Medicine & Health

Heart surgeons at the School of Medicine report that by adding a simple 10-20 second step to an operative procedure they achieved a significant improvement in the outcome for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). The surgeons redirected wayward electrical impulses that cause AF by creating precisely placed scars, or ablations, in the heart muscle.

In the first comprehensive study of the genetic basis of psoriasis, researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered seven new sites of common DNA variation that increase the risk of the troublesome skin condition.

ReissCraig Reiss has been named the Sam and Marilyn Fox Distinguished Professor in Medicine at the School of Medicine. Reiss, a cardiologist, directs the Washington University Cardiology Consultants and the Heart Care Institute at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital.

Current medications for seizures are comparable to over-the-counter cold and flu remedies: They block symptoms, but don’t significantly affect the underlying illnesses that cause them. Now scientists at the School of Medicine have taken the first step toward developing another option. They’ve used a drug to prevent the brain abnormalities that lead to seizures in mice with an inherited form of epilepsy.

Nanoparticles (yellow) show that a treated tumor (left) has less blood vessel growth than an untreated tumor.Anyone facing chemotherapy would welcome an advance promising to dramatically reduce their dose of these often harsh drugs. Using nanotechnology, researchers at the School of Medicine have taken a step closer to that goal. The researchers focused a powerful drug directly on tumors in rabbits using drug-coated nanoparticles.

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Piwnica-WormsHelen Piwnica-Worms has been named the first Gerty T. Cori Professor at the School of Medicine. The appointment was announced by Larry Shapiro, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs. The professorship is named in honor of a University faculty member who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine with her husband and fellow faculty member Carl Cori in 1947.

A national review has revealed that positron emission tomography (PET) scans of cancer patients led clinicians to change treatment plans for more than a third of the patients, scientists report this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The Olin Business School now offers a major in healthcare management. Professors from both the medical and business schools will teach courses to both business and non-business majors. The degree will help develop a strong grounding in all aspects of the health care industry as well as in the science behind medicine.

Women over age 65 have a harder time preserving muscle than men of the same age, which probably affects their ability to stay strong and fit, according to research conducted at the School of Medicine and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. For the first time, scientists have shown it is more difficult for older women to replace muscle that is lost naturally because of key differences in the way their bodies process food.