Latest News from: UC San Diego Health

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27-May-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Melanoma of the Eye Caused by Two Gene Mutations
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a therapeutic target for treating the most common form of eye cancer in adults. They have also, in experiments with mice, been able to slow eye tumor growth with an existing FDA-approved drug.

22-May-2014 11:10 AM EDT
Gene Mutation Found for Aggressive Form of Pancreatic Cancer
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a mutated gene common to adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) tumors – the first known unique molecular signature for this rare, but particularly virulent, form of pancreatic cancer.

19-May-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Cancer Avatars for Personalized Medicine
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have used computer simulations of cancer cells – cancer avatars – to identify drugs most likely to kill cancer cells isolated from patients’ brain tumors.

14-May-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Possible Cause and Source of Kawasaki Disease Found
UC San Diego Health

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of California, San Diego, report that the likely causative agent of Kawasaki disease (KD) in Japan is a windborne agent originating from a source in northeast China. KD is a mysterious childhood ailment that can permanently damage coronary arteries.

12-May-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Technology Helps Teens with Chronic Disease
UC San Diego Health

Adolescents with chronic diseases (ACD), such as cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal disorders (including Crohn’s disease) and Type 1 diabetes, often find the transition of managing their health care needs into adulthood to be challenging. A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found the answer to developing independent, self-management skills in ACD could be right at the patient’s fingertips.

12-May-2014 12:00 PM EDT
War and Peace (of Mind)
UC San Diego Health

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Naval Health Research Center have found that mindfulness training – a combination of meditation and body awareness exercises – can help U.S. Marine Corps personnel prepare for and recover from stressful combat situations.

9-May-2014 12:00 PM EDT
E-Cigarettes and Mental Health
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that people living with depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions are twice as likely to have tried e-cigarettes and three times as likely to be current users of the controversial battery-powered nicotine-delivery devices, as people without mental health disorders.

Released: 6-May-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Detecting Fetal Chromosomal Defects Without Risk
UC San Diego Health

A team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and in China describe a new benchtop semiconductor sequencing procedure and newly developed bioinformatics software tools that are fast, accurate, portable, less expensive and can be completed without harm to mother or fetus.

Released: 5-May-2014 6:00 PM EDT
Genetic Risk Factor for Premature Birth Found
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a genetic risk factor for premature birth. The risk factor is related to a gene that codes for a protein that the scientists have found helps the body’s immune cells recognize and fight Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria.

Released: 5-May-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Mother Receives Novel Treatment for Rare Disease
UC San Diego Health

After a mother of two was in horrific pain, lost her sense of taste and her hair started falling out she was referred to UC San Diego Health System and diagnosed with a rare disease, called Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome.

Released: 5-May-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Molecular Tumor Board Helps in Advanced Cancer Cases
UC San Diego Health

With accelerating development of personalized cancer treatments matched to a patient’s DNA sequencing, proponents say frontline physicians increasingly need help to maneuver through the complex genomic landscape to find the most effective, individualized therapy.

Released: 2-May-2014 2:00 PM EDT
UC San Diego Launches New Center on Healthy Aging and Senior Care
UC San Diego Health

Dilip V. Jeste, MD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, has been appointed the first associate dean for Healthy Aging and Senior Care at the University of California, San Diego and will direct the newly established Center on Healthy Aging and Senior Care.

28-Apr-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Damage Control: Recovering From Radiation and Chemotherapy
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that a protein called beta-catenin plays a critical, and previously unappreciated, role in promoting recovery of stricken hematopoietic stem cells after radiation exposure.

Released: 30-Apr-2014 1:00 PM EDT
MRI-Guided Biopsy for Brain Cancer Improves Diagnosis, California First
UC San Diego Health

Neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Heath System have, for the first time, combined real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology with novel non-invasive cellular mapping techniques to develop a new biopsy approach that increases the accuracy of diagnosis for patients with brain cancer.

Released: 30-Apr-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Prostate Cancer and Blood Lipids Share Genetic Links
UC San Diego Health

A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Norway, significantly refines the association, highlighting genetic risk factors associated with low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides as key players and identifying 17 related gene loci that make risk contributions to levels of these blood lipids and to prostate cancer.

Released: 29-Apr-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Top Safety Scores for UC San Diego Health System
UC San Diego Health

Designed to rate how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries and infections, the latest Hospital Safety Score honored UC San Diego Health System with an “A” – its top grade in patient safety.

22-Apr-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Researchers Discover New Genetic Brain Disorder in Humans
UC San Diego Health

A newly identified genetic disorder associated with degeneration of the central and peripheral nervous systems in humans, along with the genetic cause, is reported in the April 24, 2014 issue of Cell.

21-Apr-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Community-Based Weight Loss Program Aids Diabetes Management
UC San Diego Health

A University of California, San Diego School of Medicine randomized controlled trial of obese adults with type 2 diabetes suggests that participants enrolled in a community-based structured weight loss program are able to shed more pounds, improve blood sugar control and reduce or eliminate insulin use and other medications compared to a control group.

