| Johns Hopkins Medicine News |
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News about Johns Hopkins Medicine activities in patient care, research, and education.
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Lower Blood Pressure May Preserve Kidney Function in Some Patients-9/1/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Intensively treating hypertension in some African Americans with kidney disease by pushing blood pressure well below the current recommended goal may significantly decrease the number who lose kidney function and require dialysis, suggests a Johns Hopkins-led study publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine Thursday.
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Researchers Link Protein to Tumor Growth-8/31/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins researchers working on mice have discovered a protein that is a major target of a gene that, whe n mutated in humans, causes tumors to develop on nerves associated with hearing, as well as cataracts in the eyes.
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New Parkinson's Gene is Linked to Immune System-8/27/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A hunt throughout the human genome for variants associated with common late-onset Parkinson's disease has revealed a new genetic link that implicates the immune system and offers new targets for drug development.
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Scientists Discover How Chemical Repellants Trip Up Insects-8/25/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Fire up the citronella-scented tiki torches, and slather on the DEET: Everybody knows these simple precautions repel insects, notably mosquitoes, whose bites not only itch and irritate, but also transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria and dengue.
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Johns Hopkins Establishes New Clinical Research Network-8/10/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Building on a tool that they developed in yeast four years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scanned the human genome and discovered what they believe is the reason people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks.
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Advisory: Johns Hopkins Medical Team to Deploy on Navy Mission-8/6/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins Medicine has signed an agreement with the U.S. Navy to provide medical and disaster research experts to staff the USS Iwo Jima during the next four months, as the ship sets sail to provide medical assistance to Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana and Suriname.
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Brainstem, Spinal Cord Images Hidden in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Fresco-7/27/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Michelangelo, the 16th century master painter and accomplished anatomist, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord in a depiction of God in the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers reports. These findings by a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator, published in the May Neurosurgery, may explain long controversial and unusual features of one of the frescoes’ figures.
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Dense Bones Linked to Raised Risk for Prostate Cancer-7/27/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Men who develop prostate cancer, especially the more aggressive and dangerous forms that spread throughout the body, tend to retain denser bones as they age than men who stay free of the disease, suggests new research from Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
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Statement on the death of Stephen B. Pitcairn-7/26/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins is deeply shocked and saddened by the stabbing death of research technologist Stephen B. Pitcairn. His colleagues and friends here mourn his loss and extend sincere condolences to his family.
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Voice Problems: An Occupational Hazard for Teachers-7/22/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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In the coming weeks, most back-to-school stories will focus on parents and schools helping kids make the transition from the liberal summer vacation schedule to a more regimented one and offering ways on how students can reach their full academic potential. Seldom do any of these stories focus on something just as important: the teachers.
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Football/Head, Shoulders, Knees and....Voice?-7/22/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Next week, players from all National Football League (NFL) squads will report for the start of training camp. With that come the unfortunate injuries, which as they say, “are just part of the game.” Those body-flying tackles and bone-jarring hits can wreak havoc on the bodies of NFL players from head to toe and every joint and muscle in between.
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All Children's Hospital to Integrate with Johns Hopkins Medicine-7/20/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) and All Children’s Hospital & Health System (ACH) of St. Petersburg, Fla., have signed a letter of intent to integrate. After appropriate due diligence is completed sometime later this year, ACH will join the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) as a fully integrated member of JHM.
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Bringing True Accountability to Health Care: Lessons From Efforts to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Infections-7/13/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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In health care reform discussions, talk inevitably turns to making hospitals and physicians accountable for patient outcomes. But in a commentary being published in the July 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Johns Hopkins patient safety expert Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., argues that the health care industry doesn’t yet have measurable, achievable and routine ways to prevent patient harm — and that, in many cases, there are too many barriers in the way to attain them.
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Double-Teaming a Whole-Genome Hunt-7/12/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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By inspecting the sequence of all 3 billion “letters” that make up the genome of a single person affected with a rare, inherited disorder, a Johns Hopkins and Duke University team ferreted out the single genetic mutation that accounts for the disease.
