washington university school of medicine

(The Translational Genomics Research Institute) Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute today announced a new approach to treating endometrial cancer patients that not only stops the growth of tumors, but kills the cancer cells.In a potentially major breakthrough, TGen scientists and collaborators at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis discovered that introducing a particular inhibitor drug can turn "off'' receptors responsible for the growth of tumors in a significant number of patients with endometrial cancer.

(Washington University School of Medicine) People have long prized silver as a precious metal. Now, silver-coated endotracheal tubes are giving critically ill patients another reason to value the lustrous metal.

In a study published in the Aug. 20, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis and the NASCENT Investigation Group, report that the silver-coated tubes led to a 36 percent reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

(Washington University School of Medicine) A mutation that causes a childhood tumor syndrome also impairs growth hormone secretion, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis have found.The discovery provides new insights into an old mystery, revealing why patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 are frequently shorter than their peers.

(Washington University School of Medicine) Staying awake slows down our brains, scientists have long recognized. Mental performance is at its peak after sleep but inevitably trends downward throughout the day, and sleep deprivation only worsens these effects.

For the first time, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to stop this downward slide in fruit flies.

(Washington University School of Medicine) Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped particles -- called nanobialys because they resemble tiny versions of the flat, onion-topped rolls popular in New York City -- could soon be carrying medicinal compounds through patients' bloodstreams to tumors or atherosclerotic plaques.

The nanobialys answered a need for an alternative to the research group's gadolinium-containing nanoparticles.

Recent studies have shown that gadolinium can be harmful to some patients with severe kidney disease.

(Washington University School of Medicine) According to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis, older people who did endurance exercise training for about a year ended up with metabolically much younger hearts.

The researchers also showed that by one metabolic measure, women benefited more than men from the training.

(Washington University School of Medicine) The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis will lead a six-year, $16 million international research collaboration dedicated to understanding inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease.

The National Institute on Aging will fund the project.

(Washington University School of Medicine) The sound of a noisy Chicago restaurant during the breakfast rush -- the clang of plates and silverware and the clamor of many voices -- was the crucial test of new hearing aid technology in a study conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis. The study showed that the hearing aids worked well in a noisy environment -- the most challenging test for a hearing aid.

(Washington University in St. Louis) Medical science may be a significant step closer to climbing into the driver's seat of an important class of immune cells, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis report in Nature Immunology.

(Washington University in St. Louis) Compact, bedside brain-activity monitors detected most seizures in at-risk infants, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Louis showed. That means the compact units could assist clinicians in monitoring for electrical seizures until confirmation with conventional EEG, the researchers assert in an article published in the June issue of Pediatrics.