Medicine & Health

Rising health care costs and diminishing health insurance coverage will be among critical issues debated by leading medical-policy experts as the University hosts a daylong public forum on Medicaid financing June 8.

DXA scans of a male patient with osteoporosisAlthough women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, or porous bone, one in 12 men also suffer from the disease, which can lead to debilitating – or even life-threatening – fractures. In women, low estrogen levels after menopause have been considered an important risk factor for this disorder. Now research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that low amounts of active estrogen metabolites also can increase the the risk of osteoporosis in men.

Using an innovative statistical approach, a research team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, Los Angeles, has identified two regions of DNA linked to autism. They found the suspicious DNA with a much smaller sample of people than has been used traditionally in searches for autism genes.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have developed an agent that protects cells from the lethal effects of radiation, regardless of whether it is given before or after exposure. Using this agent in mice, the investigators found that the treatment helped shield rapidly dividing cells that are most vulnerable to radiation-induced death, providing proof in principle that it is possible to fend off radiation damage.

Women with estrogen-responsive breast cancer are often prescribed a drug that reduces their estrogen levels. But because estrogen is important to bone health, there is widespread concern about how the estrogen-reducing drugs – called aromatase inhibitors – affect bones. A study at the School of Medicine will investigate bone loss in women taking aromatase inhibitors, and researchers are calling for interested women to volunteer.

Gravenhorst’s new ear is repositioned during an office visit to the maxillofacial prosthetics lab.Like any 17-year-old, Emily Gravenhorst follows a routine to get ready for a day of high school. She showers, styles her hair, puts on her make-up and eats breakfast. And just before she leaves the house, she puts on her right ear. That ear was created in the maxillofacial prosthetics laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where one dental specialist and one technician help patients fit back into society after disfigurement due to accident or disease.

YokoyamaA researcher with Hawaiian roots is among the 72 members elected to the National Academy of Sciences this year. Selection for the academy is a prestigious honor that recognizes distinguished and continuing achievement in research and is one of the highest marks of distinction for an American scientist.

Three Washington University scientists are among the 72 members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.

There is renewed hope for treatment of a rare genetic condition that causes rapidly accelerated aging and leads to an average life expectancy of 13 years. Scientists studying the genes of two infants who died of mysterious illnesses found the infants had mutations in LMNA, the same gene altered in patients with the premature aging condition progeria. But the infants’ unusual mutations caused them to make many more bad copies of the gene’s primary protein, lamin A, than progeria patients.

Men and women at risk for alcohol dependence are more likely to choose a mate who also is at risk, say investigators at the School of Medicine. That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that both spouses will end up as problem drinkers.