Human subjects play mind games
That’s using your brain. For the first time in humans, a team headed by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has placed an electronic grid atop patients’ brains to gather motor signals that enable patients to play a computer game using only the signals from their brains.
Natural mechanism in brain cells may resist stroke damage
In this micrograph of a neuron, green dye highlights proteins linked to nerve cell damage and death during stroke.Brain cells in danger of exciting other nearby brain cells to death may be able to close temporarily, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Scientists simulated stroke-like conditions in cultured rat brain cells that use glutamate, an excitatory chemical messenger linked to nerve damage and death during strokes. But when they created those conditions, the researchers found that glutamate transmission was suppressed in what may be an attempt by neurons to limit the damage caused by catastrophic events such as strokes.
PET scans after therapy improve cervical cancer survival predictions
GrigsbyDoctors regularly use positron emission tomography (PET) scans to diagnose cervical cancer, taking advantage of the technique’s ability to highlight metabolic differences in cancerous tissues. But PET is rarely used for follow-up assessment of cervical cancer patients after treatment. A study in the June 1 issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that post-treatment PET scans could help physicians better predict which patients are largely cancer-free as a result of their treatment and which patients may soon be likely to need additional treatment.
Holidays and special events have no proven effect on the timing of death
WUSTL researchers have found no convincing evidence that people can delay or hasten their own deaths through sheer will.Many of us know stories about terminally ill friends or relatives who were able to battle their illnesses in order to survive until a birthday or other important occasion. In much of medicine, it’s an accepted “truth” that people can hang on or give up and somehow influence the timing of their own deaths. But in reviewing every study on the subject of delaying death, Washington University behavioral medicine researchers have found that there’s no evidence to support the idea that terminally ill people can have an effect on when they die.
Lung transplants extend life of cystic fibrosis patients more than four years
Lung transplantation increases the survival of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) by an average of almost four-and-a-half years, according to research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Physician-scientists elected to prestigious research organization
The American Society for Clinical Investigation has honored Daniel Brennan, David Holtzman, Barry Sleckman and Dwight Towler.
Employee Appreciation Picnic June 11
Music, games, prizes and Ted Drewes frozen treats will be included in the event from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Hudlin Park.
Spinal cord injury patient makes great strides
courtesy photoOscar Segovia works with physical therapist Cassandra Pate at the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis.After Oscar Segovia was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle home from work, he was determined to walk again.
Four elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Carl Frieden, Jeffrey I. Gordon, John F. McDonnell and Carl Phillips can now stand proudly beside Ben Franklin, George Washington, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill. Those four from Washington University in St. Louis have joined those four from history as being elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Laproscopic colon cancer surgery is effective and less invasive
Getting treated for a common type of cancer just became easier: An international team of surgeons including two at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has determined that minimally invasive surgery is as safe and effective as standard open surgery for most patients with cancer confined to the colon.
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