Released: 27-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
Hard Hearts: New Discovery of Bone in Heart Tissue May Explain Valve Disease
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have confirmed that bone--similar to that found in the human skeleton--is present in a substantial portion of diseased heart valves.This finding could lead to the development of therapies to prevent or treat heart-valve disease.

Released: 19-May-1998 12:00 AM EDT
New Vancomycin Structure May Point to Path for Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

In March, a New York man became the first U.S. person to die from infection by a bacteria resistant to vancomycin, the powerful antibiotic physicians turn to when others fail. Now, scientists report discovery of a novel form of vancomycin that advances the search for more effective versions of the antibiotic.

Released: 27-Oct-1998 12:00 AM EST
Penn Researchers Find Negative Bias in Newspaper Coverage of Managed Care
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania researchers find negative bias in newspaper coverage of managed care. Two-thirds of print articles analyzed provided a negative representation of this growing form of health insurance.

Released: 15-May-1999 12:00 AM EDT
Sex Differences Found in Proportions of Gray and White Matter in the Brain
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Head size correlates statistically with intelligence, and men's heads, like their bodies, are bigger than women's. Men should be more intelligent than women - but they are not. Now, researchers report an explanation for the conundrum: Women have a higher proportion of gray matter - computational tissue - to cranial volume than men.

Released: 16-Jan-1997 12:00 AM EST
"Liposhaving" vs. Liposuction
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Liposhaving, an improved form of liposuction, is now available at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. The procedure is more advantageous than traditional liposuction because it is far less traumatic to facial tissue and can also be done under direct visualization.

Released: 16-Jan-1997 12:00 AM EST
NGF Cancer Gene Therapy Strategy
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Nerve growth factor (NGF) helps immature neurons survive and differentiate. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have discovered that, paradoxically, NGF can also induce massive cell suicide among childhood brain tumor cells engineered to express the receptor for NGF. The surprising findings, reported in the January 15 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, suggest a new cancer gene therapy approach.

Released: 4-Feb-1997 12:00 AM EST
Parkinson's: Lewy Bodies May Play Role
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Small filamentous masses called Lewy bodies have long been observed in the neurons of people with Parkinson's disease. Many investigators consider the abnormal structures relatively unimportant in disease progression. Now, however, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center scientists have discovered that Lewy bodies may entrap life-sustaining cellular organelles in an important population of cerebellar cortex neurons called Purkinje cells, leading to their death with age.

Released: 12-Mar-1997 12:00 AM EST
UPENN>Obesity and Race
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

At rest, overweight African American women burn fewer calories than overweight Caucasian women, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. The findings are among the first to suggest that biological factors may be partly responsible for higher rates of obesity in black women.

Released: 2-Apr-1997 12:00 AM EST
UPENN>Science Tips: April 1997
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Three selected story ideas from the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center -- "Reconnecting After Spinal Cord Damage" (Michael E. Selzer, MD, PhD); "Serendipitously, HIV-Related Antibody In Hand" (James A. Hoxie, MD); and "Magnetic Attraction -- Towards a New Era in Treating Rh-Factor Incompatibility" (Donald L. Siegel, MD, PhD).

Released: 9-Jul-1997 12:00 AM EDT
Curriculum 2000: Today's Training Ground For Tomorrow's Medical Leaders
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Who will train today's medical students to become tomorrow's doctors and deal with the constantly-changing realities of health care? The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has overhauled its curriculum and will begin to implement Curriculum 2000, beginning with the August 1997 class. Curriculum 2000 represents the first time a major medical school has revamped its entire four-year curriculum to better train students for the future of medicine as practicing physicians.

Released: 22-Aug-1997 12:00 AM EDT
Penn Physicians to Help Define National Guidelines for Pulmonary Artery Catheterization
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Penn physicians will be participating in a national workshop coordinated by the NIH and FDA to define guidelines for use of pulmonary artery catheters in lieu of recent controversies associated with them.