Released: 22-Apr-2014 4:05 PM EDT
Igor Grant Named Chair of UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry
UC San Diego Health

Igor Grant, MD, FRCP(C), an internationally recognized neuropsychiatrist, whose research interests have ranged from the neurobiology of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse, psychobiology of stress, to the therapeutic potential of medicinal cannabis, has been named the new Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

16-Apr-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Cancer Stem Cells Linked to Drug Resistance
UC San Diego Health

Most drugs used to treat lung, breast and pancreatic cancers also promote drug-resistance and ultimately spur tumor growth. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a biomarker called CD61 on the surface of drug-resistant tumors that appears responsible for inducing tumor metastasis by enhancing the stem cell-like properties of cancer cells.

Released: 17-Apr-2014 3:00 PM EDT
The Ilk of Human Kindness
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that older women, plucky individuals and those who have suffered a recent major loss are more likely to be compassionate toward strangers than other older adults.

Released: 16-Apr-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Mutant Protein in Muscle Linked to Neuromuscular Disorder
UC San Diego Health

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is a rare inherited neuromuscular disorder characterized by slowly progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. In a new study published in the April 16, 2014 online issue of Neuron, a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say novel mouse studies indicate that mutant protein levels in muscle cells are fundamentally involved in SBMA, suggesting an alternative and promising new avenue of treatment.

Released: 15-Apr-2014 1:55 PM EDT
Breaking Bad Mitochondria
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a mechanism that explains why people with the hepatitis C virus get liver disease and why the virus is able to persist in the body for so long.

10-Apr-2014 4:20 PM EDT
Splice Variants Reveal Connections Among Autism Genes
UC San Diego Health

A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Center for Cancer Systems Biology (CCSB) at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has uncovered a new aspect of autism, revealing that proteins involved in autism interact with many more partners than previously known.

2-Apr-2014 1:00 PM EDT
For Good and Ill, Immune Response to Cancer Cuts Both Ways
UC San Diego Health

The difference between an immune response that kills cancer cells and one that conversely stimulates tumor growth can be as narrow as a “double-edged sword,” report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the April 7, 2014 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

31-Mar-2014 4:30 PM EDT
Cancer and the Goldilocks Effect
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that too little or too much of an enzyme called SRPK1 promotes cancer by disrupting a regulatory event critical for many fundamental cellular processes, including proliferation.

Released: 1-Apr-2014 12:20 PM EDT
Good Vibrations: Using Light-Heated Water to Deliver Drugs
UC San Diego Health

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, in collaboration with materials scientists, engineers and neurobiologists, have discovered a new mechanism for using light to activate drug-delivering nanoparticles and other targeted therapeutic substances inside the body.

24-Mar-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Gulf War Illness Not in Veterans’ Heads But in Their Mitochondria
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated for the first time that veterans of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War who suffer from “Gulf War illness” have impaired function of mitochondria – the energy powerhouses of cells.

21-Mar-2014 12:15 PM EDT
Cortical Layers Disrupted During Brain Development in Autism
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Allen Institute for Brain Science have published a study that gives clear and direct new evidence that autism begins during pregnancy.

25-Mar-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Brain Differences in College-Aged Occasional Drug Users
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered impaired neuronal activity in the parts of the brain associated with anticipatory functioning among occasional 18- to 24-year-old users of stimulant drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines and prescription drugs such as Adderall.

Released: 25-Mar-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Stem Cell-Derived Beta Cells Under Skin Replace Insulin
UC San Diego Health

Scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have shown that by encapsulating immature pancreatic cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC), and implanting them under the skin of diabetic mouse models, sufficient insulin is produced to maintain glucose levels without unwanted potential trade-offs of the technology.

19-Mar-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Bariatric Surgery Decreases Risk of Uterine Cancer
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center report that bariatric surgery resulting in dramatic weight loss in formerly severely obese women reduces the risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer by 71 percent and as much as 81 percent if normal weight is maintained after surgery.

Released: 17-Mar-2014 12:00 PM EDT
New Therapeutic Target Discovered for Alzheimer’s Disease
UC San Diego Health

A team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Medical University of South Carolina and San Diego-based American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc., report that cathepsin B gene knockout or its reduction by an enzyme inhibitor blocks creation of key neurotoxic pGlu-Aβ peptides linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, the candidate inhibitor drug has been shown to be safe in humans.

Released: 11-Mar-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Mother Delivers Baby, Develops Heart Disease
UC San Diego Health

Three weeks after delivering her first child, Amanda began to suffer from extreme fatigue, headaches, a tight chest and stomach pain. An initial diagnosis of pneumonia changed for the worse: Amanda was experiencing heart failure. She was quickly transferred to UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center where a multidisciplinary team implanted a novel cardiac device under her skin, leaving the heart untouched, to prevent sudden cardiac arrest.

