Lewy body dementia, also known as dementia with Lewy bodies, is a relatively frequent but often misunderstood form of dementia, which can cause loss of memory, language and problem-solving ability.
More than half a year into the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, healthcare providers have adapted by offering virtual visits and observing strict safety measures in clinics. But even with those innovations, many patients still don't feel comfortable visiting an urgent care office for necessary in-person treatment.
It's not what you would expect to see in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit, but these days, the Cedars-Sinai NICU, part of the Maxine Dunitz Children's Health Center, is filled with children's books and parents reading to their babies.
Halloween isn't going to be the same this year, but families can still have fun while reducing their risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), says Priya Soni, MD, a Cedars-Sinai pediatric infectious disease specialist.
Receiving mail-order prescriptions on time is critical during the ongoing pandemic, as older adults and people with chronic conditions are avoiding leaving their homes.
In the wake of the opioid addiction crisis that has cost more than 500,000 U.S. lives, medical investigators have focused on finding new methods to help patients control pain.
Rosemarie Barron isn’t alone. She is one of 69 patients who underwent heart transplants at Cedars-Sinai between March 1 and Sept. 30, 2020. In comparison, the Smidt Heart Institute performed 70 heart transplants during the same time period in 2019.
A new study shows that the vast majority of patients who visited the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai with suspected COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) symptoms, and who were treated and sent home to recuperate, recovered within a week.
Cedars-Sinai has been awarded a five-year, $8.3 million grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study the diversity and determinants of the immune-inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Cris Tortolano calls Felice Densa her "angel" and their unexpected tennis matchup one June day last year "kismet." While tennis brought the two together that day, what followed afterward bound them in friendship as few other life events can.
Most COVID-19 (coronavirus) patients in Southern California during the early months of the pandemic appear to have been infected by a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus introduced to the region from New York state via Europe, not directly from China, where the virus was first detected, according to a new study conducted at Cedars-Sinai.
This year's flu season won't be like any other, due to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Because the flu and COVID-19 can present in similar ways, anyone who experiences overlapping symptoms of the two viruses may have to assume it's COVID-19 unless testing is performed, according to Cedars-Sinai experts.
It started on the tennis court, in 2016. A lunge for the ball, an awkward fall, and then sore ribs with subsequent backhands. At least that's what Martin Snyder thought was the cause of his pain. He was wrong. An X-ray and further imaging over the ensuing weeks revealed that the slim and fit psychotherapist, then 73, had mesothelioma, a rare cancer usually caused by asbestos exposure.
New research from the University of Pittsburgh and Cedars-Sinai digs into the question: Why do some people with COVID-19 develop severe inflammation? The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
With flu season fast approaching, health officials are urging the public to help contain the spread of influenza and avoid another outbreak amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The two viruses are very similar, and it's going to make this flu season very challenging.
Friday at sunset marks the beginning of Rosh Hashonah, the Jewish New Year. This year, even the shofar will be wearing a mask. That is just one of the unconventional ways that the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is changing how Cedars-Sinai will be bringing this year's Jewish High Holidays to patients.
Robotic surgery for patients with early stage, oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer is associated with improved health outcomes, including better long-term survival, according to a Cedars-Sinai study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology. Oropharyngeal cancer occurs in the back of the throat and includes the base of the tongue and tonsils.
When the novel coronavirus started spreading across the U.S., hospital leaders were faced with a unique challenge: How could they accurately forecast the number of patients who would need hospitalization when no one knew what to expect from this new disease? To answer this and other questions, the data science team at Cedars-Sinai developed a machine learning platform to predict staffing needs. The team adjusted the platform's algorithms to forecast data points related to the novel coronavirus. Now the platform tracks local hospitalization volumes and the rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases, running multiple forecasting models to help anticipate and prepare for increasing COVID-19 patient volumes with an 85%-95% degree of accuracy.
The Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai is expanding its surgical care for children and adult congenital heart disease patients by embarking on a new initiative that includes the expertise of the world-renowned Keck Medicine of USC heart surgery team.
Three years after the ALLSTAR clinical trial ended prematurely, the study's data shows that treatments of cardiosphere-derived cells -- the same cells used as an experimental therapy tested in COVID-19 patients -- demonstrated unexpected promise in heart attack survivors. Downloadable video available.
