolers who appear to suffer from bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness. The researchers reported they had identified key symptoms that distinguish bipolar disorder from other problems in very young children. Diagnosing bipolar disorder in childhood can be difficult because the manic phase of the illness can be confused with the more common attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

WUSM researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder.More than 80 percent of the U.S. population gambles at some time in their lives. It might be the lottery, bingo or poker. Most never need treatment for problem gambling, but others lose control and lose their houses or cars and damage family relationships as a result of compulsive gambling. Little is known about why people gamble and how to predict who is likely to become a pathological gambler, but Washington University researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder, and they’re beginning to learn who is at risk.

WUSM researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder.More than 80 percent of the U.S. population gambles at some time in their lives. It might be the lottery, bingo or poker. Most never need treatment for problem gambling, but others lose control and lose their houses or cars and damage family relationships as a result of compulsive gambling. Little is known about why people gamble and how to predict who is likely to become a pathological gambler, but Washington University researchers have developed a diagnostic tool for identifying pathological gambling disorder, and they’re beginning to learn who is at risk.

Structure of the fatty acid receptor CD36As you stand at buffet tables during holiday parties this year, it might cheer you up to know most people don’t gain as much weight over the holidays as once was thought. Instead of five or 10 pounds, most of us actually gain only a pound or two. But it might depress you to know that weight gain happens one pound at a time, and in the long run, it may be hard to avoid — especially for some of us, because some of the taste buds in our tongues are programmed to make us crave fatty food — and fat is everywhere in our diets. French researchers recently reported that mice have a receptor in their tongues that can sense fat, and the presence of that receptor seems to drive the mice to crave fat in their diets. The research was based on work from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where investigators previously had identified a protein receptor for fat and documented its function in recognizing and using fatty food.

Mania can be confused with ADHD.Child psychiatry researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a small group of preschoolers who appear to suffer from bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness. In findings presented this fall to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the researchers reported they had identified key symptoms that distinguish bipolar disorder from other problems in very young children. Diagnosing bipolar disorder in childhood can be difficult because the manic phase of the illness can be confused with the more common attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The confusion arises because mania and ADHD both involve hyperactivity, irritability and distractibility.

School of Medicine faculty, John C. Morris, M.D., James Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., Zsolt Urban, Ph.D., Carolyn J. Anderson, Ph.D., and more…

Researchers reported on a study of 33 professional baseball pitchers in the October issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Pitchers often lose range of motion in their pitching elbows.Now that the Chicago White Sox have swept the Houston Astros in the World Series, most baseball players are taking some time to rest. Time off is especially important for pitchers because throwing a baseball overhand is both an unnatural motion and a burden on the shoulder and elbow. Now a research team led by Washington University sports medicine specialists has found that professional pitchers have significantly decreased range of motion in their throwing elbows.

Pitchers often lose range of motion in their pitching elbows.Now that the Chicago White Sox have swept the Houston Astros in the World Series, most baseball players are taking some time to rest. Time off is especially important for pitchers because throwing a baseball overhand is both an unnatural motion and a burden on the shoulder and elbow. Now a research team led by Washington University sports medicine specialists has found that professional pitchers have significantly decreased range of motion in their throwing elbows. But that limited range of motion doesn’t seem to be influenced by the age of the pitcher, how many innings he has pitched or whether he has a history of injuries.

According to School of Medicine research recently published in the Journal of Periodontology, our teeth may be light-sensitive.