St. Louis
March 1, 2009, St. Louis, MO - Micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin C play essential roles in maintaining health. As older adults tend to reduce their food intake as they age, there is concern that deficits in these micronutrients lead to medical problems.
Diagnosing acute stroke is a high-pressure decision. The speed with which treatment is delivered makes all the difference. Early treatment can stop brain damage, but if treatment is given inappropriately, it can dangerously increase the risk of bleeding in the brain.
Should I spend money on a vacation or a new computer? Will an experience or an object make me happier? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says it depends on different factors, including how materialistic you are.
Mammals have fur over most of their bodies, but at some point during evolution, we humans lost that fur covering. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis argue that hair on the head is somehow different from fur because fur stops growing when it reaches a certain length, but our head hair continues to grow. To drive home their argument, they ask in a recent article in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology, "Have you ever seen a chimpanzee getting a haircut?"
Babies who never sleep on their stomachs don't learn behaviors that may lessen their risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Even so, the researchers caution that infants should always be placed on their backs to sleep. ''The first few times babies who usually sleep on their backs or sides shift to the prone (lying face down) position, they have a 19-fold increased risk of sudden death,'' says senior author Bradley T. Thach, M.D., a Washington University pediatrician at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
In a six-month study of elderly people, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) significantly reduced abdominal fat and improved insulin action. This finding suggests that DHEA may be able to counter the increase in abdominal fat and accompanying increased risk for diabetes that very often occurs as we grow older.
The microorganisms that normally live in the gut can increase body fat, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They found that gut microbes can open the ''gates'' fat uses to enter the body's fat cells. Using a two-pronged strategy, gut microbes first break down otherwise indigestible dietary components, effectively increasing the amount of calories we can harvest; then they promote fat storage from the harvested calories.
Severe calorie restriction prevents certain aging-related changes in the brain, including the accumulation of free radicals and impairments in coordination and strength, according to a mouse study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. However, the dietary changes did not seem to prevent mice from developing some cognitive deficits associated with age, such as declines in memory.
To stick to cells in the respiratory tract and start an infection, the bacterium Haemophilus influenza has to secrete a glue-like protein. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report this week that a study of the valve that lets out the glue has produced some surprising information.
Millions of people with severe tinnitus currently have little hope for quick relief from the unrelenting ringing or buzzing noises the disorder produces. But scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suspect a drug already approved for seizure disorders and chronic nerve pain also can help silence the noises that plague tinnitus patients. The team is recruiting volunteers for the first large study of the potential treatment. ''All other medications currently used for this condition just work on the negative effects of tinnitus, like sleep disturbance and anxiety. But if this trial is successful, it could lead to a new type of treatment option.''
Removal of an immune system signaling protein prevents the development of a lupus-like condition in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the National Institutes of Health have found. If additional studies in other animal models and humans confirm that SLAM-associated protein (SAP) is a primary contributor to lupus, it may be an ideal target for the development of new drug treatments, scientists said.
Liposuction is no substitute for dieting when it comes to preventing diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Reporting in the June 17 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the Washington University team found that removing abdominal fat by using modern liposuction techniques did not provide the metabolic benefits normally associated with similar amounts of fat loss induced by dieting.
The hottest spot in the solar system is neither Mercury, Venus, nor St. Louis in the summer. Io, one of the four satellites that the Italian astronomer Galileo discovered orbiting Jupiter almost 400 years ago, takes that prize. The Voyager spacecraft discovered volcanic activity on Io over 20 years ago and subsequent observations show that Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. The Galileo spacecraft, named in honor of the astronomer Galileo, found volcanic hot spots with temperatures as high as 2,910 Fahrenheit (1,610 Celsius).
A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests two proteins work together in mice to prevent formation of brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. The proteins, apolipoprotein E (apoE) and clusterin, appear to act as "chaperones" orchestrating the clearance of potentially hazardous molecules out of the brain. Ironically, these proteins also have been implicated in a key stage of plaque formation.
A new study of gentrification in U.S. cities focuses on the activities of a surprising group of players -- not developers, not even politicians, but newspaper reporters. The authors of the study, David Wilson and Thomas Mueller, say that city reporters of local growth and development are "important actors" in promoting gentrification. As "central information producers about cities," these reporters "regulate understandings of urban people, places and processes with potent political-economic consequences."
