UCLA researchers for the first time have identified and ranked which diseases contribute most to the life-expectancy gap between races and between education levels.
Scientists at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have developed the world's first animal model for mature human B-cell lymphomas, a discovery that may lead to the uncovering of the genetic mutations that cause these types of cancer. About 85 percent of all lymphomas are mature B-cell type.
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have localized a region on chromosome 16 that is likely to contain a risk gene for ADHD, the most prevalent childhood-onset psychiatric disorder. Their research suggests that the suspected risk gene may contribute as much as 30 percent of the underlying genetic cause of ADHD and may also be involved in a separate childhood onset disorder, autism.
In a discovery with implications for treatment of anxiety disorders, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute investigators have identified a distinct molecular process in the brain involved in overcoming fear.
The prostate cancer program at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and the Department of Urology has been designated by the National Cancer Institute as a site of research excellence, making it one of a few institutions nationwide tapped to improve prevention, detection and treatment of a disease that will kill 30,000 American men this year.
UCLA researchers have calculated how early diagnosis of Alzheimer's with PET improves the treatment results of dementia patients. When combined with conventional diagnostic methods, PET can cut drug therapy by half and reduce months in a nursing home by 60 percent.
Dr. Jerome Engel Jr., professor of neurology and neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the UCLA Seizure Disorder Center, has been named to the new Jonathan Sinay Chair in Epilepsy.
UCLA radiologists are working to recruit 2,475 women to participate in the study, called the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST). Nationwide, about 49,500 women will participate in DMIST, which is coordinated by the National Cancer Institute and the American College of Radiology.
For the first time, UCLA researchers have documented a link between a person's self-awareness of memory failure and subsequent decline in brain function, particularly in a region of the brain critical to learning and recall.
A UCLA researcher seeks patients with degenerative disc disease to participate in a two-year clinical trial using an experimental spinal implant device to fuse -- connect with bone -- the vertebrae versus taking a bone graft from the patient's hip.
A hormone common in pregnant women shows promise as an easily administered treatment for people with early-stage multiple sclerosis (MS). A new study by UCLA neuroscientists shows for the first time in humans that estriol in oral tablet form can decrease the size and number of brain lesions, and increase protective immune responses in patients with relapsing remitting MS.
Dr. John Mazziotta has been named chair of the Department of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and the Francis Stark Chair of Neurology. Mazziotta already holds the positions of UCLA professor of neurology, radiological sciences, and medical and molecular pharmacology; Pierson-Lovelace Investigator; and director of the UCLA Brain Mapping Center.
"Surviving September 11th: The Story of One New York Family" will appear on PBS stations nationwide beginning on Sept. 1, 2002. This remarkable documentary tells the dramatic story of what happened to three generations of one Brooklyn family -- grandmother, mother, and three-year-old daughter -- caught up in the evacuation of lower Manhattan following the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Scientists and physicians at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center today (Aug. 28) are launching a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive program to prevent smoking-related bladder cancer.
UCLA AIDS Institute researchers predict that expanded use of antiretroviral drugs can eventually stop the HIV epidemic in its tracks - even in African nations where a high percentage of people are infected.
A new study by UCLA neuroscientists shows for the first time that a unique pattern of cellular activity found in early brain development also triggers repairs to damaged adult brains.
The only known adults in the world who possess a genetic mutation that prevents their bodies from producing leptin may lead to a new way of fighting fat. After leptin therapy, the adults' dramatic weight loss suggests that leptin offers promise for treating obesity.
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and in the Department of Urology have demonstrated for the first time that they can locate difficult-to-detect prostate cancer metastases in laboratory models, a discovery that could lead to safer and more effective gene-based treatments for advanced prostate cancer.
New research at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center provides the first comprehensive examination of quality-of-life issues faced by long-term lung cancer survivors.
UCLA researchers are using brain scans to predict the effectiveness of antidepressants within days of treatment, cutting weeks off the time needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the medicine. The results could mean faster relief of symptoms for many of the millions who suffer from acute depression.
UCLA scientists have developed a fast new way to image how genes misfire in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. The model may help identify the genes that cause autism and schizophrenia.
Using fruit flies genetically engineered to imitate the molecular symptoms of human dementia, UCLA neurologists identified a new way that the disease kills brain cells. The findings suggest that the fly model could inexpensively speed the development of drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease.
A new UCLA study shows efforts to teach parents that antibiotics are not necessary to treat their child's cold are failing to reach the Latino and Asian communities, and that educational campaigns need to be revamped to connect with these groups. The findings, being presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Baltimore, MD, also show that despite current educational efforts, physicians continue to prescribe antibiotics if they feel pressure from parents.