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Hopkins Team Discovers Sweet Way to Detect Prediabetes-7/8/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Having discovered a dramatic increase of an easy-to-detect enzyme in the red blood cells of people with diabetes and prediabetes, Johns Hopkins scientists say the discovery could lead to a simple, routine test for detecting the subtle onset of the disease, before symptoms or complications occur and in time to reverse its course.
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Johns Hopkins Medicine Adds Four to Board of Trustees-7/6/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Leaders in the financial, pharmaceutical and medical fields are among the four selected for one-year terms on the board of trustees for Johns Hopkins Medicine. One of the new trustees, Christopher W. Kersey, M.D., M.B.A., has also been named to a three-year term on the board of trustees for The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
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Hard-to-Place Kidneys: New Allocation Formula Developed by Johns Hopkins Could Prevent Waste and Transplant Delays-6/30/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Only a small fraction of transplant centers nationwide are willing to accept and transplant deceased-donor kidneys that they perceive as less than perfect, leading to lengthy, organ-damaging delays as officials use a one-by-one approach to find a willing taker. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have designed a formula they say can predict which donor kidneys are most likely to be caught in that process, a method that could potentially stop thousands of usable kidneys each year from being discarded because it took too long for them to be transplanted. Previous studies have shown such kidneys can extend the life of certain dialysis patients, if allocated and transplanted in a timely manner.
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Johns Hopkins Hospital Recognized as Top Hospital by Business Magazine-6/28/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Becker's Hospital Review magazine has selected The Johns Hopkins Hospital as one of the “30 Best Hospitals in America.” The award is based on reputation among M.D.-specialists, hospital mortality-index data, patient safety scores and a group of other care-related factors, such as nurse staffing and available technology.
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Novel Radiotracer Shines New Light on the Brains of Alzheimer's Disease Patients-6/24/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A trial of a novel radioactive compound readily and safely distinguished the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients from healthy volunteers on brain scans and opens the doors to making such imaging available beyond facilities that can manufacture their own radioactive compounds. The results, reported by a Johns Hopkins team in the June Journal of Nuclear Medicine, could lead to better ways to distinguish Alzheimer’s from other types of dementia, track disease progression and develop new therapeutics to fight the memory-ravaging disease.
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Genetic Septet in Control of Blood Platelet Clotting-6/22/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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In what is believed to be the largest review of the human genetic code to determine why some people’s blood platelets are more likely to clump faster than others, scientists at Johns Hopkins and in Boston have found a septet of overactive genes, which they say likely control that bodily function.
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Fly Cells Flock Together, Follow the Light-6/16/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Scientists at Johns Hopkins report using a laser beam to activate a protein that makes a cluster of fruit fly cells act like a school of fish turning in social unison, following the lead of the one stimulated with light.
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Disaster Drill to Test and Train Emergency Response-6/16/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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More than 150 volunteers and hospital employees will take part in a mock disaster drill on Wednesday, June 16, at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The drill will test whether Emergency Department doctors, nurses and other staff are ready for a real calamity in Baltimore.
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Botox Eases Nerve Pain in Certain Patients-6/10/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Made popular for its ability to smooth wrinkles when injected into the face, Botox — a toxin known to weaken or paralyze certain nerves and muscles — may have another use that goes beyond the cosmetic.
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Improving Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury-6/9/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Once damaged, nerves in the spinal cord normally cannot grow back and the only drug approved for treating these injuries does not enable nerve regrowth. Publishing online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine show that treating injured rat spinal cords with an enzyme, sialidase, improves nerve regrowth, motor recovery and nervous system function.
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Income, Race Combine to Make Perfect Storm for Kidney Disease-6/8/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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African Americans with incomes below the poverty line have a significantly higher risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) than higher-income African-Americans or whites of any socioeconomic status, research led by scientists at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging shows. Conducted in a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of participants from the city of Baltimore, Md., the study could help researchers eventually develop strategies to prevent CKD in vulnerable populations.
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Genetic 'Parts' List Now Available for Key Part of the Mammalian Brain-6/3/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A Johns Hopkins and Japanese research team has generated the first comprehensive genetic “parts” list of a mouse hypothalamus, an enigmatic region of the brain — roughly cherry-sized, in humans — that controls hunger, thirst, fatigue, body temperature, wake-sleep cycles and links the central nervous system to control of hormone levels.
