School of Medicine

A national study performed at the medical school showed that corticosteroids are good for treating symptoms of asthma in preschoolers, but not for preventing the disease. More medical news

Washington University in St. Louis will host a symposium May 30-31 to bring together people interested in developing new enterprises in Missouri based on research discoveries.

Infectious disease experts at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital will participate in a new multicenter research network dedicated to assessing, treating and preventing hospital-acquired infections.

Preliminary studies have shown that almost 50 percent of people who experience uncontrolled asthma symptoms have a chronic airway infection that they aren’t aware of. Now researchers at the School of Medicine are testing to see if treatment with an antibiotic will ease asthma symptoms in these patients.

If you’ve regularly been coughing, wheezing or short of breath, you may want to get tested for asthma at the Saint Louis Science Center on Saturday, May 20. As part of a nationwide program, Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital physicians will be at the Science Center to test lung function and answer questions about asthma. The screenings are free.

Treating young children at high risk for asthma for two years with an inhaled steroid continually decreased asthma-like symptoms but did not prevent the disease after the medication was stopped, a study involving researchers at the School of Medicine shows.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Diabetes and depression (week of May 3) • Lessen frailty by losing weight (week of May 10) • Smokers get more jolts (week of May 17) • Sunscreen is more than just SPF (week of May 24) • Tumor location doesn’t really matter (week of May 31)

There is good news for women who may not want to take a breast cancer drug because of the risks of developing more serious diseases.

Researchers at the School of Medicine are the first to identify a mutated gene that gives insight into kidney failure in human infants. More medical news

A program designed to promote multidisciplinary collaboration in clinical research has named its first group of scholars.