Released: 29-Jan-1998 12:00 AM EST
Gene Therapy Enables Transplantation Without Immunosuppressive Drugs
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers working in a rodent model have succeeded in transplanting livers without the need for immunosuppressive drugs. In a scientific first, a gene therapy strategy was used to alter the donor liver prior to surgery so that the immune system of the recipient became permanently tolerant of the new organ. EMBARGOED: Jan. 28, 1998, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Released: 4-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
New Heart-Attack Indicator Improves ER Diagnostic Accuracy
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have shown that diagnostic accuracy of chest pain can be dramatically increased by using a clinical approach that combines the results of an echocardiogram with a simple blood test that measures a patient's troponin T, a protein released during cardiac cell injury.

19-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Penn Physician Develops Auotomated Nereve/Muscle Stimulator to Treat Neck and Back Pain
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A new technique had been developed to treat nerve-related localized and widespread discomfort/pain -- Automated Twitch-Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (ATOIMS) -- performed with a battery-powered device that places a flexible, Teflon pin into trigger points in the muscle, inducing a self-healing cycle for pain relief.

Released: 21-Feb-1998 12:00 AM EST
Transplanted Neurons Restore Function in Rats after a Stroke
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Transplants of human neuronal cells derived from a tumor restored function in rats subjected to experimental stroke. Significantly, the cells were equally effective when frozen and then thawed prior to transplantation, suggesting a clinical potential as replacement therapy to reverse the deficits of stroke.

Released: 13-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
March Science Tip Sheet from Univ. of Penn. Medical Center
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

1.Smell Loss an Early Indicator of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases; 2.Newly Found Endothelial Receptor Implicated in Both Heart Disease and AIDS; 3. DNA Vaccination Lowers HIV-1 Viral Load in Infected Chimpanzees

30-Mar-1998 12:00 AM EST
New Test Opens Window on Corrosive Free-Radical Activity in Individuals
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Do antioxidant vitamins protect healthy people from free-radical damage? Can some diseases be slowed or reversed with antioxidants? Perhaps surprisingly, no measurement technique has existed to easily and directly assess the corrosive effects in individuals of these highly reactive types of oxygen. Now, scientists have developed such a test.

7-Apr-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Penn Researchers Strike Post-Surgical Pain Before it Starts with Preemptive Medication
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Reducing post-operative pain can be as easy as taking pain medication before surgery. Dr. Allan Gottschalk and his colleagues have found that administering preemptive analgesia in patients prior to surgery decreases pain afterward. Their findings could potentially change the standard of care for some surgical patients.

7-May-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Test Predicts Patients at Risk for Complication After Open-Heart Surgery
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have designed a novel test that effectively predicts a patient's risk for developing a common life-threatening heart-rhythm abnormality following coronary-artery bypass surgery.

21-May-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Study Leads to New Standard of Care for Treating Unstable Angina
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A major international study by cardiologists has shown that the addition of tirofiban into the medical management of patients with unstable angina reduces their risk of death by as much as 47%.

4-Jun-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Newly Recognized Cell-Surface Receptor Protects Heart Tissue Against Damage
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Scientists at the Penn Medical Center and NIH identified a new molecular target that could lead to novel therapies for ischemic cardiovascular disease. The research team found that a receptor for adenosine found on the surface of ventricle cells exerts a powerful, sustained protection against injury during exposure to ischemia.

16-Jun-1998 12:00 AM EDT
World's First Device to Rapidly Assess Lung Function
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Penn Scientists have developed an unprecedented method to quickly and accurately assess lung function in less than 10 minutes with a new mass spectrometer. This technique measures trace gas tensions in small blood and breath samples to determine if the lungs are working properly to pinpoint pulmonary disease and target therapy.

Released: 30-Jun-1998 12:00 AM EDT
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center Tip Sheet for June 1998
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Science Tip Sheet: Three story ideas based on ongoing research at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.

