Deepening the mystery of autism's origins, a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study has failed to link the typical autistic child's fixation on spinning objects and constant whirling around to long-suspected damage to the brain's control center for movement, balance and equilibrium. (Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 12-00)
Fludrocortisone, a drug prescribed to treat low blood pressure, has little or no effect on symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome in adults when it is used as the only form of treatment, according to a joint study by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). (JAMA 1-01)
Hopkins researchers say early tests of a pancreatic cancer vaccine show it is safe and successful in reaching immune system cells. (J. of Clinical Oncology, 1-01)
The scientists at Johns Hopkins have now "engineered" human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to form a new type of cell that not only holds the potential to develop into different tissues but also overcomes great drawbacks that have limited the use of hPSCs for disease therapy.
Mouse allergen, in the form of mouse urine or dander, is widely distributed in the inner city and may be a significant contributing factor to the childhood asthma epidemic in urban areas, according to two studies by Johns Hopkins researchers. (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 12-00)
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine announced the formation of the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. Uniting eight departments, several hundred scientists and initiating a $125 million funding campaign.
An operation developed at Johns Hopkins to halt blinding retinal damage from age-related macular degeneration improved vision in nearly half of the first 100 patients treated, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Definity Health (formerly HealtheCare), which this fall launched a new consumer-driven health benefit, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Johns Hopkins University and Health System that will provide Definity Health members access to the academic center's extensive consumer health and wellness resources.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed a gene therapy that, within a week, quells abnormal rhythms in pig hearts, the animal hearts most similar to human. It's believed to be the first use of gene therapy for cardiac arrhythmias, the researchers say, and one with "a strong possibility" of transfer to human heart disease. (Nature Medicine, 12-00)
A large nationwide study concludes that a drug called etanercept dramatically slows or even stops the progress of rheumatoid arthritis at the earliest stages of the disease, helping nearly three-quarters of those taking it. Etanercept also shows fewer side effects than the current best medicine. (NEJM)
Doctor, heal thyself? That seems the motto among a group of physicians surveyed by Johns Hopkins researchers: More than a third said they were unlikely to see a doctor on a regular basis. (Archives of Internal Medicine, 11-27-00)
American Heart Association's 73rd Scientific Sessions tips include: 1- Blood components indicate risk of rejecting a transplanted heart; 2- Women less likely to get "aggressive" treatment for vessel disease.
If mouse studies hold true for humans, a daily cup of yogurt or dose of antibiotics may become the first effective treatments for a common and sometimes fatal obesity-related liver disorder, Hopkins scientists report. (Gastroenterology, 11-00)
An examination of two rare, very different and hereditary bone disorders has revealed clues about the common genetic switches controlling normal bone development, according to new research guided by a Johns Hopkins Children's Center endocrinologist.
A Johns Hopkins study of Korean Americans found that they have hypertension at rates much higher than other Americans or their counterparts in Korea.
The following tip sheet reports works-in-progress on the newest approaches to Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, stem cell therapy and seasonality from Hopkins' neuroscientists attending this month's meeting in New Orleans, November 4 to 9.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center uncovered a genetic alteration that appears to predict how individuals with an aggressive type of brain cancer will respond to chemotherapy. (NEJM, 11-9-00)
Joseph Cofrancesco Jr., M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins, was one of 47 physicians nationwide nominated for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Humanism in Medicine Award for 2000.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have demonstrated that a specific enzyme in the brain is essential for nerve cells to form a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) -- the so-called amyloid plaques that collect and surround brain cells.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins report they've restored movement to newly paralyzed rodents by injecting stem cells into the animals' spinal fluid. Results of their study were presented at the annual meeting of The Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans.
African Americans who undergo the most frequently performed blood vessel operation, carotid endarterectomy, have worse outcomes than whites, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers. (Annals of Surgery, 11-00)
A study of patients addicted to heroin shows that two medications other than the gold standard methadone are effective treatments, even for "hard core" users. Moreover, unlike methadone, the two therapeutic drugs needn't be taken daily -- allowing patients a lifestyle far closer to non-addicts'. (New England Journal of Medicine, 11-01-00)
The dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and five other faculty have joined the ranks of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
The Second National Symposium on Medical and Public Health Response to Bioterrorism will convene to explore how best to confront the threat of a bioterrorist attack on civilians in the United States.
Johns Hopkins researchers have targeted aerosol particles to smaller, harder to reach airways in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis. The work could lead to improved drug treatments for CF patients and in the future, to a means of optimizing the delivery of gene therapy. (Chest, 10-00)
The Johns Hopkins Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine has received a $14 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to identify genes involved in 10 heart and lung diseases.
