Medicine & Health

The diabetes drug rosiglitazone has been under intense scrutiny since a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at more than 40 clinical trials and linked the drug’s use with increased risk of heart attack and death from heart disease.

In a step toward curing diabetes in humans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have alleviated the disease in rats using transplants from both embryonic and adult pigs. The rats adopted the pig transplants as their own and produced enough insulin to control their blood sugar – all without the need for anti-rejection drugs.

Resveratrol — found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts and other plants — stops out-of-control blood vessel growth in the eye, according to vision researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The discovery has implications for preserving vision in blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

Scientists have shown that a specific virus can interact with a mutation in the host’s genes to trigger disease. The observation may help explain why many people with disease risk genes do not actually develop disease.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke in the Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza June 16 prior to the dedication of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine.

In conjunction with National HIV Testing Day, free, confidential HIV testing is available June 28-July 1, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Infectious Diseases Clinic, 4570 Children’s Place. No appointment is necessary.

The first trial of a new model for testing Alzheimer’s treatments has reassured researchers that a promising class of drugs does not exacerbate the disease if treatment is interrupted.

A reflecting pool and plaza with native landscaping will welcome visitors to the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and create an expansive and welcoming green space in the middle of Washington University Medical Center.

The BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will be formally dedicated at a Collaboration Celebration June 16.

Theodore J. Cicero, PhD, has been honored by the College of Problems of Drug Dependence with the 2010 Nathan B. Eddy Award for his pioneering research efforts in the field of drug addiction, research and treatment.The Eddy Award is presented annually to a scientist who has made outstanding contributions in drug abuse research.