Medicine & Health

Irregular heartbeat — or arrhythmia — can have sudden and often fatal consequences. A biomedical engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis examining molecular behavior in cardiac tissue recently made a surprising discovery that could someday impact treatment of the life-threatening condition.

A study led by researchers at the School of Medicine suggests that measures of amyloid beta in the blood have the potential to help identify people with altered levels of amyloid in their brains or cerebrospinal fluid. The test could identify people who have started down the path toward Alzheimer’s years before symptoms occur.

A new study in mice shows that females vaccinated before pregnancy and infected with Zika virus while pregnant bore young with no trace of the virus. The findings offer evidence that an effective vaccine administered prior to pregnancy can protect vulnerable fetuses.

Jose A. Moron-Concepcion, associate professor of anesthesiology the School of Medicine, studies the emotional component of pain and opioid receptors. He discusses some of the key points addressed in a new report on opioid abuse issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

New research has uncovered compelling evidence that genetics plays a major role in how children look at the world and whether they have a preference for gazing at people’s eyes and faces or at objects.The discovery by researchers at the School of Medicine and Emory University adds new detail to understanding the causes of autism spectrum disorder.

Part of a major 20-year study, new research provides further evidence that surgery is unnecessary for early-stage prostate cancer, although some men whose disease is further along may benefit.

Research from Washington University School of Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, and Stanford University shows that disrupting just one night of sleep in healthy, middle-aged adults causes an increase in a brain protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study led by the School of Medicine has found that viruses in the intestines may affect a person’s chance of developing Type 1 diabetes. Children who carried a specific virus belonging to the Circoviridae family were less likely to head down the path toward diabetes.

Studying pregnant mice, researchers at the School of Medicine found that Zika virus manipulates the body’s normal barrier to infection. They also found that a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, interferes with this process, protecting the fetus from viral infection.

Popular heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been linked to a variety of health problems, including serious kidney damage, bone fractures and dementia. Now, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that longtime use of the drugs also is associated with an increased risk of death.