Medicine & Health

Photo by David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoErik Herzog, Ph.D., and graduate student Rachel Huckfeldt attach electrodes to a multielectrode array.Getting over jet lag may be as simple as changing the temperature —your brain temperature, that is. That’s a theory proposed by Erik Herzog, Ph.D. assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Herzog has found that the biological clocks of rats and mice respond directly to temperature changes.

Carrying backpacks the right wayAs parents and kids make their lists for the August back-to-school sales, one item to consider should be a backpack — on wheels, says Nancy J. Bloom, Ph.D., a physical therapy instructor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Kids backs are primarily bearing the weight of their schoolbooks. Bloom says that because young bones are growing all the way through high school, heavy backpacks need to be a major concern. She notes that there are a few important things that kids can do to avoid injury, including carrying their backpacks over both shoulders to balance the load.

Cells afflicted with SARS.Rapid and accurate diagnosis is critical for providing optimum care for patients with SARS and for helping contain the disease and protecting the community. If someone with a severe respiratory illness comes to Barnes-Jewish Hospital or St. Louis Children’s Hospital, emergency department physicians now should be able to tell whether the disease is SARS within a few hours. A team of researchers, led by Michael J. Holtzman, M.D., the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine and professor of cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, developed a diagnostic tool that allows for quick identification of whether a person with respiratory disease has SARS. They also can determine the severity of the infection, and the test can detect the SARS virus even if very few virus molecules make it into the test sample.

Sometimes two shots are better than one. Washington University pediatrician, Robert M. Kennedy, M.D., professor of pediatrics, and other Emergency Department researchers at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, have developed an “ouchless” IV technique. Before inserting a big IV needle into the hand of a child, the physicians first apply numbing gel. Then, they use a tiny needle to inject a local anesthetic into the area before they finally introduce the bigger IV needle. By the time an IV is started, the injection site is numb, and patients who already are in an emergency department, don’t have to face even more pain.

Sophisticated brain imaging reveals that several brain regions can become overactivated when people with Tourette Syndrome perform tasks related to memory.Neuroscience researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are studying the brains of patients with Tourette Syndrome (TS) to see whether they can use sophisticated imaging techniques to identify differences in the dopamine system of people with the tics that characterize TS. A team of researchers, led by Kevin J. Black, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, neurology and radiology at Washington University School of Medicine, is using PET imaging to see what the brain does in response to levodopa, a natural amino acid that has been used for many years to treat movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. With PET imaging, the researchers can measure the boost in the brain’s dopamine levels in response to the drug both in people with Tourette Syndrome and in those who do not have tics. By identifying differences, they hope to isolate the causes of tics and to help people with TS control or eliminate them.

Smoking is more common among kids with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than those without the disorder, but the risk for smoking rises dramatically in those with the inattentive subtype of ADHD.Advances in medical imaging techniques are among the breakthroughs being presented by Washington University researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s 50th Annual Meeting June 21-25 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La. More than 3,600 specialists in the field of nuclear medicine are expected to attend the meeting, which focuses on current issues in nuclear medicine, including bioethics, terrorism using radioactive materials, and controversial topics in the future of PET. WUSTL-related news from the meeting includes research on a new MicroPet technique for improved imaging of small animals and a study suggesting that FDHT-PET scanning of androgen receptors (AR) is successful in imaging patients with prostate cancer. Washington University cancer imaging specialist Barry A. Siegel will receive the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s (SNM) 2003 Georg Charles de Hevesy Nuclear Pioneer Award for his distinguished contributions to nuclear medicine.

A team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the Harvard School of Public Health and several other clinical centers around the United States has found that treating depression and social isolation in recent heart attack patients does not reduce the risk of death or second heart attack. Results from the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease Patients Study (ENRICHD) are published in the June 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Rendering of a human kidney”Most experts believe that kidney disease is caused by an immune response against the kidney,” explains principal investigator Andrey S. Shaw, M.D., professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “But our evidence suggests that defects that are intrinsic to the kidney also contribute to kidney failure.”

*Culex pipiens*, a breed of mosquito known to carry the West Nile VirusIt was a cold winter in much of the country. That’s bad news for mosquitoes, but a wet spring in much of the United States will be a benefit to the buzzing bugs. Vector control specialists have plans in place to eradicate as many mosquitoes as possible, in part to prevent another summer of the West Nile Virus. In 2002, there were more than 4,000 cases reported in the United States, and almost 300 people died. The virus also decimated bird populations. This summer Michael Diamond, M.D., Ph.D., an infectious disease specialist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, believes the situation could worsen if the virus continues to be carried by mosquitoes that bite humans more than birds. Most cases in the United States still involve livestock, and a vaccine for animals recently was approved, but no vaccine exists for humans.

Genetic factors influence nicotine withdrawal symptoms and make it difficult for some smokers to quit.Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered evidence linking genetic influences to nicotine withdrawal symptoms that commonly occur when a smoker attempts to quit. Their findings also indicate that genetic factors both related and unrelated to nicotine withdrawal may affect attempts to quit smoking. The team, led by Hong Xian, Ph.D., research assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and researcher at the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, found that genetic influences accounted for 54 percent of failures to quit smoking, and that about one-third of such failures could be attributed to the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms.