Cedars-Sinai Tip Sheet for Oct. 20107

Noninvasive Eye Scan Could Detect Key Signs of Alzheimer's Disease Years Before Patients Show Symptoms
Cedars-Sinai neuroscience investigators have found that Alzheimer's disease affects the retina — the back of the eye — similarly to the way it affects the brain. The study also revealed that an investigational, noninvasive eye scan could detect the key signs of Alzheimer's disease years before patients experience symptoms. The study, published in JCI Insight,comes amid a sharp rise in the number of people affected by the disease.
Contact Sally Stewart | [email protected] 

First-of-Its-Kind Pulmonary Heart Valve Device Could Reduce Open-Heart Surgeries for Patients Born with Tetralogy of Fallot and Other Pulmonary Valve Defects
A Cedars-Sinai interventional cardiologist has performed the first minimally invasive procedure using a device that could spare patients with a common congenital heart defect from undergoing multiple open-heart surgeries. Malformed pulmonary valves are among the most common congenital heart defects and often act as a blockage that prevents the flow of blood through the heart.
Contact Sally Stewart | [email protected] 

The Cedars-Sinai App for Apple Watch Offers Connectivity on the Go and Transforms the Way Patients Interact With Their Care
The Cedars-Sinai app is now available on Apple Watch. Its launch makes Cedars-Sinai one of only a few hospital systems to offer a digital, interactive app on the device. The app is a complete resource for managing medical records, connecting with care teams, and exploring all Cedars-Sinai has to offer. Patients and guests can locate the nearest hospital or urgent care facility, as well as get directions and call a location or provider. The app also provides a Find a Doctor tool that allows users to search for doctors by condition, procedure or the doctor’s name.
Contact: Soshea Leibler | [email protected]

Research Could Lead to First Successful Vaccine for Superbug MRSA and Other Staph Bacteria
For years, medical investigators have tried and failed to develop vaccines for a type of staph bacteria associated with the deadly superbug MRSA. But a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators shows how staph cells evade the body’s immune system, offering a clearer picture of how a successful vaccine would work. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Host & Microbe, also sheds light on how investigators could develop an effective vaccine against staph.
Contact: Marni Usheroff | [email protected] 

Stem Cells From Young Hearts Could Rejuvenate Old Hearts, Study Shows
Cardiac stem cell infusions could someday help reverse the aging process in the human heart, making older ones behave younger, according to a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. In the study, investigators injected cardiosphere-derived cells from newborn laboratory rats into the hearts of rats with an average age of 22 months, which is considered aged. Other laboratory rats from the same age group were assigned to receive placebo treatment, saline injections instead of stem cells. Both groups of aged rats were compared to a group of young rats with an average age of 4 months. Results of those tests show lab rats that received the cardiosphere-derived cells:

• Experienced improved heart function
• Demonstrated longer heart cell telomeres, compound structures located at the ends of chromosomes that shrink with age
• Improved their exercise capacity by an average of approximately 20 percent
• Regrew hair faster than rats that didn't receive the cells

The study was published by the European Heart Journal. 

Contact Sally Stewart | [email protected]

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