Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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World Alzheimer’s Day – brain health tips from Emory

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day 2009 and Emory’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is part of an effort nationwide to address this disease through research and state-of-the-art care for patients.

Allan Levey, MD, PhD, chair of Emory’s Department of Neurology and an Alzheimer’s researcher and clinician, says millions of baby boomers are entering late adulthood and experts expect the number of patients with Alzheimer’s disease to increase drastically over the next several decades. Prevention and early detection are extremely important, he says.

Emory’s Center is a National Institute on Aging funded center focused on clinical trials and research for Alzheimer’s disease. It is the only comprehensive program in Georgia and one of only 32 nationwide.

Levey, who directs the Center, offers the tips for good brain health:

Stay socially active
Remaining socially engaged in activities that stimulate the mind and body can reduce stress levels and help maintain healthy connections among brain cells.

Stay active, say experts

Stay active, say experts

Be physically active
Exercising your body regularly is vital for maintaining good blood flow to the brain and encouraging the growth of new brain cells.

Stay mentally active
Your brain needs mental stimulation to allow it to function at its peak. Research shows that keeping the brain active helps increase its vigor and may strengthen brain cells and the connections between them, and may even generate new ones.

Protect your head
Injury to the head can increase your risk of dementia as you get older. Make sure you wear a helmet when you ride a bike, skate, ski or engage in any activity where you may injure yourself.

Eat brain healthy foods
The brain, like the heart, needs the proper balance of nutrients, including protein and sugar, to optimally function. According to current research, certain foods appear to protect brain cells so increase your intake of these protective foods.

Levey says scientists are finding more clues that high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes may increase a person’s risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease. He says to keep your weight in a healthy range, lower your cholesterol if it is high and maintain control of your blood glucose and blood pressure.

Posted on September 21, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized 1 Comment

National Cholesterol Month: Check your numbers

Emory’s Cheryl Williams, RD, LD, clinical nutritionist for the Emory Heart & Vascular Center and Emory HeartWise Cardiac Risk Reduction Program, says you should make it a priority to know your cholesterol levels and learn how what you eat can impact cholesterol and your heart’s health.Williams heart

Since diets high in saturated fat and trans fat have been linked to chronic disease, specifically, heart disease, this knowledge could save your life.

During National Cholesterol Month Williams notes in her blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Doctor Is In” that eating too many fatty foods especially those high in saturated fat and trans fat is the primary cause of high cholesterol. Thin, active people may not be aware of how much bad fat they consume, she says.

According to Williams, “Saturated fats are derived primarily from animal products and are known to raise cholesterol levels. They are found in common foods like butter, cheese, whole milk, pork and red meat. Lower-fat versions of these foods usually contain saturated fats, but typically in smaller quantities than the regular versions. Certain plant oils, like palm and coconut oils, are another source of saturated fats. You may not use these oils when you cook, but they are often added to commercially baked foods, such as cookies, cakes, doughnuts and pies. However, when it comes to celebrating milestones like work anniversaries, consider opting for homemade work anniversary cookies instead, made with healthier alternatives to ensure a thoughtful and nutritious treat.

Even more detrimental to cholesterol levels are trans fats, artificially created during food processing when liquid oils are converted into solid fats — a process called hydrogenation. Many fried restaurant foods and commercially baked goods contain trans fats, as well as vegetable shortening and stick margarine. Read labels and avoid foods that contain partially or fully hydrogenated oils.”

For more tips from Williams about managing for healthy cholesterol levels, visit ajc.com. To learn more about heart disease from Laurence Sperling MD, director of the Emory HeartWise Cardiac Risk Reduction Program, watch videos on health.com.

Posted on September 18, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Pancreatic cancer: Front and center

With the sad news today of the death of actor Patrick Swayze, the public is again focused on pancreatic cancer and searching for more information on this aggressive cancer.

Recently, David Kooby, MD, Emory Winship Cancer Institute, and an assistant professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, authored a blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Doctor Is In” on this topic.

Emory Winship Cancer Institute

Emory Winship Cancer Institute

The following is an excerpt from the blog:

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive malignancy that begins in the cells of the duct (or tube) running along the length of the pancreas. Each year about 42,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed and more than 35,000 people die from this cancer. A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is usually made after discovery of a mass or a dilated duct in the pancreas.

Pancreatic cancer can be difficult to diagnose. Patients often come in for a doctor’s visit with non-specific symptoms such as abdominal or back pain or weight loss. Some patients will develop jaundice (yellowing of the skin) as a result of the tumor blocking the duct draining bile from the liver

No one knows the exact causes of pancreatic cancer, although some risk factors are known through research that has been done.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the following are risk factors for development of pancreatic cancer:

  • Age — The likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age. Most pancreatic cancers occur in people over the age of 60.
  • Smoking — Cigarette smokers are two or three times more likely than nonsmokers to develop pancreatic cancer.
  • Diabetes mellitus — Pancreatic cancer occurs more often in people who have diabetes than in people who do not.
  • Being male — More men than women are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
  • Being African-American — African-Americans are more likely than Asians, Hispanics or whites to get pancreatic cancer.
Posted on September 15, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized 1 Comment

Healthy aging on the Emory front

Emory’s Center for Health and Aging is addressing health care issues affecting the rapidly growing senior population in the United States through research, clinical care, community outreach and education.

