Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
•••

Intervention: preventing trips to the trauma unit

Jana MacLeod, MD

Drunk drivers have been known to walk away from auto wrecks but that’s unusual. In fact, the norm is this: those who drink before an accident of any kind, particularly a motor vehicle accident, have a much higher chance of being injured or dying than if they hadn’t been drinking at all. If you’re facing a DUI charge, don’t hesitate to reach out through this contact form to discuss your situation with an experienced lawyer. Those who got injured in a vehicular accident may need to hire a car accident attorney Michigan to ensure that their rights are protected.

So, Jana MacLeod, MD, and her colleagues trained surgical interns to conduct brief interventions on patients with alcohol-related injuries. MacLeod is an associate professor of surgery, Emory University School of Medicine. She says brief interventions offer patients a way to talk about their alcohol use with their physician, and then make behavioral changes if they so choose.

MacLeod talks about the benefits of these interventions in an Emory Sound Science podcast.

Recent studies have shown brief alcohol interventions with trauma patients who have a history of alcohol misuse successfully prevented future episodes of drunk driving says MacLeod. What’s more, it’s been shown a five-minute intervention reduces hazardous drinking patterns up to three years after injury and decreases recidivism.

Read more

Posted on February 9, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized 1 Comment

Heart Month: Helping narrowed aortic valves

Celebrating February’s American Heart Month at Emory Heart & Vascular Center

Emory cardiologists are using a promising new non-surgical treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Emory University Hospital is one of about 20 hospitals nationwide, and the only site in Georgia, to study this new technology – with 75 patients receiving new valves at Emory since the clinical trial started in October 2007. Researchers hope to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in late 2011.

The life threatening heart condition affects tens of thousands of Americans each year when the aortic valve tightens or narrows, preventing blood from flowing through normally.

Peter Block, MD

Peter Block, MD, professor of medicine, Emory School of Medicine, and colleagues are performing percutaneous aortic valve replacement as part of a Phase II clinical trial, comparing this procedure with traditional, open-heart surgery or medical therapy in high-risk patients with aortic stenosis.

The procedure provides a new way for doctors to treat patients who are too ill or frail to endure the traditional surgical approach.

During the procedure, doctors create a small incision in the groin or chest wall and then feed the new valve, mounted on a wire mesh on a catheter, and place it where the new valve is needed.

Posted on February 8, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Community groups play key role in increasing HIV research participation

Paula Frew, PhD, MPH

Although African Americans make up a significant share of HIV cases in the U.S., they are underrepresented in HIV clinical trials. New research shows that promotion of HIV clinical trials and participation by African Americans can be increased by coalitions that link community organizations to clinical-research institutions.

“Community organizations already have built trusting relationships in their communities,” says Paula Frew, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Emory School of Medicine. “If HIV/AIDS prevention and HIV clinical research become part of the agendas of these organizations, they can become ideal allies for increasing participation by community members who are at risk for disease.”

Frew was lead investigator in a study published recently in the Journal Prevention Science. She is director of health communications & applied research at the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center and an investigator in the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).

Read more

Posted on February 4, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

A new class of brain-protecting drugs

Pathologist Keqiang Ye has made a series of discoveries recently, arising from his investigations of substances that can mimic the growth factor BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor).

BDNF is a protein produced by the brain that pushes neurons to withstand stress and make new connections. Some neuroscientists have described BDNF as “Miracle Gro for brain cells.”

“BDNF has been studied extensively for its ability to protect neurons vulnerable to degeneration in several diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease,” Ye says. “The trouble with BDNF is one of delivery. It’s a protein, so it can’t cross the blood-brain barrier and degrades quickly.”

Working with Ye, postdoctoral fellow Sung-Wuk Jang identified a compound called 7,8-dihydroxyflavone that can duplicate BDNF’s effects on neurons and can protect them against damage in animal models of seizure, stroke and Parkinson’s disease. The compound’s selective effects suggest that it could be the founder of a new class of brain-protecting drugs. The results were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read more

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Quinn Eastman in Neuro 1 Comment

Emory Heart & Vascular Center advances medicine

American Heart Month 2010

Learn about Emory Heart & Vascular Center advances during American Heart Month.

Research led by John Puskas, MD, professor of surgery and associate chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory School of Medicine, has shown that off-pump bypass surgery reduces the risk of complications for high-risk patients, such as those that are especially frail or those with diabetes, obesity, kidney disease or a history of stroke.

