Health and Medicine

Alterations of the vestibular system - the part of our inner ear that controls balance - may contribute to bone loss related to both aging and space travel.

Patients with orthostatic intolerance – problems when standing – have cognitive changes, even when seated, compared to healthy individuals.

Growing evidence suggests that fish oil, thought to directly prevent inflammation, oxidative stress and heart disease, may have limited clinical utility.

Melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer, with high mortality rates. While new drugs have been approved to treat the disease, patients nearly always develop resistance to the therapies and the cancer advances.

A study appearing in the January edition of Pediatrics, led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, looks at how Nashville children ages 6 months through 5 years fared over 11 consecutive flu seasons concluding in 2010-11.

One of the most promising new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease may already be in your kitchen. Curcumin, a natural product found in the spice turmeric, has been used by many Asian cultures for centuries, and a new study indicates a close chemical analog of curcumin has properties that may make it useful as a treatment for the brain disease.

Vanderbilt University researchers have made an important advance in understanding lung development, which one day could lead to improvements in treating lung disease in premature infants and adults.