Children’s institute launched with goal of curing deadliest diseases

Photo by Robert BostonHelping kick off St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s “Building for Care, Searching for Cures” campaign were Joe Buck, Jonathan D. Gitlin, Lee Fetter and Larry Shapiro.The collaboration will focus on accelerating cures in four areas: congenital heart disease, cancer, lung and respiratory disorders and musculoskeletal diseases. More medical news

Dance fever

Photo by Tim ParkerMedical students in the Ballroom Dance Club learn dances for the School of Medicine’s 10th annual Faculty/Student Med Ball, to be held March 11.

February 2006 Radio Service

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Warfarin increases risk of fractures (week of Feb. 1) • Older adults can control health (week of Feb. 8) • New cancer strategy (week of Feb. 15) • Enzyme affects aging process (week of Feb. 22)

Heart failure linked to altered communication channels

Bright areas in this image highlight the junctions between heart muscle cells.Failing hearts develop interference in their communication channels, according to research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The problem involves a subtle change in the pores that connect heart muscle cells. When the scientists duplicated this change in mice, the mice became susceptible to ventricular tachycardia, a dangerous heart rhythm disorder that can lead to sudden cardiac death.

Researchers defeat tumor cells by inhibiting healthy cells

Mice with Tax-induced leukemia/lymphoma develop large tumors and many areas of bone destruction, as shown in this X-ray.Defeating cancerous tumors by attacking healthy cells seems like an unusual strategy, but researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown the strategy to be effective against leukemia/lymphoma in mice. The research group found that inhibiting normal bone-maintenance cells called osteoclasts not only prevented the mice’s cancer from spreading to their bones, it also slowed the growth of tumors in the body’s soft tissues.
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