This conclusion comes from a 10-year history of coronary bypass patients at Emory recently published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Puskas also recently presented long-term follow-up data from the first randomized U.S. trial to compare off-pump with conventional on-pump surgery.

The results from the landmark SMART (Surgical Management of Arterial Revascularization) study, which started in 2000, show that participants who had the off-pump procedure lost less blood, had less damage to their hearts during surgery and recovered more quickly than those who underwent on-pump surgery.

Beating-heart patients in the study also were able to breathe on their own sooner after surgery, spent less time in intensive care and left the hospital one day sooner, on average, than conventional coronary bypass patients.

Posted on February 2, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Family of Emory nursing graduates helps Haiti’s orphans

Long before a 7.0-magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti, a mother-daughter-daughter trio of Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing graduates was already working in Haiti to help thousands of orphaned children there.

Cheron Hardy (03MN) joined the staff of the nonprofit Eternal Hope in Haiti (EHIH) shortly after graduating from Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. EHIH was formed in 1993 by nursing alumna Twilla Haynes (80MN) and her daughters, Angela Haynes (91PH, 08N, 09MN) and Hope Haynes Bussewius (93MN).

In 1993, Twilla Haynes (80MN), of Hoschton, Ga. – with the help of her daughters, Angela Haynes (91PH, 08N, 09MN) and Hope Haynes Bussewius (93MN) – founded Eternal Hope in Haiti (EHIH), an organization dedicated to better health care for Haiti’s people. Three years later, they opened the Hope Haven Orphanage in Cap Haitien in the northwest province of Haiti.

Emory Wire, a publication of the Emory Alumni Association, recently sat down to talk with the Haynes about their experiences in Haiti.

Read more

Posted on February 1, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Reducing tobacco consumption through taxes

Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH

In many countries, taxes on tobacco have successfully reduced its consumption. As world leaders in countries consider raising the excise tax on tobacco products in the coming year, it is vital they consider all the determinants that effectively promote health through taxation and how using business tax preparation services can be useful, say Emory global health experts Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH, and Mohammed Ali, MBChB, MSc.

Koplan and Ali discuss the complex issues of health promotion and tobacco taxation in a commentary in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Promoting Health Through Tobacco Taxation.”

Mohammed K. Ali, MBChB, MSc

“Effective and comprehensive tobacco control involves a broad mixture of interventions – scientific, behavioral, educational, legal, regulatory, environmental, and economic,” say Koplan, former Emory vice president for global health and former CDC director, and Ali, assistant professor, Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health.

 

Posted on January 28, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Emory volunteers sort medical supplies for Haiti

Over the past few weeks, more than 150 Emory University faculty, staff and students, as well as Emory Healthcare staff, have volunteered with Atlanta-based MedShare, sorting thousands of medical supplies that are being shipped to medical personnel on the ground in Haiti.

Volunteering for Haiti relief

Patricia Guasch, RN, director of Emory University Hospital’s rehabilitation nursing services, is one of the many Emory MedShare volunteers lending a hand in the relief effort. Guasch and several of her colleagues from the Emory Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, along with their children, spent the King Holiday weekend sorting supplies at MedShare.

Read more

Posted on January 27, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Peripheral artery disease: can help come from the bone marrow?

Peripheral artery disease affects millions of people in the United States. It’s basically hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) leading to problems with getting enough blood to the limbs. Symptoms of severe PAD include leg pain that doesn’t go away once exertion stops and wounds that heal slowly or not at all.

Lifestyle changes, medication and surgery can address some cases of PAD, but often the disease is not recognized until it has advanced considerably. At Emory, cardiologist Arshed Quyyumi has been exploring whether a patient’s own bone marrow cells can repair the arteries in his or her limbs.

Read more

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Quinn Eastman in Heart Leave a comment

Getting a good night’s sleep is key to health

Sleep expert David Schulman, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, pulmonary, Emory School of Medicine, and medical director for the Emory Sleep Disorders Laboratory, talks with Emory patients every day about how to get a good night’s sleep.

Get more sleep than a cat nap

Here, in his own words, Schulman discusses the topic of sleep:

There is growing evidence that sleeplessness can contribute to illness such as diabetes or heart disease, and many problems can arise when someone has not gotten a good night’s sleep  such as falling asleep while driving or while on the job. We all want to be as healthy as we can eating right, exercising  and I can tell you that getting a good night’s sleep is just as important to overall health. If you have regular sleep problems, discussing this problem with your doctor may be the first step to finding a solution.

Read more

Posted on January 22, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment
« Previous   1 2 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 ... 100 101   Next »