Released: 7-Mar-2014 1:35 PM EST
Anti-Psychotic Meds Offer Hope Against Brain Cancer
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that FDA-approved anti-psychotic drugs possess tumor-killing activity against the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer, glioblastoma.

Released: 6-Mar-2014 4:00 PM EST
Kawasaki Disease and Pregnant Women
UC San Diego Health

In the first study of its type, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have looked at the health threat to pregnant women with a history of Kawasaki disease (KD), concluding that the risks are low with informed management and care.

Released: 6-Mar-2014 2:40 PM EST
Vitamin D Increases Breast Cancer Patient Survival
UC San Diego Health

Breast cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D in their blood are twice as likely to survive the disease as women with low levels of this nutrient, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the March issue of Anticancer Research.

Released: 4-Mar-2014 12:00 PM EST
Agreement Seeks to Accelerate Medical Science
UC San Diego Health

The new collaborative research agreement between Human Longevity Inc. (HLI) and the University of California, San Diego, announced today, represents a significant and necessary step in efforts to research and translate the potential of the human genome into novel and real treatments and therapies able to change and improve the human condition.

25-Feb-2014 1:00 PM EST
In First Moments of Infection, a Division and a Decision
UC San Diego Health

Using technologies and computational modeling that trace the destiny of single cells, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe for the first time the earliest stages of fate determination among white blood cells called T lymphocytes, providing new insights that may help drug developers create more effective, longer-lasting vaccines against microbial pathogens or cancer.

Released: 24-Feb-2014 12:00 PM EST
Laser Safely Destroys Deep Brain Tumor, CA First
UC San Diego Health

Using a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided laser technology, neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health System have successfully treated a malignant tumor deep inside a patient’s brain. This is the first time that this FDA-approved laser-based treatment has been performed in California.

19-Feb-2014 2:45 PM EST
Study Evaluates Role of Infliximab in Treating Kawasaki Disease
UC San Diego Health

A study led by physicians at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego looked at intensification of initial therapy for all children with Kawasaki Disease in order to prevent IVIG-resistance and associated coronary artery abnormalities by assessing the addition of the medication infliximab to current standard therapy.

Released: 18-Feb-2014 2:00 PM EST
Improving Knee Replacements
UC San Diego Health

Each year, approximately 600,000 total knee replacement procedures are performed in the United States, a number that is expected to rise in the next decade as the population ages. UC San Diego Health System is the first in the nation to use iASSIST, a computer navigation system with Bluetooth-like technology that improves surgical precision and accuracy in total knee replacements, decreasing the need for revision surgery.

Released: 14-Feb-2014 5:00 PM EST
Child Obesity: Cues and Don’ts
UC San Diego Health

Attention modification programs, which train a person to ignore or disregard specific, problematic cues or triggers, have been used effectively to treat cases of anxiety and substance abuse. In a novel study published this week in the journal Appetite, Kerri Boutelle, PhD, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues report using a single session of attention modification to decrease overeating in obese children.

10-Feb-2014 2:00 PM EST
Protein Switch Dictates Cellular Fate: Stem Cell or Neuron
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a well-known protein has a new function: It acts in a biological circuit to determine whether an immature neural cell remains in a stem-like state or proceeds to become a functional neuron.

Released: 11-Feb-2014 12:00 PM EST
I Smoke, But I’m Not a Smoker
UC San Diego Health

While smoking among California adults has dramatically declined in recent decades, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report there is a surprisingly large number of people who say they use cigarettes, but don’t consider themselves to be “smokers.”

Released: 6-Feb-2014 2:00 PM EST
Global Regulator of mRNA Editing Found
UC San Diego Health

An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Indiana University, have identified a protein that broadly regulates how genetic information transcribed from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA) is processed and ultimately translated into the myriad of proteins necessary for life.

30-Jan-2014 4:45 PM EST
Split Decision: Stem Cell Signal Linked with Cancer Growth
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a protein critical to hematopoietic stem cell function and blood formation. The finding has potential as a new target for treating leukemia because cancer stem cells rely upon the same protein to regulate and sustain their growth.

24-Jan-2014 12:45 PM EST
Scientists Discover New Genetic Forms of Neurodegeneration
UC San Diego Health

In a study published in the January 31, 2014 issue of Science, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report doubling the number of known causes for the neurodegenerative disorder known as hereditary spastic paraplegia. HSP is characterized by progressive stiffness and contraction of the lower limbs and is associated with epilepsy, cognitive impairment, blindness and other neurological features.

28-Jan-2014 4:30 PM EST
How DNA Damage Affects Golgi – The Cell’s Shipping Department
UC San Diego Health

In studying the impact of DNA damage on the Golgi, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered a novel pathway activated by DNA damage, with important consequences for the body’s cellular response to chemotherapy.



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