Medicine & Health

Researchers at the School of Medicine have found a compound that may treat inflammatory bowel disease without directly targeting inflammation. The compound tamps down the activity of a gene linked to blood clotting.

With the aid of a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, School of Medicine researchers are studying why immunity elicited by the flu vaccine wanes so rapidly. The goal is a better, longer-lasting flu vaccine.

Over-testing for urinary tract infections (UTIs) leads to unnecessary antibiotic use, which spreads antibiotic resistance. Infectious disease specialists at the School of Medicine made changes to hospital procedures that cut urine tests by nearly half without compromising doctors’ abilities to detect UTIs.

A School of Medicine study of adults with lumbar scoliosis and found that the most important factor in determining whether to do surgery is the extent of a patient’s disability due to his or her spinal deformity, as well as how much that disability interferes with day-to-day life.

One in four older adults experiences delirium after surgery. However, School of Medicine researchers have found that closely monitoring brain activity and minimizing anesthesia if needed has no significant effect on the occurrence of delirium.

The Trump Administration released a proposed rule Jan. 31 that could alter the way many drugs are priced and paid for among Medicare and Medicaid plans. The proposed regulation would eliminate the regulatory safe harbor for rebates as they exist today, said Rachel Sachs, an expert on drug policy and pricing at Washington University in St. Louis.

The School of Medicine’s Steven Teitelbaum, MD, has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine for his work on bone biology. The award recognizes scientists whose work has major benefits for humanity.

A study in mice and people from the School of Medicine shows that sleep deprivation causes tau levels to rise and tau tangles to spread through the brain, accelerating Alzheimer’s brain damage.

In a new study from the School of Medicine, scientists have blocked the destruction of nerve axons in mice, a step toward helping patients with various neurodegenerative disorders.

In studying a bacterium that causes disease in hospitalized people, researchers at the School of Medicine have figured out a key step in the transmission of antibiotic resistance from one bacterium to another. Their insight suggests a new strategy for stopping the spread of antibiotic resistance.