Medicine & Health

The ruling by Judge Henry E. Hudson of the Federal District Court in Richmond, Va., finding the individual mandate provision of the new health-care law unconstitutional is an important ruling, but it does not settle the question, says Timothy D. McBride, PhD, health economist and associate dean for public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. McBride says that the individual mandate, while just a small piece of the health reform structure, is very important to making all of the parts of health reform work. “It is more or less like pulling on the thread of a garment, and having the whole garment come apart if this disappears,” he says.

The National Children’s Study, the largest study ever conducted in the United States to learn about the health and development of children, is beginning in St. Louis this week.

Neurologists finally have an answer to one of the most important questions about Alzheimer’s disease: Do rising brain levels of a plaque-forming substance mean patients are making more of it or that they can no longer clear it from their brains as effectively? A new study by Randall Bateman, MD, assistant professor of neurology, shows clearance is impaired in Alzheimer’s patients.

School of Medicine students showcase their artistic talents at the Dec. 2 coffeehouse at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center. Medical students such as Kristen Danley gather a few times a year to sing, play piano and other instruments and read poetry.

Washington University Orthopedics has opened a spine center at its outpatient facility in Chesterfield, Mo., to provide comprehensive, specialized care to patients with spine injuries and disorders.  

Harvey A. Friedman, a supporter of aging research at Washington University, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. He was 90. Donations from Friedman and wife Dorismae Hacker Friedman enabled the creation of the Center for Aging at Washington University in St. Louis in 2000.

A new study shows that the environment interacts with DNA in ways that are difficult to predict, even in simple organisms like single-celled yeast, which complicates the prospects for personalized medicine. 

Mary C. Dinauer, MD, PhD, has been named the first Fred M. Saigh Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Alan Pestronk’s experience with neurodegenerative disease helps him tune in to the patient and the caregivers.

Washington University School of Medicine has opened a clinic for patients with treatment-resistant depression that targets those who haven’t responded to standard therapies. When at least two therapies have been tried, and a patient still hasn’t responded, that patient is said to have treatment-resistant depression, according to clinic director Charles R. Conway, MD.