Medicine & Health

The fruit of the saw palmetto tree does not relieve symptoms of an enlarged prostate, even when men take the herbal supplement in very high doses, a new study shows.

Researchers have identified the first genetic variant associated with severity of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Though this variant is not likely the cause of more severe coronary disease, the researchers say, it implicates a gene that could be. Such a gene has promise as a future target for treating coronary artery disease in diabetic patients.

A marker for Alzheimer’s disease rises and falls in the spinal fluid in a daily pattern that echoes the sleep cycle, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. The pattern is strongest in healthy young people and reinforces a link between increased Alzheimer’s risk and inadequate sleep that had been discovered in animal models.

Katie Plax, MD, and The SPOT have received the Promising Practices Award for Promoting Adolescents’ Strengths from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Adolescent Health Partnership Project.

Brent Ruoff’s quick thinking and calm demeanor have likely saved his own life in the wilderness, and he draws on these same skills when diagnosing and caring for patients who arrive with shattered bones, gunshot wounds or head injuries. 

New research shows that the likelihood of a medical school graduate becoming board certified is linked to age at graduation, race and ethnicity, and level of debt. The study, by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, was published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis will host its fourth annual conference, titled “Beyond Borders: Transforming Health at Home & Abroad,” from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Eric P. Newman Education Center on the Medical Campus.

The Global Health Scholars Internal Medicine Program brought the world to the Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza as part of its inaugural Global Health Scholars Week (Sept. 18-24). At a marketplace with international food, crafts and entertainment, (from left) Global Health Scholars and Barnes-Jewish Hospital residents Rohan Ahluwalia, MD, and Tima Karaki, MD, talk with Jan Muraski, transportation services manager at the medical school, about the efforts of the program.

One of the most promising markers of Alzheimer’s disease, previously thought  only to be inside nerve cells, now appears to be normally released from nerve cells throughout life, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The Department of Neurological Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine celebrates its 100th anniversary this month. Over the past century, it has become internationally known for its groundbreaking basic and clinical research, dedication to patient care and outstanding training of residents. The department’s origins can be traced to the 1911 arrival at the School of Medicine of Ernest Sachs, MD, who became the world’s first professor of neurological surgery in 1919.