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Sibley Memorial Hospital to Join Johns Hopkins Medicine-5/27/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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In a move to address growing interest in more efficient, integrated regional health care services for patients, officials of Sibley Memorial Hospital and The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation have announced their intention to enter into discussions regarding the integration of Sibley Hospital into the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS).
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Johns Hopkins Provost Honored with International Award-5/17/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Lloyd Minor, M.D., an expert in balance and inner-ear disorders, and Johns Hopkins University’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, has been awarded the Prosper Ménière Society’s 2010 gold medal. The award is for Minor’s contributions to understanding the scientific basis of Ménière’s disease, named for the French scientist who pegged its hallmark symptoms of recurring dizziness and “constant ringing noise in the head,” or so-called tinnitus, to dysfunction in the inner ear.
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New Radiation Oncology Services in Howard County-5/17/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A consortium of five Baltimore hospitals, led by the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine, has acquired and donated to Baltimore city new wireless technology able to transmit electrocardiograms from the field over the Internet to hospital-based medical specialists.
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Press Conference on Traumatic Brain Injury in Professional Football-5/13/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins Medicine presents a continuing medical education program on an evidence-based perspective of traumatic brain injury in professional football for National Football League (NFL) physicians and trainers, NFL players, and Department of Defense clinicians and researchers.
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Barbara Walters Heart Surgery -- Johns Hopkins Experts Available-5/11/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins cardiac surgeons — none who are involved in the care of ABC ‘s Barbara Walters — are prepared to give background to reporters or comment on diseased aortic valves and aortic valve replacement surgery, performed at a rate of more than one a week at Johns Hopkins for many years.
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Spouses Who Care for Partners with Dementia at Sixfold Higher Risk of Same Fate-5/5/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Husbands or wives who care for spouses with dementia are six times more likely to develop the memory-impairing condition than those whose spouses don’t have it, according to results of a 12-year study led by Johns Hopkins, Utah State University, and Duke University. The increased risk that the researchers saw among caregivers was on par with the power of a gene variant known to increase susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease, they report in the May Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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Johns Hopkins Researchers Elected to the National Academy of Sciences-5/3/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Nancy L. Craig, Ph.D., a professor of molecular biology and genetics, and King-Wai Yau, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience and ophthalmology, both in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, are among 72 scientists nationwide newly elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, an honorary society that advises the government on scientific matters.
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Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer: There's An App For That-4/30/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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IPhone, iPad and Motorola Droid users can now, with the touch of a button, instantly access the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer office (http://www.techtransfer.jhu.edu/.) The new, free app allows anyone to easily connect to the office, which operates as the licensing arm for technologies developed by Hopkins faculty and staff and links entrepreneurs and investors with cutting-edge advances in science.
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Johns Hopkins Pathologist Grover M. Hutchins, M.D., 77 -4/30/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Grover M. Hutchins, M.D., a world-renowned pathologist who practiced at Johns Hopkins Medicine for more than 50 years, died Wednesday while traveling in Africa, from head injuries sustained from a fall. Hutchins, 77, and his wife, Loretta, both of Baltimore, were on a cruise around the world.
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Hopkins Researchers Put Proteins Right Where They Want Them-4/14/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Using a method they developed to watch moment to moment as they move a molecule to precise sites inside live human cells, Johns Hopkins scientists are closer to understanding why and how a protein at one location may signal division and growth, and the same protein at another location, death.
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STI, HIV Counseling Inadequate in Male Teens-4/13/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Despite national guidelines aimed at improving sexual health services for teenagers, most sexually active boys — even those who report high-risk sexual behaviors — still get too little counseling about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during their visits to the doctor, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
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Early Surgery Better In Preemies with Blinding Eye Disease-4/12/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Premature babies born with severe forms of the potentially blinding eye condition retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) should be treated promptly after diagnosis because they continue to benefit from early therapy well into their preschool years, according to a nationwide study conducted at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 25 other pediatric hospitals.