Released: 30-Jul-1998 12:00 AM EDT
New Zebrafish Mutants Afford Deeper Look Into Embryonic Patterning
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Developmental biologists all over the world are earnestly studying 2,000 new mutants of zebrafish -- and adding new ones to the list -- to determine what role they play in complex biochemical pathways. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have identified new mutants important in the first steps that control the dorsoventral -- back to abdomen -- arrangement of embryonic tissues, a process called patterning.

1-Aug-1998 12:00 AM EDT
New Insights on Sequence of Cell Death After Brain Injury: Understanding Cellular Events After Brain Trauma Could Lead to Better Therapies
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

How the brain responds to injury -- in terms of the cellular cascade that leads to cell death -- is poorly understood. Looking at a particular pattern of cell death called apoptosis, or programmed cell death, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have discovered that in a rat model this kind of deleterious cellular destruction continues for weeks after the initial trauma.

18-Aug-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Penn Researchers Find Mutation in Prostate Cancer Gene
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A genetic mutation associated with prostate cancer has been identified, for the first time, by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. The researchers found that men who carry this mutation in the CYP3A4 gene had a more advanced prostate tumor than those without the mutation

24-Aug-1998 12:00 AM EDT
"Short-Cut" Function of Myelin Sheath Channel
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have demonstrated for the first time how a biochemical channel important for the exchange of cell nutrients links the multiple layers of the myelin sheath to the outside space. This research has implications for all demyelinating diseases, including multiple sclerosis.

Released: 25-Aug-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Novel Imaging Agent Show Brain's Message Delivery System
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

How the brain works and why it malfunctions remains a mystery, but an advanced brain imaging agent developed at Penn could be a key to understanding brain disorders like Parkinson's/Alzheimer's. The finding of this agent is being honored by the EJNM with the Award for Best Science Paper in 1997.

Released: 17-Sep-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Combination Therapy for Brain Tumors
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have now found a way to make brain cancer cells more receptive to radiation treatment --by 60-fold in some cases.

Released: 10-Sep-1998 12:00 AM EDT
PET Imaging Sheds More Light on Complex, Microscopic Cancers
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

In cancers based in unusual locations (in the lining of the lung-mesothelioma- or in lymph nodes), researchers have shown the advantages of using positron emission tomography over structural imaging, including X-Ray, magnetic resonance imaging, and computerized tomography.

Released: 16-Sep-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Science Tip Sheet for Sept 98
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Three story ideas based on ongoing research at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center: 1.A Role for Prolactin in Breast Cancer 2.Proteins Deep Inside the Nucleus Hold Clues for Two Diseases 3.Tightly Controlled Protein Destruction Drives the Cell Cycle

28-Sep-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Antioxidant Action of Vitamin E Significantly Reduces Heart Disease in Mice
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

In mice genetically manipulated to develop atherosclerosis, scientists have for the first time conclusively demonstrated that vitamin E confers potent protection from the disease.

Released: 2-Oct-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Mechanism of Protein Folding Unraveled
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Research at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center has recently added some revealing clues as to how protein folding is managed and corrects some misconceptions about how rapidly the process occurs.

Released: 14-Oct-1998 12:00 AM EDT
52% of Resident Physicians Self-Prescribe Medications
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A new study from the Penn Medical Center shows that the common practice of self-prescription by physicians begins at the outset of one's medical career. According to the study, more than half, or 52%, of the residents surveyed reported that they prescribed medications for themselves.

Released: 17-Oct-1998 12:00 AM EDT
"Smart" ICU System with Computer Intelligence
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Using computer intelligence, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have developed a "smart" ICU system that improves vital-sign monitoring of critically-ill patients.

Released: 21-Oct-1998 12:00 AM EDT
Patent for Two-Antibody Cancer Fighting Strategy
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center today were awarded patent number 5,824,311 for a new technology that has shown the potential in laboratory studies to cure breast and other major cancers linked to certain abnormal genes.

