cedars sinai medical center

Sharp spike in Type 2 diabetes among children

Baby fat may be cuddly to new parents but pediatricians are increasingly warning families about serious medical problems resulting from baby fat that never goes away. Type 2 diabetes is on the increase in overweight and obese children in America. According to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center pediatric endocrinologist David Geller, M.D., Ph.D. “Childhood obesity is the primary reason we are seeing such a huge increase in type 2 diabetes in kids today. Clearly there is an inexorable increase in body girth and body mass in our children which needs to be taken seriously in order to avoid a lifetime of physical and psychological problems.”

Navy funds minimally-invasive surgery institute

Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center will work closely with clinicians to develop a new generation of minimally invasive tools and techniques at the hospital’s newly created Minimally Invasive Surgical Technology Institute. The Institute was established through a $1 million grant awarded by the Office of Naval Research in November 2002 and internal contributions from Cedars-Sinai. Under the direction of biophysicist and Fulbright scholar Daniel L. Farkas, Ph.D., the Institute brings together a scientific research group, a pre-clinical facility and a clinical assessment team, all focusing collaboratively on the development, testing and introduction of noninvasive technologies into everyday surgical practice.

Radiation, injections turn on immune system to attack brain tumor cells

Researchers are working to develop a non-surgical approach to brain cancer that uses radiation and the injection of specially cultured bone marrow cells into the tumor. The combination sets in motion a local and systemic immune response to kill surviving tumor cells. The novel approach has provided promising results in a study on rats, described in the March 3 issue of the Journal of Immunotherapy. Human trials are expected to begin within the year.

Low estrogen linked to coronary artery disease risk in premenopausal women

According to an article in the February 5 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, coronary artery disease in young women appears to be related to estrogen deficiency, and there may be a link to psychosocial stress. The findings are based on an analysis of statistics compiled from a major ongoing investigation of heart disease in women that is led by cardiac researchers in Los Angeles. “Although coronary artery disease is the leading killer of premenopausal women, taking even more lives than breast cancer does, most studies have focused on heart disease in older women. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that young women with low blood estrogen levels have a significantly greater prevalence of coronary artery disease,” said C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., the article’s first author.

Procedure fixes heart defect that lets blood clots flow to brain

When 29-year-old Eric Lange suddenly experienced several hours of mental confusion last July, physicians at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center naturally ordered brain scans and carotid artery studies in their first search for a cause. With the initial exams turning out OK, Eric’s neurologist pursued other clues and ended up finding a heart defect called a patent foramen ovale, or PFO. A blood clot was believed to have slipped through the defect and out of the normal route of circulation that would have filtered it in the lungs. Instead, the clot traveled to Eric’s brain and temporarily blocked the flow of blood, causing a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, which is similar to a stroke but it does not cause permanent brain damage.

Stem cells used to track and destroy brain tumor cells

Researchers in Los Angeles have combined a special protein that targets cancer cells with neural stem cells to track and attack malignant brain tumor cells. Glioblastoma multiforme, or gliomas, are a particularly deadly type of brain tumor. They are highly invasive with poorly defined borders that intermingle with healthy brain tissue, making them nearly impossible to remove surgically without catastrophic consequences. Furthermore, cells separate from the main tumor and migrate to form satellites that escape treatment and often lead to recurrence.

Common diabetes drug successfully used to treat pituitary tumor

Using a common diabetes drug, researchers in Los Angeles have successfully treated pituitary tumors that cause a potentially life-threatening condition known as Cushing’s syndrome. The most common type of Cushing’s syndrome is caused by prolonged high-level exposure of a hormone called ACTH (adrenocorticotropin), which is secreted in excess by tumors of the pituitary gland, situated at the base of the brain and, which controls growth, metabolism and reproduction. Although the disorder is rare, it affects more women than men by a ratio of 5:1. Symptoms include weight gain with rounding of the face; increased fat in the neck; thinning skin; excess hair growth on the face neck, chest abdomen and thighs; muscle weakness and bone loss (osteoporosis); high blood sugar; diabetes; and high blood pressure.