Author: Jim Dryden

Genetic factors influence nicotine withdrawal symptoms and make it difficult for some smokers to quit.Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered evidence linking genetic influences to nicotine withdrawal symptoms that commonly occur when a smoker attempts to quit. Their findings also indicate that genetic factors both related and unrelated to nicotine withdrawal may affect attempts to quit smoking. The team, led by Hong Xian, Ph.D., research assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and researcher at the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, found that genetic influences accounted for 54 percent of failures to quit smoking, and that about one-third of such failures could be attributed to the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

From the 2000 debate at WUSTL, then Gov. Bush answers a question while V.P. Gore looks on.Studying twins, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a link between attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cigarette smoking. There are two major subgroups of children with ADHD. One group combines attention problems with hyperactivity and impulsivity. The other principle type of ADHD involves only attention problems. While looking for genetic factors that might be related to these two subtypes of ADHD, the research team, led by Richard D. Todd, M.D., Ph.D., the Blanche F. Ittelson Professor and director of the William Greenleaf Eliot Division of Child Psychiatry, found that children who suffer from the form of ADHD that includes only attention problems are less likely to receive treatment for the disorder and much more likely to smoke cigarettes. The researchers believe the nicotine in cigarettes may help these children improve their ability to pay attention.

Group Creativity: Music, Theater, Collaboration draws on studies of performing ensembles to provide insights into all group creativity.

Medical Science & Health Tip Sheet

Nanoparticles can be loaded with a variety of things, including imaging agents and drugs.Using nanoparticles, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis hope to send imaging agents and medications directly to specific cells. The research team recently received a three-year contract from the National Cancer Institute to explore nanoparticle technology for cancer detection and treatment. They also have reported success at detecting very early stages of heart disease. The researchers load specific drugs or imaging agents onto nanoparticles. Then, by injecting those packed particles into a patient, they are able to use MRI scans to locate very tiny blood vessels that tend to grow around plaques in cardiac arteries and near tumor cells at the earliest stages of cancer.

The enlarged and distended lungs of an emphysema patient before surgery.Known as lung-volume reduction surgery, the procedure improves overall health and quality of life for people with end-stage emphysema. Now lung surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the positive effects last for as long as five years in more than half of all patients. It is not a cure for emphysema, but studies suggest that the surgery can increase breathing capacity by more than 50 percent. The procedure was developed a decade ago at Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. In select patients with disease that is localized to certain areas of the lung, it is possible to remove the most diseased portions of lung tissue and provide more room for the lung to expand inside the chest cavity.

Voices of Collective Remembering: A goal of this book is to review various understandings of the term collective memory to bring some coherence to the discussion.

campus watch

Medical Science & Health Tip Sheet

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other members of the International Human Genome Consortium announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project more than two years ahead of schedule. By completing the Human Genome Project, researchers believe they are launching a new age of discovery that will transform human health. Knowing the order of the genetic building blocks — commonly abbreviated A, T, C and G (adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine) — should allow scientists to learn more about human development and disorders such as heart disease, psychiatric illness and cancer. Already the genome sequencing effort has helped spur discoveries about breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and sickle cell disease.