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ME/CFS and Long COVID: A closer look at the similarities and differences

While myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID are not the same disease, they appear to have features of overlapping biological and symptomatic presentations.

23 Aug 2023

Aspirin underutilized for preventing heart attack, stroke

For people who have experienced a heart attack or stroke, taking a daily aspirin has been shown to help prevent a second one.

22 Aug 2023

Fallout from COVID-19 may persist even two years after infection

In the spring, the U.S. government and the World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 global health emergency.

22 Aug 2023

A new Medicare proposal would cover training for family caregivers

Even with extensive caregiving experience, Patti LaFleur was unprepared for the crisis that hit in April 2021, when her mother, Linda LaTurner, fell out of a chair and broke her hip.

18 Aug 2023

Scientists identify key proteins driving cancer across multiple tumor types

Scientists have completed a deep analysis of the proteins driving cancer across multiple tumor types, information that can't be assessed by genome sequencing alone.

14 Aug 2023

New pathway for HIV to enter nucleus of healthy cells identified

A study published on August 10, 2023 in the journal Nature Communications has identified a new pathway that human immune deficiency virus (HIV) uses to enter the nucleus of a healthy cell, where it can then replicate and go on to invade other cells.

10 Aug 2023

EULAR releases new recommendations for non-pharmacological management of SLE and SSc

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by multisystem involvement. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) or scleroderma is another rheumatic autoimmune disease that affects blood vessels, skin, and visceral organs.

7 Aug 2023

$11 million NIH grant focuses on cognitive function in Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer’s

Neurologist Beau Ances, MD, PhD, talks with his patient, Adam Kloppenberg, who has Down syndrome, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. People with Down syndrome are at very high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Ances is involved in a project led by Jason Hassenstab, PhD, an associate professor of neurology, to develop tools to measure cognitive function in people with Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer's disease.

3 Aug 2023

New device can detect COVID-19 in less than a minute

Benjamin Sumlin, PhD, a senior scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, blows into a device designed by researchers at the university. The device — a breath test that uses a biosensor — could become a tool for use in doctors' offices to quickly diagnose people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.

1 Aug 2023

Arthritis affects 220,000 children and teens, according to a new CDC study

In a recent MMWR published by the United States CDC, researchers combine survey data from the NSCH collected over a five-year period to estimate the prevalence of arthritis.

26 Jul 2023

New method could make post-stroke motor rehabilitation more effective and affordable

The longest nerve in the human body starts in the brain and meanders its way down the neck and into the chest, where it splits into separate branches, winding its twisting tendrils to touch each internal organ.

19 Jul 2023

New kidney tissue atlas could advance understanding of kidney injury and disease

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis helped lead a major study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that uncovered rich cellular and molecular diversity in healthy and diseased kidneys, creating a kidney tissue atlas that will help further understanding of kidney injury and disease.

19 Jul 2023

New biomarker could track progression of Alzheimer's disease

Two pathologies drive the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Early on, amyloid beta plaques lead the way, but around the time cognitive symptoms arise, tau tangles take over as the driving force and cognition steadily declines.

13 Jul 2023

Washington University surgeons pioneer robotic liver transplantation

A surgical team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently performed the first robotic liver transplant in the U.S. in May at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

12 Jul 2023

Two anti-inflammatory drugs reduce deaths in severe COVID-19 patients

Two anti-inflammatory drugs, abatacept and infliximab, reduced deaths among patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, according to a national study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. William G. Powderly, MD, (right) who led the large clinical trial, discusses patient conditions with Maanasi Samant, MD, in the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, one of the major trial sites, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Jul 2023

Orthopedic patients' mental health may not improve even when physical health improves

Orthopedic clinics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis ask patients to fill out an electronic questionnaire at each visit. Analyzing data from questions about anxiety and depression, researchers have found that as patients' musculoskeletal health improves, anxiety and depression don't necessarily follow suit.

28 Jun 2023

New effort minimizes surgeon-specific standardized infection ratio

When excess surgical site infections (SSIs) were detected among neurosurgery patients at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Mercy in 2019, infection preventionist Katie Palladino, MPH, CPH, CIC, partnered with a hospital neurosurgeon on a multidisciplinary quality and process improvement initiative that led to a steep drop in infection rates over a two-year period. Their successful initiative is being presented at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's (APIC's) Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, June 26-28.

26 Jun 2023

Exploring how Bourbon virus-carrying ticks travel through wildlife and to people

On a cold spring morning, Washington University in St. Louis virologist Jacco Boon, PhD, and wildlife ecologist Solny Adalsteinsson, PhD, flap and drag a large white flag through a woodsy area on the western edge of St. Louis County. Boon, an associate professor of medicine in infectious diseases at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Adalsteinsson, a senior scientist at the university's Tyson Research Center, are looking for lone star ticks that carry the potentially deadly Bourbon virus.

14 Jun 2023

Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy linked to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in offspring

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a process in immune cells that links vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in offspring.

13 Jun 2023

The HEART Clinic keeps rehab within the reach for stroke, Parkinson’s patients

The first time Craig Hawkins arrived at the free physical therapy clinic, the aftereffects of his stroke weighed heavy. He rolled up in a wheelchair with a tracheotomy, and had already exhausted his medical benefits.

7 Jun 2023