Released: 30-Oct-1998 12:00 AM EST
Relapses Prevented In Mouse Multiple Sclerosis Model
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have discovered that antibodies to a common inflammatory-response protein can prevent relapses in an animal model of human multiple sclerosis. This research represents another possible therapy for MS patients.

Released: 12-Nov-1998 12:00 AM EST
Clinical Guidelines for Herbal Therapies
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania Medical Center physicians have developed a list of clinical guidelines to aid physicians in advising patients about herbal products as therapeutic agents.

14-Nov-1998 12:00 AM EST
No Link Between Dental Procedures and Heart Valve Infection
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers say that the current practice of administering antibiotics to at-risk patients to prevent the onset of heart-valve disease resulting from dental work is unnecessary, according to results of their latest study.

24-Nov-1998 12:00 AM EST
Molecular Basis of Leading Genetic Cause of Infant Death
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have found a link between messenger RNA and the protein involved in spinal muscular atrophy, the leading genetic cause of infant death.

Released: 21-Nov-1998 12:00 AM EST
Link Between Genes and Hormone-Related Cancers
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has been awarded a five-year grant by the National Cancer Institute totaling nearly $10 million to investigate genetic susceptibility to hormone-related cancers.

25-Nov-1998 12:00 AM EST
New Findings on Receptor Regulation
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Promising new treatments for adult-onset diabetes hinge on the action of a receptor that controls how cells respond to the hormone insulin. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have now revealed a key step in the regulation of this receptor.

1-Dec-1998 12:00 AM EST
Sexual Abuse of Boys is More Common than Believed
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Sexual abuse of boys appears to be underrecognized, underreported, and undertreated, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

   
4-Dec-1998 12:00 AM EST
Free Radicals in Alzheimer's Disease
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Free-radical activity was found to be roughly doubled in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brains of people who had died of Alzheimer's disease when compared to the same regions of normal brains, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center researchers reported in the December issue of the FASEB Journal.

Released: 3-Dec-1998 12:00 AM EST
Disease Mechanism in Hereditary Dementia
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A new study reveals pivotal characteristics of the disease mechanism underlying a hereditary dementia similar to and often confused clinically with Alzheimer's disease.

15-Dec-1998 12:00 AM EST
Gene Therapy Keeps Muscles Strong in Old Age
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A new gene therapy treatment could reverse the feebleness associated with old age, fully restoring the muscular strength of youth, or counter the muscle-wasting effects of some muscular dystrophies, according to University of Pennsylvania Medical Center researchers.

Released: 29-Dec-1998 12:00 AM EST
Differences Between Patient and Clinician Priorities and Values
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

For over 50 million disabled individuals and the clinicians that care for them, varying importance placed on cognitive and motor skills is critical to treatment choices. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System have developed the Features Game to help close the gap between different patient and clinician values.

1-Jan-1999 12:00 AM EST
Gene Therapy Incorporates Molecular Rheostat for Controlled, Long-Term Drug Delivery
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Using a unique combination of innovative technologies, scientists have demonstrated the ability to introduce therapeutic genes into the body and then, further, to precisely control the activity of those genes with a drug that could be given as a simple pill.

Released: 14-Jan-1999 12:00 AM EST
New COX-2 Inhibitors May Elevate Cardiovascular Risk
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The so-called "super aspirins," or COX-2 inhibitors, may have a downside, one that could not have been detected in the clinical trials performed to date. A new study suggests that aspects of their action in the body may elevate the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other adverse cardiovascular events.

5-Mar-1999 12:00 AM EST
Adjacent Sequences Tag Along with Mobile DNA Elements
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

In this age of molecular biology, scientists would like to know whether and how evolution operates at the molecular level in an organism's DNA. Now, in a new study, researchers have discovered a molecular mechanism that may be a significant driver of evolution in humans and other mammals.


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