Flying high

Photo by Robert BostonMembers of the acrobatic troupe the Flying Wallendas visit the lab of Aaron DiAntonio, M.D. DiAntonio hopes to name a recently discovered gene “Wallenda.”

Memory study shows brain function in schizophrenia can improve

Deanna Barch (center) discusses brain imaging techniques used in the experiment, which used the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine (shown at right).When encouraged to use memorization strategies commonly employed by healthy individuals, people with schizophrenia can be helped to remember information just as well as their healthy counterparts, a process that in itself seems to spur a normalization of memory-related activities in the brains of people with schizophrenia, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

July 2005 Radio Service

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Pomegranate juice good for moms (week of July 6) • Why depression is bad for hearts (week of July 13) • Risk factors for suicide (week of July 20) • Genes affect response to alcohol (week of July 27)

Pilot study finds poorer outcomes for African-Americans with rheumatoid arthritis

Arthritis can hit harder in African-Americans.A pilot study comparing the results of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in African-Americans and Caucasians has revealed that African-Americans are more likely to suffer pain and disability from the disorder. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied a group of 33 African-Americans and 67 Caucasians and found that both disease activity and the resulting disabilities were worse in African-Americans. Further analysis showed this was linked primarily to socio-economic status rather than race.

Low heart rate variability in depressed patients contributes to high mortality after heart attack

Abnormal heart rate variability increases the risk of death for depressed heart patients.Scientists have known for years that depression increases the risk of dying in the months after a heart attack, but they haven’t understood how depression raises that risk. Now, behavioral medicine specialists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine that abnormal heart rate variability is partially responsible for depression’s effects in heart patients.
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