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New insights into the link between respiratory infections and chronic lung diseases

A 3D reconstruction of a mouse lung four days after infection with fluorescent Sendai virus reveals widespread virus presence (red) and active replication (green).

3 Oct 2024

Interdisciplinary project aims to revolutionize health care data integration

Health care is more than doctor visits; it's a team effort. But most artificial intelligence-driven technologies built on patient data use only the information provided by physicians, omitting crucial input from nurses and rehabilitation therapists.

1 Oct 2024

AAP publishes first clinical guideline for opioid use in pediatric care

The American Academy of Pediatrics has published its first clinical guideline for pediatricians on prescribing opioids, including explicit instructions on how and when to prescribe these medications for pain while reducing the long-term risk of addiction.

30 Sep 2024

Computational study identifies spinal circuit that modulates stretch reflexes

How did the bodies of animals, including ours, become such fine-tuned movement machines? How vertebrates coordinate the eternal tug-o-war between involuntary reflexes and seamless voluntary movements is a mystery that Francisco Valero-Cuevas' Lab in USC Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, set out to understand.

26 Sep 2024

Researchers discover how rare cell type controls scar tissue formation in spinal cord injuries

After a spinal cord injury, nearby cells quickly rush to action, forming protective scar tissue around the damaged area to stabilize and protect it.

18 Sep 2024

Study reveals high incidence of orthostatic intolerance in children with long COVID

A new study from Kennedy Krieger Institute shows that the majority of children diagnosed with long COVID are likely to experience orthostatic intolerance (OI), a condition that causes the body to struggle with regulating blood pressure and heart rate when standing up.

16 Sep 2024

New discovery reveals how muscles sense mechanical pressure

A new study from Umeå University, Sweden, shows that the body's muscles sense mechanical pressure.

10 Sep 2024

New immunotherapy approach shows promise for minimizing spinal cord injury damage

WashU Medicine researchers have designed, in mice, an approach to minimizing the damage from a spinal cord injury through the use of engineered immune cells.

4 Sep 2024

Strength training triggers key mechanisms for cellular waste clearance

The elimination of damaged cell components is essential for the maintenance of the body's tissues and organs.

23 Aug 2024

New NIH grant supports study on fear of falling in multiple sclerosis

Taylor Takla, a Ph.D. candidate in the translational neuroscience program in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, recently received a two-year, $96,812 F31 grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health to study fear of falling in those with multiple sclerosis (MS).

9 Aug 2024

Discovery of Tr1 cells as a barrier to cancer immunotherapy offers new hope for treatment

Immunobiologists Robert Schreiber, PhD, (left) and Hussein Sultan, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that a subset of immune cells that normally puts the brakes on the immune system to prevent it from attacking the body's healthy cells inadvertently also dampens cancer immunotherapy.

7 Aug 2024

Menopause myths: Separating fact from fiction

Many women approach menopause with anxiety about the future. You've probably heard your grandmother, mother, or aunts lament about menopause, aka "the change," as a stressful time full of hot flashes, weight gain, and plummeting sex drive.

6 Aug 2024

Study reveals high rate of head injuries and mental health issues in law enforcement officers

A new study is the first to shed light on the high prevalence of head injuries, and related mental health symptoms, in a previously overlooked population when it comes to concussion surveillance: law enforcement officers.

5 Aug 2024

Study explores interplay between bone, adrenal glands, and aging

Figuring out how the tissues in our bones, adrenal glands, muscle and fat "talk" to each other could help scientists better understand what happens to our skeletons with age, when our bones tend to lose mass and become weaker, leaving us at risk for falls and fractures.

1 Aug 2024

Studies aim to identify adolescent girls who are at risk of developing migraine headaches

A migraine is not just a bad headache. It is a much-dreaded part of a neurologic disorder that has an array of possible symptoms, including pulsating cranial pain, waves of queasiness, bouts of vomiting, and hypersensitivity to light and sound.

22 Jul 2024

Study finds limited evidence for massage therapy's effectiveness in pain relief

A study in JAMA Network Open reviews evidence on massage therapy's effectiveness in relieving pain, finding moderate certainty for some conditions but overall low certainty for most.

21 Jul 2024

Study reveals how inflammation weakens muscles during illness

Infections and neurodegenerative diseases cause inflammation in the brain. But for unknown reasons, patients with brain inflammation often develop muscle problems that seem to be independent of the central nervous system. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have revealed how brain inflammation releases a specific protein that travels from the brain to the muscles and causes a loss of muscle function.

13 Jul 2024