In 2012, four-year-old Bertrand Might became the first-ever patient diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called N-glycanase (NGLY1) deficiency. Since then, more than 60 additional patients have been found. University of Utah Health geneticist Clement Chow is investigating the disease, which affects every system of the body.
A new study, led by University of Utah Health scientists, suggests more than half of doctors, nurses, and emergency responders involved in COVID-19 care could be at risk for one or more mental health problems, including acute traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, problematic alcohol use, and insomnia.
Massive “plumes” of glutamate, a key neurotransmitter, surging in the brain could help explain the onset of migraine with aura—and potentially a broad swath of neurologic disease, including stroke and traumatic brain injury—according to an international study led by University of Utah Health scientists.
Following a brain-injuring bump or blow to the head, brain cells and blood vessels typically swell. This can lead to a potentially life-threatening increase in pressure inside the skull, and managing swelling is critical for patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). But researchers at University of Utah Health have discovered that swelling may also be important for protecting the brain.
In a new multicenter study, researchers led by University of Utah Health physicians report that an emerging heart failure treatment could potentially reverse structural damage to the heart, allowing it to heal itself over time. Overall, 19 (40%) patients who were treated with a combination of LVAD support with heart failure medications had sufficient improvement that the LVAD could be removed.
Accomplishing a feat that had been a pipe dream for decades, scientists at University of Utah Health and University of Virginia have recreated in a test tube the first steps of infection by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Doing so has provided up-close access to the virus—which is otherwise obstructed from view deep within the cell—and enabled identification of essential components that HIV needs to replicate within its human host. The research publishes in the journal, Cell.
For people who experience back pain with sciatica, meaning their pain radiates into their leg, it may be worthwhile to start physical therapy right away, according to new research reported in Annals of Internal Medicine. That approach is different from the initial advice doctors often give patients with back pain, which is to try to remain active and give their symptoms time to subside before considering treatment like physical therapy.
Scientists from the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah have achieved another first in the field of connectomics, which studies the synaptic connections between neurons. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded lab has produced the first pathoconnectome, showing how eye disease alters retinal circuitry.
The vast majority of Twitter users who vape with JUUL e-cigarettes are not using the devices to stop smoking or to improve their health, according to a research team led by University of Utah Health scientists.
Racial disparities among essential workers could be a key reason that Black Americans are more likely than whites to contract and die of COVID-19, according to researchers at the University of Utah. They found that Blacks disproportionately worked in nine vital occupations that increase their exposure to SARs-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Wildfires are becoming more common and severe due to climate change and warmer and drier conditions in the West. As wildfire season rages in the United States, people are also at increased risk for COVID-19 infection due to wildfire smoke.
Scientists have developed an injectable drug that blocks HIV from entering cells. They say the new drug potentially offers long-lasting protection from the infection with fewer side effects.
Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs collected by healthcare providers are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study conducted by ARUP Laboratories and University of Utah (U of U) Health.
Changes in blood platelets triggered by COVID-19 could contribute to the onset of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious complications in some patients who have the disease, according to University of Utah Health scientists. The researchers found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection significantly alter the function of platelets, making them “hyperactive” and more prone to form dangerous and potentially deadly blood clots.
An overactive defense response may lead to increased blood clotting, disease severity, and death from COVID-19. A phenomenon called NETosis—in which infection-fighting cells emit a web-like substance to trap invading viruses—is part of an immune response that becomes increasingly hyperactive in people on ventilators and people who die from the disease.
Differences in the rate that genetic mutations accumulate in healthy young adults could help predict remaining lifespan in both sexes and the remaining years of fertility in women, according to University of Utah Health scientists. Their study, believed to be the first of its kind, found that young adults who acquired fewer mutations over time lived about five years longer than those who acquired them more rapidly.
Nearly a century after insulin was discovered, an international team of researchers including University of Utah Health scientists report that they have developed the world’s smallest, fully functional version of the hormone, one that combines the potency of human insulin with the fast-acting potential of a venom insulin produced by predatory cone snails. The finding, based on animal studies, could jumpstart the development of insulin treatments capable of improving the lives of those with diabetes.
Despite improvements in their performance over the past decade, electronic health records (EHRs) commonly used in hospitals nationwide fail to detect up to one in three potentially harmful drug interactions and other medication errors, according to scientists at University of Utah Health, Harvard University, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
A panel of University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital experts answered questions about what is known about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) so far.
While it’s too soon to use COVID-19 antibody testing to issue “immunity passports”, antibody tests that are available today are good enough to inform decisions about public health and relaxing social distancing interventions, says an international group of infectious disease and public health experts in Science Immunology today.
For the past 70 years, the best indicator of life expectancy for a patient with glioblastoma — the most common and the most aggressive brain cancer — has simply been age at diagnosis. Now, an international team of scientists has experimentally validated a predictor that is not only more accurate but also more clinically relevant: a pattern of co-occurring changes in DNA abundance levels, or copy numbers, at hundreds of thousands of sites across the whole tumor genome.
The David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah and University of Utah Health announce the start of Utah HERO (Health & Economic Recovery Outreach), a massive undertaking that will begin with the testing of 10,000 Utahns across four counties. The data gathered will inform decision-makers in the state as they work to help keep residents safe and get people back to work.
COVID-19 is unlikely to be spread through semen, according to University of Utah Health scientists who participated in an international study of Chinese men who recently had the disease. The researchers found no evidence of the virus that causes COVID-19 in the semen or testes of the men.
The University of Utah has awarded $1.3 million in grants to 56 projects that will examine a host of issues arising out of the pandemic. These multidisciplinary projects will not only address ways to prevent and treat the disease, but will also explore how to design better personal protective equipment as well as dampen the long-term effects of physical isolation on domestic violence and mental health.