Cedars-Sinai palliative care physician Erin Reeve, MD, will host a virtual "open mic night" for healthcare professionals who have been working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic so they can share their stories and feelings in creative ways. The Zoom open mic, taking place on Saturday, Aug. 1, invites any healthcare professional to share a piece of writing, poetry, music or art that reflects on their role during the pandemic.
If you are noticing red, irritated skin or small pimples under your face mask, you are far from alone. Allison Truong, MD, a board-certified dermatologist with Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, says she is now seeing many patients complaining of what's commonly being called "maskne," or mask-acne.
People age 80 and older account for 19% of patients at Cedars-Sinai, a figure that is expected to increase in the coming years as the general U.S. population ages. The proportion of these patients who are low-income also is growing. Nurse scientists from the Nursing Research Department at Cedars-Sinai are now studying how best to address preventive health services among older patients like these while reducing the potential strain on long-term care, hospitals and the healthcare system.
Cedars-Sinai announced a $25 million gift from Martha L. Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh, and the Karsh Family Foundation, to support the treatment of digestive and liver diseases and the advancement of innovative research. The current division of Digestive and Liver Diseases will be renamed the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
When Maurice Turner, MD, was a young boy, his grandmother would tuck him and his two older brothers into bed. Then she'd whisper into their ears, "I want you to become a doctor." Turner fulfilled his grandmother's dream a month ago, receiving his medical degree. Today he is one of the 80 first-year residents at Cedars-Sinai and facing vastly greater challenges than previous classes of residents. Downloadable video is available.
Most patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (coronavirus) pneumonia experienced improvement after receiving a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug normally given for rheumatoid arthritis, according to an observational study at Cedars-Sinai. Outcomes for patients who received the drug, tocilizumab, included reduced inflammation, oxygen requirements, blood pressure support and risk of death, compared with published reports of illness and death associated with severely ill COVID-19 patients.
While many expecting and new mothers experience emotions of joy and happiness, others suffer from a range of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. But a new Cedars-Sinai program is dedicated to helping women fight the stigma often associated with maternal-related mental health disorders before, during and after pregnancy.
A new study sheds light on proteins in particles called extracellular vesicles, which are released by tumor cells into the bloodstream and promote the spread of cancer. The findings suggest how a blood test involving these vesicles might be used to diagnose cancer in the future, avoiding the need for invasive surgical biopsies.
Shortly after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, more than 450 older adults learned their weekly exercise classes offered through the Cedars-Sinai Geriatrics Program were on hold. But under the quick-thinking direction of geriatrician Allison Moser Mays, MD, the program pivoted, creating a way for seniors to access live classes over Zoom from the comfort of their homes. The online format has proved especially popular.
How does a religious congregation, which by definition brings groups of people close together in prayer and communion, navigate this tricky pandemic? Cedars-Sinai chaplains have some of the answers. With expertise as healthcare insiders, they have used their knowledge and experience from their hospital roles to help guide faith communities during this uncharted and unpredictable time.
A new study shows that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), can infect heart cells in a lab dish, indicating it may be possible for heart cells in COVID-19 patients to be directly infected by the virus. The discovery, published today in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, was made using heart muscle cells that were produced by stem cell technology.
For many patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, surviving the virus is only half of the battle. Once deemed virus-free and ready to be sent home, the often-long road to recovery – including rebuilding lung capacity and overall respiratory health – begins. Two Cedars-Sinai respiratory therapists explain what roadblocks these hospital-admitted patients face when it comes to lung health and offer tips for non-patients looking to improve their overall respiratory health.
Alzheimer's disease in its early stages affects the integrity of small blood vessels in the retinas of patients, according to a recent study led by Cedars-Sinai. This discovery holds promise for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's through the retina, a back-of-the-eye organ that is an extension of the brain and easily accessible for live, noninvasive imaging.
Nationally recognized rheumatology expert Francesco Boin, MD, has been appointed director of the division of Rheumatology and director of the new Scleroderma Program at Cedars-Sinai. Boin is an accomplished and widely published investigator of autoimmune diseases, with a reputation for clinical excellence and a multidisciplinary approach to patient care.
