Medicine & Health

A new School of Medicine study has shown that specific bacteria living in the upper small intestines of malnourished children play a causal role in stunted growth and other damaging side effects of malnutrition. The knowledge could lead to better therapies.

Trish Kohl and Lora Iannotti, associate professors at Washington University’s Brown School, have received a five-year $3.2 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health to study stunted growth and development in children in Haiti.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found that gene therapy in mice helped build strength and significant muscle mass quickly, while reducing the severity of osteoarthritis. The gene therapy also prevented obesity, even when the mice were fed a high-fat diet.

Disabling a gene in specific mouse cells, School of Medicine researchers have prevented mice from becoming obese, even after the animals had been fed a high-fat diet. The researchers blocked the activity of a gene in immune cells called macrophages, key inflammatory cells.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have transformed stem cells into insulin-producing cells. They used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to correct a defect that caused a form of diabetes, and implanted the cells into mice to reverse diabetes in the animals.

Grandparental child care is linked to nearly a 30% increase in childhood overweight and obesity risk, finds a new analysis from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

A new book from Washington University in St. Louis cultural anthropologist Rebecca Lester explores eating disorders — a topic that impacts and kills almost as many people in the United States as the opioid crisis yet receives a fraction of the sympathy, support or funding.

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests the gut microbiome has an impact on how the body breaks down processed foods, such as cereals, pastas, chocolate and soda. The new knowledge could help in the development of healthier, more nutritious processed foods.

One of the most frequently performed weight-loss surgeries in the world — Roux-en-Y gastric bypass — is effective, but another procedure rarely performed in the U.S. appears to be more effective at eliminating type 2 diabetes in patients with obesity. A study from the School of Medicine explains why.