Brown School study analyzes Twitter hashtags associated with diabetes

An analysis of Twitter hashtag use on the subject of diabetes provides new insights about spreading health information through social media. The study, led by Jenine Harris, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looked at the hashtag #diabetes and its interaction with two Twitter measures of engagement, retweeting and favoriting. The study found retweeting and favoriting was significantly lower for tweets about the number or percentage of people with diabetes, while favoriting was higher for tweets about health problems associated with diabetes.

New clues in mice link cholesterol to fertility

Whether made by the body or ingested through diet, cholesterol plays a vital role in cells. Cholesterol also is a building block of steroids and hormones, including those that trigger puberty and support pregnancy. A new study, led by Daniel Ory, MD, implicates a surprising regulator of cholesterol in cells’ ability to make these hormones, especially in tissues associated with fertility, such as the ovaries.

New chief of pediatric orthopaedic surgery named

Charles A. Goldfarb, MD, has been appointed chief of pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. A hand and wrist specialist, Goldfarb currently is a professor of orthopaedic surgery, co-chief of the department’s hand and wrist service and medical director of the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Orthopedic Center in Chesterfield.

New chief of spine surgery named

Munish C. Gupta, MD, has been appointed professor and chief of spine surgery in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He comes from the University of California, Davis and will assume his new duties Sept. 1.
Nanotherapy effective in mice with multiple myeloma

Nanotherapy effective in mice with multiple myeloma

Researchers have designed a nanoparticle-based therapy that is effective in treating mice with multiple myeloma, a cancer of bone marrow immune cells. Targeted specifically to the malignant cells, these nanoparticles protect their therapeutic cargo from degradation in the bloodstream and greatly enhance drug delivery into the cancer cells.
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