Although experts recommend that backpacks weigh no more than 15 percent of a child's body weight, many kids routinely lug more than double that burden. Over time, this can lead to stooped posture, chronic back and shoulder pain, and muscle weakness.
Penn sleep physician shares advice for parents of teens who suffer from delayed sleep phase syndrome.
Truck drivers who routinely get too little sleep or suffer from sleep apnea show signs of fatigue and impaired performance that can make them a hazard on the road, according to a major new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The study results are published in the August 15th issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Researchers discovered a novel mechanism that works over an extensive genomic distance and controls the expression of human growth hormone in the pituitary gland. Mistakes in expression could be implied in growth disorders.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have helped develop a technique in animal models for using the abdominal cavity to exchange gas, supplementing the function normally performed by the lungs.
Researchers have determined the structure of an important smallpox virus enzyme and how it binds to DNA. The enzyme, called a topoisomerase, is an important drug target for coming up with new ways to fight smallpox.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are examining the effectiveness of meditation on early cognitive impairment. Once this new study is completed, the results could help answer lingering questions over whether or not stress-reducing techniques and mind exercises can lessen or even prevent cognitive decline.
Researchers estimate that the human retina can transmit visual input at roughly 10 million bits per second, similar to an Ethernet connection. This line of questioning can ultimately inform the design of artificial visual systems.
Researchers found that chronic ibuprofen therapy given after brain injury worsens cognitive abilities. These findings have important implications for traumatic brain injury patients who are often prescribed NSAIDs for chronic pain.
Penn researchers have published a group of papers that, taken together, show proteins that function as molecular motors are surprisingly flexible and agile, able to navigate obstacles within the cell.
Researchers have discovered a new way to open ion channels in the membrane of cells. They found that an enzyme splits a lipid that surrounds the channel, with implications for designing new drugs to control ion-channel activity.
Researchers have isolated a new source of adult stem cells that appear to have the potential to differentiate into several cell types. These cells may one day have applications for a host of disorders, including peripheral nerve disease, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injury.
Using a newly developed drug screen, researchers have discovered small molecule compounds that are able to perform the functions of a gene commonly mutated in many types of cancer. These findings emphasize the growing role of imaging technology in aiding researchers in the development of individualized cancer treatments.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) is launching a new "Center for Evidence-Based Practice" in July 2006. Its purpose is to provide, throughout the entire health system, recommendations -- based on scientific methodology -- on clinical practices and policies. The center will evaluate drugs, as well as non-drug technologies like medical devices and equipment.
Researchers have found that the acute loss of a protein called menin can cause the proliferation of pancreatic islet cells. The menin gene (Men1) mutation in humans causes an inherited disease called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Not only could this discovery inform basic cancer biology, it also has implications for treating Type 1 diabetes.
Researchers have identified a new protein required for the circadian response to light in fruit flies. Understanding how light affects 24-hour rhythms will likely open doors to future treatments of jetlag.
For nearly a half a century, Wallace Miller, Sr., MD has been scrutinizing images in the dark at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) - and for the last 20 years, his son, Wallace Miller, Jr., MD, has been right by his side. Together, as chest radiologists in the Thoracic Imaging Division at Penn, this father-son duo has read close to one and a half million chest X-ray exams over the years!
Researchers have identified a striking dysregulation in neuronal receptor activity in the postmortem brain tissue from patients with schizophrenia. Identifying a relationship between the two receptor groups suggests a mechanism for decreased function that has long been suspected in schizophrenia.
Researchers have discovered that a brain region previously known for its role in learning and memory also serves as the location of sleep regulation in fruit flies.
Cold sores, caused by a herpes virus, come back again and again. Researchers found that a microRNA keeps the latent virus-infected cell alive, offering the first target for intervention in the latent infection.
A transcription factor called Elk-1 interacts with mitochondria, suggesting that this protein "“ typically active in the nucleus "“ could play a role in cell death, and mitochondria-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and schizophrenia.
COX enzymes interact physically to form a previously unrecognized biochemical partnership and function in the development of blood vessels in a mouse model, which suggests new biological, developmental, and therapeutic roles.
Researchers in the largest study to date of female heart failure patients who underwent a specialized stress test called oxygen uptake or VO2 -- concluded that women tend to have lower maximum exercise VO2 levels than men, yet their survival is significantly better than men. The results suggest that instead of one standard cut-off level in VO2 test results for both men and women, perhaps there should be a lower cut-off level for women.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is now home to three brand new, state-of-the-art, high powered MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) systems. The combination of the three units is a "Radiology First" for any hospital in the United States, which is especially fitting since HUP was the first hospital to get and use an MRI back in 1984.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are working on ways to improve the results of a non-surgical method to treat fibroids. They are examining the overall effectiveness of different agents used to destroy uterine fibroids - a discovery that could lead to more answers about the durability of a procedure called Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE).