One of the greatest challenges now facing the health care system in the United States is the rapid growth of the numbers of aging adults. It will have an unprecedented impact on the delivery of medical care, including supply of and demand for health care workers.

It is expected that the supply of health care providers may decrease at a time huge numbers of workers retire or reduce their working hours. And older adults consume a disproportionate share of American health care services, resulting in greater demand for services.

There are compelling demographic reasons to study aging and how to help the human body with supplements, as a matter of fact is something explained in this post explaining why these testosterone boosters work great. According to U.S. census records, a wave of 2.7 million Americans will turn 65 by 2011, and each succeeding year the swell gets higher until it peaks in 2025 with 4.2 million new 65-year-olds. By 2030, when the youngest boomers have become seniors, the number of Americans 65 and older is expected to be more than 70 million – nearly twice as many as in 2005, according to a report by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine

Ted Johnson, MD

Ted Johnson, MD, MPH

Led by Theodore (Ted) Johnson II, MD, MPH, the Center benefits from well-established and successful programs in clinical care, aging research and education at Emory’s Wesley Woods Center, one of the nation’s few campuses devoted to the health and well being of older adults.

Wesley Woods is one of the nation’s most comprehensive centers for aging-related research, care and quality of life, serving more than 30,000 elderly and chronically ill patients each year through outpatient clinics, a hospital, skilled nursing care facility and residential retirement facility. In addition, Emory is affiliated with the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which has an extensive array of geriatric clinical, research and training programs.

The health care implications for seniors in Georgia and the U.S. are tremendous, according to Johnson. He says that the sheer numbers of older adults will place strains on our healthcare system and the family and professional caregivers who help them.

Johnson,who heads Emory’s Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, notes that it’s the cumulative effect of that surge – plus the fact that people are living far longer than ever before – that poses a looming crisis for the health care system.

For a glimpse of aging care and research at Emory: dementia research, Alzheimer’s DETECT device, diagnosing memory loss, preventing heart failure, disease prevention through nutrition, aging and fitness, and more about health initiatives at Emory Healthcare.

Posted on September 10, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Manage stress to your advantage

Recently Charles Raison, MD, assistant professor, Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, wrote a blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on stress. As clinical director of the Emory Mind-Body Program and director of the Behavioral Immunology Program, he has been studying stress.

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Raison says stress is everywhere today, both in our private and public lives, but also relentlessly in print, with discussion after discussion regarding what it is and what can be done to ease it.

He notes that you should think of stress like a sandwich. One trick for dealing with stress is to try to stay in the middle of the stress sandwich in the meat of life – the optimal challenge. The basic idea, he comments, is that you see what’s in front of you as a challenge, neither boring nor threatening, difficult enough to keep you fully engaged, easy enough for you to accomplish your goals.

You can read more by Raison by visiting the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Doctor Is In blog online.

Posted on September 3, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

New tool in the fight for scarce donor organs

With so many men, women and children desperately awaiting a life-saving donor liver through traditional means – those donated by a deceased individual – transplant surgeons at Emory University Hospital looked for ways to improve the odds. transplantcenterlogo

Recently, Emory doctors were the first in Georgia to perform a rare “domino” liver transplant procedure – in effect saving two lives with one donor organ. The doctors had a opportunity to discuss the procedure at a media briefing held a few days ago.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) says there are currently more than 16,000 Americans currently awaiting a liver transplant.

Domino liver transplant procedures are aptly named for the sequential, one-after-the-other nature of the process in which a viable liver from a deceased donor is transplanted into the first recipient, and the first recipient’s organ is then transplanted into a second recipient. The procedure is still extremely unusual, with fewer than 100 done in the United States since the first in 1996.

According to Stuart Knechtle, MD, professor of surgery in the Emory School of Medicine and director of the Emory liver transplant program, domino transplants are a rare but effective way of overcoming the national shortage of organs available for transplant. In most cases of domino liver transplants, one of the donated livers is transplanted from a patient with another type of disorder that does not affect the organ recipient.

“This successful domino liver transplant is something that simply does not start or end in a hospital operating room,” says Knechtle.

Liver recipient Bob Massie discusses his “miracle.”

Liver recipient Jean Handler discusses being “thankful and shocked.”

“This procedure, which saved two lives,” says Knechtle, “and will impact both families for many years to come, is the end result of a long chain of special events, starting with the decision by one person to donate the gift of life upon his untimely demise, which in turn allowed the recipient of that person’s organ to then donate hers to another patient.”

You can view the full briefing at this web site.

Posted on August 27, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Biomaterials used for hips and knees

Orthopaedics is a constantly evolving subspecialty where medical technology and research drives the development of new products used for reconstruction of body parts, specifically for hip and knee replacements or Knee Pain Stem Cell Treatment.

