Author: Jim Dryden

Dr. Mario Castro and nurse Michelle Jenkerson visit with patient Wil Klages and his mom, Peg Klages.Studying Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) to learn what puts children at risk for the most severe infections, Washington University researchers at St. Louis Children’s Hospital found that a child’s age at the time of infection and whether that child lives with a smoker could mean the difference between the sniffles and the intensive care unit.

Rates of celiac disease are significantly higher in patients with osteoporosis, according to researchers at the School of Medicine. They recommend using blood tests to screen osteoporosis patients for celiac disease because their study has shown that treating celiac disease with diet can restore bone health in these patients.

Research on alcoholism and disorders that tend to occur with it will be presented by national experts at the fifth annual Guze Symposium on Alcoholism. The symposium is dedicated to the late Samuel B. Guze, M.D., a pioneer in alcoholism research, who served 18 years as vice chancellor for medical affairs and president of the Washington University Medical Center.

Heather Parrott and Jay Webb measure accelerations on a frozen field.This month, more than 130 million people will tune their televisions to football’s biggest event, the Super Bowl. It’s not certain which team will win, but it’s a good bet that someone may be injured. In fact, injuries are common to football at every level. In recent years, the sport has focused on playing fields as a significant source of injury, and new surfaces have been developed. But are the new surfaces safer? Emergency medicine researchers at the School of Medicine have found that in terms of concussion risk, the new fields are no safer, and they may get worse over time.

Heather Parrott and Jay Webb measure accelerations on a frozen field.This month, more than 130 million people will tune their televisions to football’s biggest event, the Super Bowl. It’s not certain which team will win, but it’s a good bet that someone may be injured. In fact, injuries are common to football at every level. In recent years, the sport has focused on playing fields as a significant source of injury, and new surfaces have been developed. But are the new surfaces safer? Emergency medicine researchers at the School of Medicine have found that in terms of concussion risk, the new fields are no safer, and they may get worse over time.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Light meter in eyes (week of Oct. 6) • Clinically depressed children (week of Oct. 13) • Ear infections linked to GERD (week of Oct. 20) • Halloween safety (week of Oct. 27)

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Siteman Cancer Center (week of Jan. 5) • Scientists grow norovirus (week of Jan. 12) • Protein linked to depression (week of Jan. 19) • Human head hair isn’t fur (week of Jan. 26)

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • DHEA reduces fat in elderly (week of Dec. 1) • Chicken genome (week of Dec. 8) • Schizophrenia risk factors (week of Dec. 15) • Homeless population has changed (week of Dec. 22) • SIDS risk (week of Dec. 29)

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Flu vaccine (week of Nov. 3) • Cutting calories doesn’t help memory (week of Nov. 10) • Great American Smokeout (week of Nov. 17) • Gut microbes control fat cells (week of Nov. 24)

Chimpanzees don’t need haircuts.Mammals have fur over most of their bodies, but at some point during evolution, we humans lost that fur covering. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis argue that hair on the head is somehow different from fur because fur stops growing when it reaches a certain length, but our head hair continues to grow.