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Johns Hopkins Cardiologist and Trustee Nicholas J. Fortuin, M.D., 69-4/12/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Nicholas J. Fortuin, M.D., one of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s most dedicated and admired clinical cardiologists, teachers and institutional leaders, died unexpectedly near Owings Mills Sunday while biking, his favorite sport and pastime. The cause of death was not known, but it is likely he suffered a heart attack, colleagues say.
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More Benefits Found From Mild Exercise in Critically Ill Patients-4/9/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A new report from critical care experts at Johns Hopkins shows that use of prescription sedatives goes down by half so that mild exercise programs can be introduced to the care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Curtailing use of the drowsiness-inducing medications not only allows patients to exercise, which is known to reduce muscle weakness linked to long periods of bed rest, but also reduces bouts of delirium and hallucinations and speeds up ICU recovery times by as much as two to three days, the paper concludes.
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Gregg Semenza Named Canada Gairdner International Awardee-4/6/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D., director of the vascular program at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering and a member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, is one of seven recipients of the 2010 Canada Gairdner Awards. Canada’s only international science prizes, they are among the world’s most prestigious medical research awards.
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Understanding Night Blindness and Calcium-3/30/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Congenital stationary night blindness, an inherited condition that affects one’s ability to see in the dark, is caused by a mutation in a calcium channel protein that shuttles calcium into and out of cells. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased apart the molecular mechanism behind this mutation, uncovering a more general principle of how cells control calcium levels.
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Hopkins Doctor Says Sports Events and Cell Phones Can Harm Voice -3/25/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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From the first tip-off during March Madness to the championship’s final buzzer, and with start of the 2010 Major League Baseball season, on Sunday, April 4, thousands of people will relentlessly scream and shout, placing tremendous strain on their voices. While no one is recommending complete silence, the constant pressure on the vocal cords can cause great damage.
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How Does a Heart Know When It's Big Enough?-3/25/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A protein discovered in fruit fly eyes has brought a Johns Hopkins team closer to understanding how the human heart and other organs automatically “right size” themselves, a piece of information that may hold clues to controlling cancer.
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Johns Hopkins Team Finds New Way to Attack TB-3/24/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Suspecting that a particular protein in tuberculosis was likely to be vital to the bacteria’s survival, Johns Hopkins scientists screened 175,000 small chemical compounds and identified a potent class of compounds that selectively slows down this protein’s activity and, in a test tube, blocks TB growth, demonstrating that the protein is indeed a vulnerable target.
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Johns Hopkins to Host “A Tribute to 150+ Women Professors” Celebration-3/23/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Florence Sabin, the famed pathologist, became the first woman given the title of full professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1917. The second female professor wasn’t named until more than 40 years later. And when Janice Clements, Ph.D., was promoted in 1990, she was only the 24th woman in the nearly 100-year history of the medical school to make full professor.
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Acne Drug Prevents HIV Breakout-3/18/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a safe and inexpensive antibiotic in use since the 1970s for treating acne effectively targets infected immune cells in which HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, lies dormant and prevents them from reactivating and replicating.
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Causes Found for Stiff Skin Condition-3/18/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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By studying the genetics of a rare inherited disorder called stiff skin syndrome, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have learned more about scleroderma, a condition affecting about one in 5,000 people that leads to hardening of the skin as well as other debilitating and often life-threatening problems. The findings, which appear this week in Science Translational Medicine, open doors to testing new treatments.
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Minority, Underprivileged Patients Not as Likely to be Referred to Specialty Hospitals for Brain Tumors-3/15/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged patients with brain tumors are significantly less likely to be referred to high-volume hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery than other patients of similar age, the same gender, and with similar comorbidities, according to new research by Johns Hopkins doctors. The finding, published in the March Archives of Surgery, suggests a scenario in direct contrast to recommendations from federal health care agencies encouraging better access and quality of health care for people of all races.
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Arnall Patz, M.D., June 14, 1920 – March 11, 2010-3/12/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Arnall Patz, director emeritus of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins; a pivotal figure in the history of ophthalmology; and the recipient of both a Presidential Medal of Freedom and an Albert Lasker Award, often called the “American Nobel,” for his groundbreaking research into the causes and prevention of blindness, died on March 10.