Researchers from Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City have launched two vital clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of two drugs –hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin – to treat patients with COVID-19 (infection with the novel coronavirus).
Travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 are making it more difficult for some heart failure patients who have artificial heart pumps to participate in follow-up care at implantation centers far from their homes. But a new study suggests there may be a viable alternative. According to University of Utah Health researchers, local doctors in rural areas who receive specialized training in managing the devices and who work in conjunction with cardiovascular experts at a major medical center can care for these patients safely and effectively.
As COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, spreads across the globe, scientists are stepping up to the plate to address the numerous unanswered questions emerging in its wake.
Utah residents who have difficulty keeping their families fed could be missing a key ingredient: information. A University of Utah Health study finds that poor communications in at least 22 Utah communities could be hampering efforts to connect those in need with food stamps, food banks, soup kitchens, and other food resources. Researchers say the finding could help refine future community food distribution efforts.
Doctors who use drugs that target antibiotic-resistant bacteria as a first-line defense against pneumonia should probably reconsider this approach, according to a new study of more than 88,000 veterans hospitalized with the disease. The study found that pneumonia patients given these medications in the first few days after hospitalization fared no better than those receiving standard medical care for the condition.
A new wearable sensor that works in conjunction with artificial intelligence technology could help doctors remotely detect critical changes in heart failure patients days before a health crisis occurs and could prevent hospitalization, according to a study led by University of Utah Health and VA Salt Lake City Health Care System scientists.
University of Utah Health today announced the launch of a project with a goal of quickly and accurately detecting genetic disorders among newborns in its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Clinicians believe that bringing precision medicine to the NICU will transform neonatal care, leading to better diagnosis and treatment of critically ill infants with genetic-related diseases while lowering medical costs and easing the emotional and financial burden on parents and families.
As Valentine’s Day approaches, think about how you use the word “love” in your life. You love your significant other, your kids, your friends and your siblings in different ways. Dr. Kirtly Parker Jones from University of Utah Health talks about the research behind these types of affection and why our loved ones make us crazy (in good ways and bad ways).
Scientists have identified a key molecule involved in the development of cerebral malaria, a deadly form of the tropical disease. Further, they defined a potential drug target and way forward in alleviating this condition for which few targeted treatments are available.
A virus spreading in China has the world on alert.
Zinc and folic acid, a pair of dietary supplements long touted as an effective treatment for male infertility, failed to improve pregnancy rates, sperm counts, and sperm potency in a new study conducted at University of Utah Health and other medical centers in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health. According to the researchers, the finding presents the most definitive evidence to date that so-called fertility supplements do not live up expectations.
A multidisciplinary team of University of Utah Health scientists has received a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of variations in pollutant-sensing genes in the lungs could influence air pollution’s effects on children who have asthma. Health to investigate how variations in pollutant-sensing genes in the lungs could influence air pollution’s effects on children who have asthma.
The 8th annual Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (U-CARS) will host thought leaders and noted speakers from around the globe to discuss ground-breaking research in the field of cardiac recovery.
Altruism and a lack of access and affordability are three reasons why people with chronic illnesses are turning to the “black market” for medicines and supplies, new research shows. Scientists at University of Utah Health and University of Colorado ran surveys to understand why individuals are looking beyond pharmacies and medical equipment companies to meet essential needs. The reasons listed were many but centered on a single theme: traditional healthcare is failing them.
University of Utah Health scientists say they have detected new genetic clues about hibernation that could lead to better understanding and treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders that afflict millions of people worldwide.
One in three women of reproductive age have at least one chronic condition that could compromise their health or lead to adverse outcomes during pregnancy, according to University of Utah Health scientists.
At a time when discussions about access to firearms and gun safety are paramount, trusted health care professionals find it difficult to have those conversations. A new study shows that in the months immediately following mass shootings, doctors are less likely to ask routine questions about gun safety in the home.
Staggering new statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its first World Report on Vision estimate more than 1 billion people are visually impaired because they don’t get the care they need—a finding that brings renewed urgency for sustainable global outreach efforts. The statistics underscore the need for programs like the donor-funded John A. Moran Eye Center Global Outreach Division at the University of Utah, which works to create sustainable eye care systems in developing nations and to reach underserved populations in Utah.
Everyone is a mutant but some are prone to diverge more than others, report scientists at University of Utah Health. A new study published in eLife shows the number of mutations a child has compared to her parents varies dramatically with some people being born with twice as many as others, and that characteristic runs in families.
Answers to frequently asked questions about an urgent public health concern: vaping illness.
Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD, spent more than a decade working with families at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah on the hunt for the first gene known to cause a rare retinal disease known as MacTel.
A new development has revealed a previously unknown characteristic of the vaping-related respiratory illness that has been emerging in clusters across the U.S. in recent months. The finding may allow doctors to definitively diagnose the nascent syndrome more quickly and provide the right treatment sooner. University of Utah Health investigators reported the findings in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Facing the threat of domestic violence, being a survivor of sexual assault, struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide are four topics that are difficult to broach with anyone. Including those who can help you. A new study reveals up to 47.5 percent of patients who feel they face one or more of these four threats do not disclose this critical information to care providers out of embarrassment, fear of judgement or the possible long-term implications of sharing such information.
Mice scurry around while foraging for food, but genetics may be the unseen hand controlling these meandering movements. Researchers at University of Utah Health are using machine learning to draw links between genetic controls that shape incremental steps of instinctive and learned behaviors. The results are available online in Cell Reports on August 13.
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