Medicine & Health

Digoxin, a medication that has been used to treat heart failure, may be adaptable for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive, paralyzing disease, suggests new research at the School of Medicine.

Washington University School of Medicine recently teamed up with the Saint Louis Art Museum and the university’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum to scan some very unusual patients: three Egyptian mummies.

School of Medicine scientists have described a way to convert human skin cells directly into a specific type of brain cell affected by Huntington’s disease, an ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Unlike other techniques that turn one cell type into another, this new process does not pass through a stem cell phase, avoiding the production of multiple cell types.

“Long tail” thinking — a strategy employed by many new businesses — might yield greater progress the field of public health by eliminating health disparities, according to a study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis led by Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD.

People at high risk for psychological distress respond positively to receiving results of personalized genetic testing, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. More than 60 percent of subjects in the genetic study wanted information about their test results, and 95 percent said they appreciated receiving the information, regardless of whether the results were good or bad news.

Social media marketing strategies present both challenges and opportunities for public health professionals. While misinformation can be spread, social media does provide an effective way of reaching large audiences. Situational analysis by researchers at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis of a recent social media campaign by the Chicago Department of Public Health suggests that public health organizations need to pay close attention to how they disseminate information, and also to the response the campaign gets.

Faculty in the Division of Emergency Medicine are hosting a regional conference on out-of-hospital medicine from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23 and 24, at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis. Out-of-hospital medicine refers to treatment provided by emergency medical services (EMS) that operate under the supervision of physicians.

Although he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to go to medical school, ophthalmologist Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, now heads the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. And he’s pioneering a phone app that could revolutionize the way people are screened for particular eye diseases.

Kelle H. Moley, MD, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors medical scientists in the United States can receive. Moley was honored for her professional achievement in the health sciences.

At least 2 percent of people over age 40 and 5 percent of people over 70 have mutations linked to leukemia and lymphoma in their blood cells, according to new research led by Li Ding, PhD, at the School of Medicine.