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Johns Hopkins Doctor and Disaster Expert Says Resource Problems in Haiti Required Difficult Ethical Decision-Making-3/11/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged patients with brain tumors are significantly less likely to be referred to high-volume hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery than other patients of similar age, the same gender, and with similar comorbidities, according to new research by Johns Hopkins doctors. The finding, published in the March Archives of Surgery, suggests a scenario in direct contrast to recommendations from federal health care agencies encouraging better access and quality of health care for people of all races.
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Experimental Drug that Mimics Thryoid Hormone Safely Lowers 'Bad' Cholesterol in Statin-Treated Patients-3/10/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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People whose “bad” cholesterol and risk of future heart disease stay too high despite cholesterol-lowering statin therapy can safely lower it by adding a drug that mimics the action of thyroid hormone. In a report published in the Mar. 11, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Johns Hopkins and Swedish researchers say an experimental drug called eprotirome lowered cholesterol up to 32 percent in those already on statins, an effect equal to that expected from doubling the statin drug doses, without harmful side effects.
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Why Symptoms of Schizophrenia Emerge in Young Adulthood-2/25/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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In reports of two new studies, researchers led by Johns Hopkins say they have identified the mechanisms rooted in two anatomical brain abnormalities that may explain the onset of schizophrenia and the reason symptoms don’t develop until young adulthood. Both types of anatomical glitches are influenced by a gene known as DISC1, whose mutant form was first identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders. The findings could lead to new ways to treat, prevent or modify the disorder or its symptoms.
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Going Green in the Hospital-2/24/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Wider adoption of the practice of recycling medical equipment — including laparoscopic ports and durable cutting tools typically tossed out after a single use — could save hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars annually and curb trash at medical centers, the second-largest waste producers in the United States after the food industry.
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Eminent Pediatrician and Geneticist Barton Childs Dies at Age 93-2/19/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Barton Childs, M.D., professor emeritus of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a legendary geneticist and teacher who influenced the practice of generations of physicians and shaped their understanding of inherited disease, died Feb. 18 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital after a short illness. He was 93.
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Personalized Blood Tests for Cancer Using Whole Genome Sequence-2/18/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used data from the whole genome sequencing of cancer patients to develop individualized blood tests they believe can help physicians tailor patients' treatments. The genome-based blood tests, believed to be the first of their kind, may be used to monitor tumor levels after therapy and determine cancer recurrence.
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Hopkins Scientists Discover How Protein Trips Up Germs-2/17/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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If bad bacteria lurk in your system, chances are they will bump into the immune system’s protective cells whose job is gobbling germs. The catch is that these do-gooders, known as macrophages, ingest and destroy only those infectious invaders that they can securely hook and reel in.
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All Eyes on Retinal Degeneration-2/16/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Research by Johns Hopkins sensory biologists studying fruit flies, has revealed a critical step in fly vision. Humans with problems in this same step suffer retinal dystrophies, which manifest as visual defects ranging from mild visual impairments to complete blindness. The article, published Jan. 26 in Current Biology paves the way for using the fruit fly to screen for therapies to treat human retinal degeneration.
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High-Fat Ketogenic Diet to Control Seizures Is Safe Over Long Term-2/16/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Current and former patients treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet to control multiple, daily and severe seizures can be reassured by the news that not only is the diet effective, but it also appears to have no long-lasting side effects, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
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Seniors Stymied in Wait For Kidney Transplants-2/15/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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One-third of people over the age of 65 wait longer than necessary for lifesaving, new kidneys because their doctors fail to put them in a queue for organs unsuitable to transplant in younger patients but well-suited to seniors, research from Johns Hopkins suggests.
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Making a Better Medical Safety Checklist-2/15/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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In the wake of Johns Hopkins’ success in virtually eliminating intensive-care unit bloodstream infections via a simple five-step checklist, the safety scientist who developed and popularized the tool warns medical colleagues that they are no panacea.