UCLA researchers retrospectively reviewed survival rates of hepatitis B liver transplantation patients. Their findings show that a combination of two drug therapies improved patient survival rates and that long-term treatment dramatically decreases recurrence of the disease.
A history of childhood sexual abuse overshadows all other factors that place a woman at risk for contracting HIV infection, suggests a new UCLA and Drew University study.
UCLA AIDS Institute researchers discovered that African strains of HIV infected two American infants as early as 1994. The scientists also found that multi-drug "cocktails" - available for children only since 1997 -- successfully combat the spread of HIV in most patients.
Dr. Daniel Geschwind, UCLA assistant professor of neurology, has received a five-year, $6M grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to expand scientific and community groups' efforts to identify the genes that cause autism.
For the first time, UCLA researchers have determined that genetics plays a significant role in shaping brain structure and influences the brains of left-handed and right-handed people differently.
A new UCLA study shows strong evidence that "Sweaty Palms," is genetic. Previously this embarrassing and often debilitating disorder was thought to be stress related and not taken seriously by the medical community. Family members with disorder available for interviews. B-roll of the corrective surgery for sweaty palms also available.
UCLA geneticists have discovered the first evidence that migraine with aura is a hereditary condition. The new findings will enable researchers to isolate the gene that predisposes people to the painful headache disorder.
For the first time, UCLA AIDS Institute scientists have demonstrated in an animal model that cocaine use dramatically accelerates the spread of HIV infection. Offering a useful tool for examining other HIV-related risk factors.
Since "time is brain" when treating stroke victims, UCLA Medical Center researchers are encouraged by a pilot study showing magnesium sulfate administered early in the field by paramedics may actually protect the threatened brain and lead to a better recovery.
In one of the largest national studies of its kind, UCLA researchers found that both caregiver and patient health care costs rise as symptoms worsen in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Costs can rise to over $30,000 for a six-month period. Early treatment may improve patients' quality of life and lower costs.
A new UCLA School of Public Health study offers the first scientific evidence that sports stars and other public figures exert a positive influence in the lives of teen admirers.
UCLA scientists have discovered the brain mechanism that causes learning disabilities in neurofibromatosis 1, an inherited disease marked by disfiguring tumors. The discovery will lead to new treatments for the disease, which affects nearly one million people worldwide.
UCLA and Finnish researchers have identified a genetic mutation for lactose intolerance, a painful digestive condition that afflicts some 30 million to 50 million North Americans, 75 percent of African Americans and 90 percent of Asian Americans.
UCLA scientists have created the first technique to image the onset of Alzheimer's disease in the living brain - before the disorder attacks brain cells. The method will allow doctors to monitor the disease as it unfolds, speeding diagnosis and new treatments.
Long-term breast cancer survivors report excellent quality of life many years after treatment, but the use of chemotherapy and tamoxifen in addition to surgery may result in decreased physical functioning over time, according to a study published in TuesdayÃs (Jan. 2) issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
UCLA researchers have discovered that the AIDS epidemic significantly amplifies tuberculosis (TB) outbreaks, often doubling the number and frequency of resulting TB cases. However, their research also shows how strong TB treatment programs can curb HIV's effect - a result of particular importance in developing countries battling both diseases.
UCLA research shows that positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the brain can accurately detect early Alzheimer's disease up to 95 percent of the time - leading to prompt medical treatment for the debilitating disease.
New UCLA AIDS Institute research reveals that stress enables HIV to spread more quickly in infected persons and prevents antiretroviral drugs from restoring immune system function. The UCLA study is the first to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms linking stress and HIV infection.
A genetic analysis of a protein believed to affect the formation of blood vessels has proved that Thrombospondin-1 does indeed regulate a tumor's ability to form the independent blood supply that cancers need to grow and thrive, UCLA researchers report.
The number of drug-resistant HIV cases has already reached epidemic proportions in San Francisco, but transmission of drug-resistant strains is not to blame, reports a new UCLA/UCSF study.
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have discovered a unique gene modification in adult human cancer cells that could provide insight into the cause of certain types of lymphoma and possibly other cancers.
For the first time, UCLA scientists have identified the small group of brain cells believed to originate breathing in mammals. Reported in the September issue of Nature Neuroscience, their discovery could lead researchers to new approaches to addressing serious health problems, such as sleep apnea and sudden infant death syndrome.
UCLA pharmacology chair and Norton Simon Professor Michael E. Phelps, creator of the positron emission tomography (PET) scanner has earned two of the medical field's most prestigious peer awards.
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have shown for the first time that immunotherapy delivered via gene therapy may prove to be a potent weapon in the fight against locally advanced prostate cancer.