Health and Medicine

elderly man in wheelchair in skilled nursing facility
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
illustration of cholesterol blockage
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
April 22, 2015

Best hospital depends on cancer type

Best hospital rankings for cancer do not take into account the fact that cancer reflects many different diseases.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 20, 2015

Boosting beta cells in diabetes

New findings suggest that it might be possible to treat diabetes by regenerating insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 17, 2015

Stuffed animals bring bacteria to OR

Stuffed animals that pediatric patients bring to the operating room are a reservoir of bacteria that can be effectively sterilized in a household washer/dryer the day before surgery.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 16, 2015

Surprising finding in the kidney

TGF-beta signaling in the kidney was thought to be a target for reducing renal fibrosis, but Vanderbilt researchers report that fibrosis still occurs in the absence of TGF-beta signaling.
By VUMC News and Communications
April 16, 2015

Study shows statin use improves renal cell cancer survival

A new study led by Vanderbilt University investigators found that patients being treated with statins at the time of surgery for kidney cancer, also known as renal cell carcinoma, had improved overall survival and disease-specific survival.
By VUMC News and Communications
April 15, 2015

VU team’s cattle research may yield lung disease clues

Vanderbilt University researchers have found a genetic mutation that causes pulmonary hypertension in cattle grazed at high altitude, and which leads to a life-threatening condition called brisket disease.
By VUMC News and Communications
1 … 122 123 124 125 126 … 197