As Cedars-Sinai expands telehealth and video visits and resumes surgeries, Joanna Chikwe, MD, chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the Smidt Heart Institute, has her focus on one thing: ensuring that patients with heart disease understand it is safe to be seen, and treated, by Cedars-Sinai healthcare teams.
Gender dysphoria manifests early in childhood and can persist for years before patients undergo counseling and treatment, a Cedars-Sinai study has found. The findings also reveal that untreated gender dysphoria can result in poor quality of life for transgender people, beginning in childhood and lasting throughout adolescence and adulthood.
How can epidemics spread so quickly among entire populations? The Newsroom asked an expert, Cedars-Sinai research scientist Dalin Li, PhD, to explain the math behind the spread of COVID-19. Li was the first author of a recent study that showed how just a few infected individuals who came to the U.S could have generated more than 9,000 COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases.
A study conducted by investigators at Cedars-Sinai suggests that universal testing of asymptomatic pregnant women in labor may not be necessary at every hospital. The investigation was prompted by reports from several large hospitals in New York City that nearly 14% of asymptomatic women admitted for childbirth had tested positive for COVID-19 during the early weeks of the pandemic. The women did not know they were infected.
As COVID-19 causes staggering unemployment across the Los Angeles region, St. John's Well Child & Family Center is getting a vital reprieve. The South Los Angeles nonprofit will receive a $150,000 grant from Cedars-Sinai to retrain members of its staff who would have been furloughed - and to enlist them in the campaign against the novel coronavirus.
An international expert on pediatric infectious diseases, is concerned that people will attribute to Kawasaki disease the mysterious syndrome that was first reported in Europe and seen most recently in New York City children with COVID-19. However, the more likely explanation of this new entity is toxic shock syndrome, says Moshe Arditi, MD.
With the pandemic disrupting our everyday lives, routine errands have become challenging for seniors and others who run a high-risk of developing a serious COVID-19 infection. But there's one routine they should not let lapse: refilling medications.
Four of six critically ill COVID-19 (coronavirus) patients significantly improved after receiving an experimental therapeutic designed to reduce inflammation, a major cause of death from this disease, according to a case series published by Cedars-Sinai and Capricor Therapeutics. The four patients got well enough to be discharged from the hospital.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most people aren't hesitating to call their physicians when they experience coronavirus symptoms, but cancer symptoms are not creating the same sense of urgency for medical help. Cedars-Sinai experts encourage anyone who suspects they might have cancer to get in touch with their physician, as the use of telemedicine or other physical-distancing tools will allow them to get medical help immediately.
When Marlon Bustamante, RN, meets a COVID-19 patient in Cedars-Sinai's Emergency Department, he doesn't know how long their illness will last or what path it may take. In this downloadable video diary, he and ICU Nurse, Melissa Rue, RN, share their perspectives on what it's like being on the front lines and powering through the COVID-19 pandemic.
As some governors are moving to ease COVID-19 restrictions, the virus is causing patients, medical professionals and community members to face unprecedented ethical dilemmas in their day-to-day lives and careers. "As social animals who live in community, this pandemic has made us unable to ignore the issue, and significance of, social obligation," says Stuart Finder, PhD, MA, director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics at Cedars-Sinai.
Doctors who treat stroke and heart attack patients are trying to find out why they have been seeing fewer patients with these life-threatening emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Is COVID-19 somehow preventing emergencies from happening? Or, are people ignoring symptoms and staying home instead of seeking the medical care they need?
As the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surpasses 800,000, many Americans want to know if recovered patients have immunity to the novel coronavirus. The answer could come from an antibody test. While these tests are commonly used to tell if someone is immune to diseases such as measles or chickenpox, they're not yet widely available for COVID-19. But it's not clear what the results would mean.
Sam Torbati, MD, has a message for anyone experiencing symptoms of heart disease in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic:"Either call your doctor or come to the Emergency Department. Don't take chances with heart disease." Torbati is worried that patients might fear getting medical treatment would expose them to COVID-19.
Why isn't COVID-19 as hard on children as it is on adults? In sharp contrast to most other viruses, the novel coronavirus doesn't seem to have the same devastating effect on children that it does on adults. In fact, just the opposite is true, says Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist, Priya Soni, MD. "There is no other respiratory virus that we know, that affects adults so much more severely than infants."