Medicine & Health

Wearing decorative contact lenses on Halloween — also known as fashion, color, cosmetic or theatre contact lenses — changes the look of the eyes, but the lenses don’t correct vision. If used incorrectly, they can impair vision and damage the eyes, according to an optometrist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Washington University scientists have demonstrated a rigorous way to test the effects of probiotic bacteria on digestive health: they zeroed in on the community of microbes that naturally live in the intestine and help to digest foods our bodies can’t on their own.

A major U.S. study shows that annual chest X-rays to screen for lung cancer do not reduce the risk of dying from the disease, even in smokers or former smokers. More than 150,000 older Americans were involved in the clinical trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute, with about 16,000 enrolled at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Results of the study will be published Nov. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Andrey Shaw, MD, wanted to be a classical pianist and had just finished his bachelor’s degree in music when he realized that he didn’t like getting up on stage and performing in front of a crowd. Plan B was to study medicine. That didn’t quite work out exactly as planned, either, but it eventually lead him to a successful career researching the immune system, the kidney and anything else that catches his scientific interest.

From its humble beginning as a mimeographed, five-page news-sheet to today’s four-color, 36-page, high-quality glossy magazine and multimedia online presence, Outlook magazine has long been the featured source of information about the people and events of Washington University School of Medicine. Now complete issues of Outlook, from 1964-2011, are available in PDF format.

People visiting the Center for Advanced Medicine (CAM) on the campus of Washington University School of Medicine might be surprised to hear live music as they arrive at the facility’s bustling lobby. But for the past decade, the CAM has offered not only patient care at nearly two dozen treatment centers and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, but also a tradition of impromptu entertainment.

The Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis marks its 100th anniversary this month with a series of events, including lectures and a symposium featuring some of today’s most visionary scientific thinkers.

Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. For many years, scientists have scratched their own heads about why the drugs so often induce itch while they are suppressing pain. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can control the opioid-induced itching without interfering with a drug’s ability to relieve pain.  

Scientists have developed a way to evaluate new treatments for some forms of attention deficit disorder. Working in mice, researchers at the School of Medicine showed that they can use brain scans to quickly test whether drugs increase levels of dopamine. The same group found that raising dopamine levels in mice alleviates attention deficits caused by neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a condition that affects more than 100,000 people in the United States.

Washington University in St. Louis has received a five-year, $3 million grant to establish a new center to develop better ways to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes in high-risk patients, including American Indians and Alaska Natives, says Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD, director of the new center.