First scholars named to clinical research development program
A program designed to promote multidisciplinary collaboration in clinical research has named its first group of scholars.
Antidepressant drug may prevent recurrence of depression in patients with diabetes
Patrick Lustman meets with a patient.A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that an antidepressant medication may reduce the risk of recurrent depression and increase the length of time between depressive episodes in patients with diabetes. Controlling depression in diabetes is important in helping patients manage their blood sugar. As depression improves, glucose levels also tend to improve. Although depression affects about 5 percent of the general population, the rate is about 25 percent for patients with diabetes. More…
Smokers seven times more likely to receive jolt from heart devices
If some patients with heart disease don’t take their doctor’s advice to quit smoking, they are probably going to get “shocking” reminders. A study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that heart patients who had implanted defibrillators and also smoked were seven times more likely to have the devices jolt their hearts back into normal rhythm than nonsmokers with the devices. More…
Research finds sugar required for healthy brain development
ZebrafishTo learn more about how glucose affects human development, Washington University researchers have developed the first vertebrate model of the role of glucose in embryonic brain development. The model is made up of zebrafish. Their transparent embryos develop similarly to humans, except that they grow outside of the mother’s body, where development can be more easily observed. The model provides the foundation for and insight into the roles of nutrition and genetics in human birth defects. The research also may have implications for patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. More…
Surgeons within the same hospital generate widely different costs
Bob Boston/WUSTL PhotoTwo surgeons at the same hospital perform the same operations on patients with similar medical histories. Their costs to the hospital are similar, right? Not necessarily. There could be a difference as high as 45 percent. New research from Washington University in St. Louis finds that even when controlling for complexity of the operation and patient risk, surgeons incurred a wide range of hospital costs. More…
Ethnobotanist says non-regulated herbs pose risks
David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoMemory Elvin-Lewis in the Goldfarb Greenhouse inspects a kava plant. Elvin-Lewis has written a chapter in a new book that is critical of the unregulated U.S. herbal trade.Ginsengs, echinaceas, and ephedras, oh my! These herbs sound innocuous enough, however, according to Memory Elvin-Lewis, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and ethnobotany in biomedicine in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Americans are unaware of the dangers inherent in these herbal supplements. More…
Engineers hope to provide smooth slide for kids with cochlear implants
Courtesy image/WUSTL PhotoFor some deaf children, a plastic slide is a more formidable foe than the school wedgie-giver. Static electricity buildup from sliding down a plastic slide — instant summertime fun for those with normal hearing — can temporarily silence the world to cochlear implantees. Two electrical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis tested static electricity buildup — which can zap a cochlear implant — on sliding children to quantify the sparks. Thanks to some publicity and increased awareness, their research has inspired the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department to consider the problem, and an anti-static coating company to try to solve it. More…
Researchers find protein that silences genes
Olga Pontes & Craig PikaardThe protein HDA6 shows up as a red stain in this Arabidopsis leaf cell nucleus.A team of researchers, including biologists at Washington University in St. Louis, has discovered the key role one protein plays in a major turn-off — in this case, the turning off of thousands of nearly identical genes in a hybrid plant. Studying the phenomenon of nucleolar dominance, in which one parental set of ribosomal genes in a hybrid is silenced, Craig Pikaard, Ph.D., Washington University professor of biology in Arts & Sciences and colleagues have identified the protein HDA6 as an important player in the silencing. More…
Researchers investigate whether diet, exercise decrease frailty in obese elderly
Researchers at the School of Medicine have found that obese elderly people can improve their physical function and lessen frailty by losing weight and exercising.
Scientists solve 30-year-old mystery of mutant mouse’s kidney woes
Researchers seeking insights into kidney failure in human infants have located the source of a 30-year-old mystery mutation that causes similar problems in a mouse line.
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