[rays of hope]
The S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center, opened in December at Washington University Medical Center, provides highly targeted radiation treatment to patients with cancer near vital organs. To minimize damage to surrounding tissue, doctors use the custom-designed MEVION S250 Proton Therapy System to treat adults and children with tumors near the eyes, spine, heart and brain with precise radiation beams. Because the proton accelerator is the only one of its kind within 225 miles, the center plans to treat 20 to 25 patients per day from throughout the Midwest.
[need for nurses]
Adding a mental health nurse to foster care treatment teams benefits adolescents with psychiatric disorders, according to a qualitative study from Saint Louis University School of Nursing. Published in Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, the research found that social and child welfare workers often lack appropriate medical training to help teens in foster care who suffer from mental health issues. Nurses, however, could help teens manage complicated prescriptions and advocate for themselves in medical settings. Julie Bertram, MSN, is the article’s lead author.
[heart to heart]
Type 2 diabetes drugs affect women’s and men’s heart metabolism differently, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine. The drug Metformin had positive effects on women’s cardiac function, but shifted men’s cardiac metabolism toward increased risk of heart failure by damaging heart muscle. The research, published in American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology, suggests drug trials should examine sex differences more rigorously. Dr. Janet B. McGill, professor of medicine at Washington University, is the study’s co-author.
[one fewer cut]
Endoscopic endoluminal suturing is an effective way to treat digestive system disorders without open surgery, scarring and hospital stays, report gastroenterologists at Saint Louis University Hospital. During the procedure, doctors run a flexible tube outfitted with a suturing needle and a camera through the patient’s mouth or rectum to the site of the gastrointestinal bleeding, fistula or ulcer. The needle is connected to wires that enable doctors to stitch up the internal wound remotely without slicing into the skin. This method typically gets patients back home faster than traditional open surgery.
[double the risk]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found rare gene variations that double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. By studying gene variants within families, scientists discovered that people with a variant of the phospholipase-D 3 (PLD3) gene have twice the risk. PLD3 appears to regulate the activity of a different gene that makes amyloid, a substance that forms harmful plaques in the brain. Published in Nature, the research may help identify people at risk before they develop symptoms. Carlos Cruchaga, Ph.D., is the lead author.