Bioengineers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, have uncovered some of the algorithms of learning, the "primitives" the brain uses to comprehend the world. In particular, they have described the mathematical shapes used to control movements of the arms. (Nature, 10-12-00)
Children who use inhaled steroids to control their asthma do not have to worry about stunting their growth, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Johns Hopkins University and Health System today announced the launch of HopkinsHealth, which will license Hopkins-branded consumer health information to the online community.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins report that some people who suffer with repeated sinus infections may be predisposed to them in part because they carry the same genetic mutation responsible for cystic fibrosis(CF). (JAMA, 10-00)
Johns Hopkins Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $7.8M grant from NIH to establish a research center to study complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of cancer.
Hopkins is one of only a handful of medical centers to perform laparoscopic "robotic" surgeries for general abdominal procedures such as gallbladder removal and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux, or heartburn. Members of the media are invited to Johns Hopkins to view the surgery.
Exploiting what appears to be a newly found regulator of cystic fibrosis chemistry, scientists at Johns Hopkins report they have been able to experimentally improve the function of the cell molecule most affected by this common inherited disorder.
A Johns Hopkins breast surgeon has developed an important new way to find breast cancers that would otherwise go undetected by existing techniques. The procedure, outlined in this Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association as a research letter also improves women's chances for breast conserving surgery.
The standard, widely-used approach to screen men for prostate cancer--annual PSA tests after age 50 may be less efficient and cost-effective than one that tests men earlier and less frequently, according to a study in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.
A series of simple tests can help care providers predict whether older women will develop physical disabilities in the near future, Johns Hopkins researchers have found (Archives of Internal Medicine, 9-11-00).
Nearly three percent of Maryland public school students receive medication, most commonly Ritalin, during school hours for treatment of ADHD. There are significant disparities in the treatment rate for minority children and a concentrated use among children receiving special ed services (Pediatrics, 9-00).
A study following more than a thousand medical school graduates for nearly 40 years has shown that young adults who've injured their knees have a substantially increased risk of developing arthritis as older adults (Annals of Internal Medicine, 9-5-00).
A team of scientists at Johns Hopkins, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Wyeth-Ayerst Research has been able to prevent colon tumors in mice genetically susceptible to the disease by using a two-drug combination of sulindac and EKB-569, which inhibits a tumor-specific growth factor ( Nature Medicine, 9-1-00).
Studies in mice show that a drug used to treat diabetes, called metformin, may be helpful in combating a common and potentially fatal liver disorder. The discovery may lead to the development of the first drug to treat people who suffer from the condition known as fatty liver. (Nature Medicine, 9-00)
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found yet another reason to eat a well-balanced diet low in fats and rich in fruits and vegetables: it lowers blood levels of homocysteine, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease (Circulation, 8-22-00).
Important new biological information about how cancer cells grow and spread has been uncovered by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Science, 8-18-00).
Cochlear implants, electronic devices surgically implanted behind the ear to bring sound to profoundly deaf people, not only improve children's quality of life, but also are highly cost-effective, with an expected lifetime savings of $53,198, report Johns Hopkins researchers (JAMA, 8-16-00).
The majority of people who drink colas can't tell whether a soda contains caffeine or not, according to a Johns Hopkins study. "This stands in sharp contrast to the claim some soft drink manufacturers make that they add caffeine purely for taste," says the psychopharmacologist who directed the research (Archives of Family Medicine, 8-00).
Women who possess the same sex chromosomes as men -- by virtue of a genetic mutation that leaves them completely insensitive to male sex hormones called androgens -- can still lead active, normal sex lives, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center report in the August 2000 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endrocrinology & Metabolism.
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that deep breaths provide protection by preventing airways from closing in the first place. Protective effects of sighing may give therapeutic options for asthmatics, they report in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
One of the quiet miseries of long-term diabetes is a condition called gastroparesis --a failure of the stomach to empty after a meal because the valve-like pyloric muscle won't relax. Gastroparesis affects nearly 75 percent of people who've had diabetes more than five years, causing bloating, pain, loss of appetite and, on occasion, vomiting and dehydration.
Many more patients with chronic pancreatitis can safely turn to a minimally invasive operation for long-term pain relief, according to a study by Johns Hopkins physicians. Endoscopic therapy is an effective alternative to more invasive surgery or drugs (Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 7-00).
In the July 17 The Weekly Standard, the head of Johns Hopkins psychiatry comments on his specialty's checkered course, from the dark days when Freud stood on a pedestal, to the present, which he likens to "Russia after the fall of communism."
The pacemaker has taken on an increasingly important role in recent years. Originally used to fix electrical abnormalities in people with irregular heart rhythms, it is now in favor for heart failure patients as a way to "resynchronize" a weak and struggling heart.
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