Washington University
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Effective communication of health news is needed to raise awareness and encourage behavior changes in populations who experience health disparities, or inequalities in health status, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Thirty million years ago, before Ethiopia's mountainous highlands split and the Great Rift Valley formed, the tropical zone had warmer soil temperatures, higher rainfall and different atmospheric circulation patterns than it does today, according to new research of fossil soils found in the central African nation.
A genetic mutation found in four children born with multiple abnormalities may provide insight into potential treatments for newborn lung distress and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The children were born with abnormally developed lungs, gastrointestinal and urinary systems, skin, skull, bones and muscles.
Oct. 13, 2009 -- Ever wonder how your eyes adjust during a blackout? When we go from light to near total darkness, cells in the retina must quickly adjust. Vision scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt to darkness very quickly.
St. Louis, Oct. 9, 2009 -- A new mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) closely resembles humans with the paralyzing disorder, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.
St. Louis, Oct. 8, 2009 -- Spontaneous brain activity formerly thought to be "white noise" measurably changes after a person learns a new task, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Chieti, Italy, have shown.
Chronic sleep deprivation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease makes Alzheimer's brain plaques appear earlier and more often, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report online this week in Science Express.
They also found that orexin, a protein that helps regulate the sleep cycle, appears to be directly involved in the increase.
- People who begin drinking at an early age are more likely to subsequently develop alcohol dependence (AD).
The age at which a person takes a first drink may influence genes linked to alcoholism, making the youngest drinkers the most susceptible to severe problems.
St. Louis, Sept. 6, 2009 -- An international team of scientists has identified two more genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. The findings are reported in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.
Rosemont, Ill. -- Patients who have after-hour orthopaedic surgeries risk a slightly higher rate of necessary follow-up surgeries, according to a study published in the September 2009 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).
(SALT LAKE CITY) -- A specific genetic region that has been increasingly identified as the strongest genetic link to psoriasis has an even more significant role in the chronic skin disease than has been suspected, University of Utah medical researchers show in a new study.
New findings from nutrition researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest that it's not whether body fat is stored in the belly that affects metabolic risk factors for diabetes, high blood triglycerides and cardiovascular disease, but whether it collects in the liver.
Aug. 21, 2009 -- Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why.
When estrogen-lowering drugs no longer control metastatic breast cancer, the opposite strategy might work. Raising estrogen levels benefited 30 percent of women whose metastatic breast cancer no longer responded to standard anti-estrogen treatment, according to research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and collaborating institutions.
