Medicine & Health

More than half of HIV patients experience memory problems and other cognitive impairments as they age, and doctors know little about the underlying causes. New research from the School of Medicine suggests HIV-related cognitive deficits share a common link with Alzheimer’s-related dementia: low levels of the protein amyloid beta in the spinal fluid.

In the United States, caring for a child with special health care needs usually means higher medical expenses for a family — particularly for low-income families, who spend a disproportionally large share of their income on their child’s care. Yet the amount of financial burden for these families also depends on their state of residence, says Paul T. Shattuck, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. “The percentage of low-income families in a given state with out-of-pocket expenses that exceeded 3 percent of their income varied considerably according to state and ranged from 5 percent to 25. 8 percent (District of Columbia and Montana, respectively).” Video available.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is one of 10 programs nationwide to receive a $2.4 million grant to establish a scholars program. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant establishes the medical school as a Women’s Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center.

Pancreatic tumors can be identified by a readily detectable marker that shows promise as a basis for immune therapy against the disease, according to research at the School of Medicine.

Research into Alzheimer’s disease seems an unlikely approach to yield a better way to fight urinary tract infections (UTIs), but that’s what scientists at the School of Medicine, and elsewhere report. One element links the disparate areas of research: amyloids, which are fibrous, sticky substances.

In conjunction with World AIDS Day, the School of Medicine’s Infectious Diseases Clinic will offer free, confidential HIV testing Monday, Nov. 30 – Thursday, Dec. 3, from 9 am – 4 pm. No appointment is necessary. Participants will receive a rapid HIV test using a finger prick to obtain a drop of blood. Results will be available 20 minutes after testing.

Studies have suggested that asthma patients with a specific genetic variation might not respond as well to certain treatments as those with a different variation. But a new study in this week’s edition of The Lancet shows that patients with either variation respond to combination treatment, and that this treatment should be continued, School of Medicine researchers report.

Iowa StateIn recent years, scientists have decoded the DNA of humans and a menagerie of creatures but none with genes as complex as a stalk of corn, the latest genome to be unraveled. A team of scientists led by The Genome Center at the School of Medicine published the completed corn genome in the Nov. 20 journal Science, an accomplishment that will speed efforts to develop better crop varieties to meet the world’s growing demands for food, livestock feed and fuel.

For years, it has been widely assumed that older adults may experience memory loss and other cognitive problems following surgery. But a new study by School of Medicine researchers questions that assumption. In the 575 patients they studied, the investigators did not detect any long-term cognitive declines attributable to surgery.

Alexander Garza, M.D., assistant secretary for health affairs and chief medical officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will come to the School of Medicine to speak about the H1N1 flu pandemic.