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Sweet! - Sugar Plays Key Role in Cell Division-2/5/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Using an elaborate sleuthing system they developed to probe how cells manage their own division, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that common but hard-to-see sugar switches are partly in control.
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Three Years Out, Safety Checklist Continues to Keep Hospital Infections in Check-2/4/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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The state of Michigan, which used a five-step checklist developed at Johns Hopkins to virtually eliminate bloodstream infections in its hospitals’ intensive care units , has been able to keep the number of these common, costly and potentially lethal infections near zero — even three years after first adopting the standardized procedures.
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A Statement from Johns Hopkins Medicine about HeLa Cells and Their Use-2/1/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins Medicine sincerely acknowledges the contribution to advances in biomedical research made possible by Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. It’s important to note that at the time the cells were taken from Mrs. Lacks’ tissue, the practice of obtaining informed consent from cell or tissue donors was essentially unknown among academic medical centers. Sixty years ago, there was no established practice of seeking permission to take tissue for scientific research purposes.
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Human Growth Hormone: Not a Life Extender After All? -1/26/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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People profoundly deficient in human growth hormone (HGH) due to a genetic mutation appear to live just as long as people who make normal amounts of the hormone, a new study shows. The findings suggest that HGH may not be the “fountain of youth” that some researchers have suggested.
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Johns Hopkins Disaster Team to Deploy for Haiti Wednesday-1/26/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) will deploy a group of Johns Hopkins physicians, nurses and other experts Wednesday to Haiti to help that nation’s injured and suffering. A second group will leave Feb. 4.
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Leading Cause of Medical Evacuation Out of War Zones: It's Not Combat Injury-1/22/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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The most common reasons for medical evacuation of military personnel from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years have been fractures, tendonitis and other musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, not combat injuries, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published January 22 in The Lancet.
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Lighter Sedation for Elderly During Surgery May Reduce Risk of Confusion, Disorientation After-1/20/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A common complication following surgery in elderly patients is postoperative delirium, a state of confusion that can lead to long-term health problems and cause some elderly patients to complain that they “never felt the same” again after an operation. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that simply limiting the depth of sedation during procedures could safely cut the risk of postoperative delirium by 50 percent.
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Reasoning Through the Rationing of End-of-Life Care-1/19/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Acknowledging that the idea of rationing health care, particularly at the end of life, may incite too much vitriol to get much rational consideration, a Johns Hopkins emeritus professor of neurology called for the start of a discussion anyway, with an opinion piece featured in this month’s issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics.
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For Gunshot and Stab Victims, On-Scene Spine Immobilization May Do More Harm Than Good-1/11/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Immobilizing the spines of shooting and stabbing victims before they are taken to the hospital — standard procedure in Maryland and some other parts of the country — appears to double the risk of death compared to transporting patients to a trauma center without this time-consuming, on-scene medical intervention, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers.
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Early Tests Show Vaccine Appears to "Mop Up" Leukemia Cells-1/5/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers say preliminary studies show that a vaccine made with leukemia cells may be able to reduce or eliminate the last remaining cancer cells in some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients taking the drug Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec).
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Critical Illness In Children with H1N1 Unpredictable But Survivable-1/5/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Lessons learned from the first 13 children at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center to become critically ill from the H1N1 virus show that although all patients survived, serious complications developed quickly, unpredictably, with great variations from patient to patient and with serious need for vigilant monitoring and quick treatment adjustments.
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Before or After Birth, Gene Linked to Mental Health Has Different Effects-1/5/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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Scientists have long eyed mutations in a gene known as DISC1 as a possible contributor to schizophrenia and mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder. Now, new research led by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that perturbing this gene during prenatal periods, postnatal periods or both may have different effects in mice, leading to separate types of brain alterations and behaviors with resemblance to schizophrenia or mood disorders.
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New ALS Drug Slips Through Telling "Phase II" Clinical Trials-1/4/10
09/05/2010 06:30 AM
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A drug that’s in a family of anti-anxiety agents has potential to slow the muscle weakening that comes with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), scientists report after completing a Phase II clinical trial—an early, small-scale test to show if the drug works and continues to be safe.
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