Newsroom Stories

Tips for kicking the butts.The Great American Smokeout — the day each November the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to say “no thanks” to cigarettes for 24 hours — helps many people recognize how dangerous smoking is and how much they really want to quit, says a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis who is an expert on helping people gain control of personal habits.

Keith Brandt performs a breast reconstruction using the TRAM flap procedure.When a breast cancer patient requires a mastectomy, cancer surgeons and reconstructive plastic surgeons at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WUSM now perform a technique called the TRAM (traverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous) flap procedure, which allows surgeons to use the patient’s own tissues to recreate a natural breast.

British tenor Paul Elliott will join Washington University’s Kingsbury Ensemble for a concert titled “Love and War: Music of the Early Italian Baroque” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20.

Soprano Emily Heslop, library assistant at Washington University’s Gaylord Music Library, and tenor James Harr, voice instructor in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, will present a voice recital 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22.

Argentine tango maestro Pablo Alonso will host a week of dances and workshops Nov. 19-26 for The Tango Group at Washington University.

Abdominal fat reduction with DHEA useIn a six-month study of elderly people, researchers at the School of Medicine found that the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) significantly reduced abdominal fat and improved insulin action. This finding suggests that DHEA may be able to counter the increase in abdominal fat and accompanying increased risk for diabetes that very often occurs as we grow older.

Getting an annual mammogram is recommended for healthy women beginning at age 40, and it could be even more important for women between 40 and 50. In the following Post-Dispatch article, Barbara Monsees, professor of radiology and head of the breast imaging section at Siteman Cancer Center, notes that breast cancer can be more aggressive among patients in that age group.

A comparison of the genetic codes of a type of algae, a weed and humans has led researchers to a gene linked to a human illness. More medical articles

Courtesy photoAmy HempelAuthor Amy Hempel, widely recognized as one of America’s finest writers of short fiction, will host a colloquium on the craft of fiction at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17. In addition, Hempel will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18.

In the midst of the growing epidemic of obesity, a group of researchers at the School of Medicine has dived into the human gene pool to look for solutions. The group recently identified genetic variations unique to obese men and are now embarking on a wider search to find additional genes linked to obesity.