Medicine & Health

Mice with chronic herpes virus infections can better resist the bacterium that causes plague and a bacterium that causes one kind of food poisoning, researchers report in this week’s Nature. Scientists at the School of Medicine attributed the surprising finding to changes in the immune system triggered by the long-term presence of a latent herpes virus infection.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Alcohol’s effect on spouses (week of May 2) • DNA links to autism (week of May 9) • Fewer steroids for some with asthma (week of May 16) • Increasing blood flow (week of May 16) • New treatment for heart disorder (week of May 30)

Robert J. Hayashi, M.D., has been named director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. A member of the faculty at the School of Medicine since 1992, Hayashi is an associate professor of pediatrics.

When repairing severed or damaged motor nerves with a donor nerve graft, surgeons have traditionally used a sensory nerve from another area of the patient’s body. However, these patients often do not fully regain function in the injured area. But now a team of surgeons at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital has found that repairing a motor nerve in rats with an intact motor nerve yields better results than using a sensory nerve. The research appeared in the March issue of the journal Microsurgery.

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.

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.

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.

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.