A new study indicates that the use of a simple and inexpensive computer-based questionnaire increases the odds, but did not guarantee that domestic violence would be addressed during emergency department encounters.
The new center will study the effects of environmental pollutants on human health. Researchers will study the role of environmental exposure in lung disease, including cancer, mesothelioma, asthma, and emphysema, as well as diseases of the hormonal and reproductive systems, which include pre-term birth and birth defects.
Marisa Bartolomei, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology was awarded the first annual Society for Women's Health Research Medtronic Prize for Scientific Contributions to Women's Health. She was recognized for her work in the field of sex differences research and women's health.
Epidemiologist Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH, analyzes the limitations of the current system of drug-safety monitoring and proposes an alternative approach with three elements.
A new "Center for Spirituality and the Mind" has been created at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to support campus-wide researchers from a wide variety of academic disciplines who will further our understanding of what it means to be "religious" and "spiritual." The multi-disciplinary teams of researchers will study the issue from a number of related perspectives.
Researchers have located the cause of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) - a gene that, when damaged, causes the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue to undergo a metamorphosis into a "second skeleton."
Researchers have clarified the mechanism by which drugs like Celebrex and Vioxx cause heart problems, in multiple animal models. The findings suggest a new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs that bypass this issue.
Virginia A. LiVolsi, MD, Professor of Pathology at the U of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will be a key presenter at the "Living with Radiation in the Modern World: Commemorating Chernobyl, Remembering Hiroshima / Nagasaki," conference to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is proud to announce that its Rhoads 5 Surgical Critical Care Team has earned the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, an award given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and specifically designed to recognize the nation's top hospital critical-care units.
Daniel Rader, MD, a specialist in preventive cardiovascular medicine at the U of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has been selected to direct a prestigious Freedom to Discover Unrestricted Biomedical Research Grant awarded to the U of Pennsylvania School of Medicine by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Transfusion-free cardiac surgery is now available at the University of Pennsylvania Health System to anyone who wants it and qualifies as a good candidate. Patients receive no foreign blood, reducing the risk of complications and a long hospital stay.
An HIV-1 accessory protein called Vpr destroys the host cell's ability to survive by binding to a host receptor, disabling the host immune system via another enzyme. These findings imply new approaches to treating AIDS, inflammatory diseases, and possibly sepsis.
Researchers have discovered how a protein called Pmel17 is sorted by pigment cells in the skin and eye to make a fiber matrix that eventually sequesters melanin, the dark pigment found in skin, hair, and eyes.
Ilene Rosen and Richard Schwab spend their days examining and explaining to patients what may be causing their lack of sleep. As we approach National Sleep Awareness Week, set to begin on March 27th, these sleep physicians are offering up some "Wow, I didn't know that!" factoids when it comes our very treasured zzzzz's.
Jon Epstein, MD, Professor of Medicine and cardiovascular researcher at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been selected as this year's winner of the American Federation for Medical Research's Outstanding Investigator Award, the organization's top honor for medical investigation.
Researchers have developed a new, simple technology that can detect even a few molecules of proteins in the blood. It will make discerning low-abundance molecules associated with cancers, Alzheimer's disease, and prion diseases more sensitive and more accurate compared with current methods.
Researchers discovered the mechanism that facilitates how two ion channels collaborate in the control of electrical signals in the brain. They showed that the channels were anchored by a third protein at key locations on the nerve cell surface, and also found that the channel partnership is present in all vertebrates, but lacking in invertebrates.
Can someone who suffers from a lethal genetic disease teach a pair of medical students to become better doctors? That's the goal of a unique, long-term patient-student pairing program at the U. Penn School of Medicine. This unique, long-term three year program helps to humanize patients in the eyes of future doctors.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that leaving a mildly underactive thyroid gland (subclinical hypothyroidism) untreated does not lead to increased cardiovascular risk.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine received $1.1 million dollars from the Cardiovascular Medical Research Education Fund to establish the Penn Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Center for Cell Studies.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine say preliminary results of a small study show promise in improving erectile dysfunction (ED) in men who had shown minimal reaction to Viagra.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is ready for a very traumatic visit. In conjunction with Sweden's Linkoping University's Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology, HUP will be hosting four sets of four general surgeons.
Researchers discovered that a key receptor protein is a critical component of the internal molecular clock in mammals. What's more, this molecule - called Rev-erb - is sensitive to lithium and may help shed light on circadian rhythm disorders, including bipolar disorder.
Researchers have identified a second molecular pathway that promotes cell survival in low-oxygen conditions. With the details of cellular adaptation during hypoxia, they hope to gain a better understanding of the abnormal environments that are characteristic of many diseases, including solid-tumor cancers and stroke.
Researchers have created "“ in a rodent model "“ a completely new way to engineer nerve structures, or constructs, in culture. This proof-of-principle research has implications for eventually becoming a new method to repair spinal cord injury in humans.
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