Emory has been on the forefront of investigating and using three materials for these replacements: ceramic on ceramic surfaces, metal on metal surfaces, or highly cross-linked polyethylene. These newer biomaterials can reduce wear rates by over 99 percent compared to previous materials, thus enhancing the life of the new hip or knee.

Adult reconstruction or hip and knee arthritis surgery delivers quality outcomes that make a dramatic improvement in a patient’s quality of life. At the first post-operative visit, patients are more comfortable, have less pain and are even more functional than before their surgery.

Orthopeadic surgeon James R. Roberson, MD, chairman, Department of Orthopaedics in Emory School of Medicine, and professor of orthopaedic surgery specializes in adult reconstructive surgery of the hip and knee.

Roberson has been involved in clinical research for more than 20 years to solve difficult problems of the arthritic hip and knee. He pioneered a minimally invasive surgery technique for knee replacement that allows him to use smaller incisions in certain patients who have uncomplicated conditions.

Visit Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Center and Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital to learn more about orthopaedic services and watch a video about the hospital.

Posted on August 25, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Pediatric liver disease on the rise

Miriam Vos, MD with patient.

Miriam Vos, MD with patient.

Miriam Vos, MD treats a growing number of children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Yet little research has been conducted into the development of the illness. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children, which often is associated with obesity, occurs when fat deposits itself in the liver. It eventually can lead to inflammation, cirrhosis and even liver failure.

In the hopes of preventing the disease in children, Vos, a pediatric hepatologist at Emory University School of Medicine

and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, is conducting research into the origins of this disorder in children. She suspects a diet high in sugar and too little exercise are tied to its onset.

In fact, a recent study led by Vos found that Americans are getting more than 10 percent of their daily calories from fructose, used mainly in sugar-sweetened beverages and processed foods.

The study analyzed the amount and sources of dietary fructose consumption among U.S. children and adults from 1988 to 1994. The researchers found that U.S. children and adults consumed 54.7 grams of fructose per day, an almost 50 percent increase from a national study sample conducted in 1977-1978.

Fructose occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables, however, it is added to many processed foods as table sugar (sucrose) and high-fructose corn syrup.

Vos has written a book aimed at helping children and their families shed pounds and achieve better nutrition through changes in lifestyle and diet.

To hear Vos’s own words about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children, listen to Emory University’s Sound Science podcast.

Posted on August 21, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Heated, targeted chemotherapy helps abdominal cancers

Cancer of the colon, ovaries, appendix or other organs within the abdomen often spreads to the lining of the abdominal cavity. Experts call this condition peritoneal surface malignancy. Until recently, treatment options for this form of cancer only provided relief from symptoms.

Emory University Hospital is one of a few facilities nationwide to utilize a new combination therapy to slow or prevent recurrence of this cancer. Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC) is a procedure done immediately following surgery that delivers heated chemotherapy directly into the abdominal cavity where it can penetrate cancerous tissue. Heat at 42 C (107 F) destroys cancer cells and enhances the power of chemotherapy.

The term “intraperitoneal” means that the treatment is delivered to the abdominal cavity. “Hyperthermic chemoperfusion” means that the solution containing chemotherapy is heated to a temperature greater than normal body temperature.

Charles Staley, MD, chief of surgical oncology at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, says by bathing the abdomen with heated chemotherapy immediately following surgery doctors can administer a higher dose of medication than would normally be tolerated by a patient if given intravenously – the traditional way chemotherapy is administered.

During surgery, Staley removes all visible tumors throughout the abdomen, a procedure known as cytoreductive surgery. Following surgery, while still in the operating room, Staley administers the new treatment, which takes about two hours. Recent studies show improved prognosis in patients treated with HIPEC after the cytoreductive surgery.

Illustration of heated chemo therapy

Illustration of heated, targeted chemotherapy

Posted on August 20, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

New heart valve replacement option under study

A new option for heart valve replacement is under study at Emory University Hospital. Cardiologists at the Emory Heart & Vascular Center are conducting groundbreaking research to study a non-surgical treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve opening that affects tens of thousands of people each year. It is most common among elderly patients over 70 years of age, but can surface earlier in life in those with rheumatic heart disease or congenital abnormalities of the valve. Patients often develop symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting spells and heart failure.

Peter Block, MD

Peter Block, MD

Emory cardiologists, led by Peter Block, MD, FACC, professor of medicine, Emory School of Medicine, are performing percutaneous aortic valve replacement as part of a clinical trial, comparing this procedure with traditional, open-heart surgery or medical therapy in high-risk patients with aortic stenosis. It provides a new way for doctors to treat patients who are too ill or frail to endure the traditional surgical approach. So far, 115 people have participated in the phase II clinical trial.

In this new procedure, doctors create a small incision in the groin or chest wall and then feed a wire mesh valve through a catheter and place it where the new valve is needed. The standard therapy, which has been used to treat aortic stenosis for more than 30 years, is to remove the diseased valve through open-heart surgery.

Block says the results seen so far in this clinical trial show great promise for this procedure. He says this is especially important since tens of thousands of Americans are diagnosed with failing valves each year and that number is expected to increase substantially in the coming years as baby boomers pass the age of 70.

Posted on August 19, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized 1 Comment
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