Health and Medicine

baby sticking out tongue
May 7, 2015

Surgery for tongue tie shows some benefits; more research needed

Surgically treating “tongue tie” in infants may be associated with improved breast-feeding and reduced nipple pain, as reported by mothers, but much more research is needed on best practices for treating the condition, according to a newly published systematic review.

By Christina Echegaray
May 7, 2015

Findings reveal new target in quest to ease schizophrenia

Vanderbilt University researchers have uncovered a surprising finding that could lead to the development of new, more effective therapies for schizophrenia, which affects more than 2 million Americans.

By Bill Snyder
May 6, 2015

Neurofibromin fine-tunes bone growth

The protein neurofibromin acts as a brake in a signaling pathway that is important in bone development, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 4, 2015

Kids more likely to react to blood transfusions

Pediatric patients have a significantly higher incidence of transfusion reactions compared to adults, according to a study by Vanderbilt University researchers.

By Bill Snyder
May 1, 2015

New player in neuronal communication

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a novel mechanism for the development of dendritic spines – sites of nerve cell communication.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 30, 2015

RNA defects in multiple sclerosis

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that profound defects exist in the integrity of structural RNA molecules in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 30, 2015

Study links post-acute care costs with lower survival rates

A nationwide study, “Uncovering Waste in U.S. Healthcare,” from authors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, finds that spending on post-acute care in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) provides a key signal of inefficiency in the health care system, leading to higher spending and lower patient survival.
By Paul Govern
April 30, 2015

Study team uses metabolomics to study longevity

The keys to longevity have been a source of curiosity and the basis of many research studies for years, yet the mechanisms underlying a person’s ability to live a long life are still not fully understood.
By Kathy Whitney
April 30, 2015

VICC cancer research efforts in spotlight at AACR conference

Adding an investigational drug to an already approved estrogen blocking therapy appears to be safe and provided clinical benefit for some postmenopausal women with estrogen-positive breast cancer.
By VUMC News and Communications
April 30, 2015

Team tracks how kidney responds to blood pressure meds

Changes in the kidney can limit the blood pressure-lowering effects of thiazide diuretics, a new study reports.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 30, 2015

Babies born with drug withdrawal symptoms on rise

The number of infants born in the United States with drug withdrawal symptoms, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), nearly doubled in a four-year period.
By Christina Echegaray
April 23, 2015

VU team explores new cholesterol processing pathway

A zebrafish model of a rare genetic disease has revealed an unexpected regulatory pathway for cholesterol absorption and processing.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 23, 2015

Study reveals biomarker of post-injury spinal cord function

Vanderbilt University researchers have demonstrated, for the first time in a primate model, that injury disrupts neural signaling in the spinal cord and that these changes can be measured non-invasively with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
By Bill Snyder