WHSC News Releases for April 1998

Apr 21 '98	EMORY RESEARCH UNCOVERS NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TREATING CHRONIC DIGESTIVE DISEASES "An Emory University pathologist has found a potential way to manipulate natural on-off switches in the body that may eventually allow physicians to regulate and treat two chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestine - Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis causes ulceration and inflammation of the inner lining of the colon and rectum, while Crohn's disease is an inflammation that extends into the deeper layers of the intestinal wall." More
Apr 20 '98	HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE CAUSED BY SALT RETENTION MAY BE RELATED TO ONCOGENES IMPLICATED IN CANCERS "Sodium transport - the kidney function that regulates the level of salt in the kidney and bloodstream and, ultimately, blood pressure, may be intimately related to some of the same oncogenes that have been implicated in the unchecked cellular growth of cancer. Douglas Eaton, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and pediatrics at Emory University and director of Emory's Center for Cell and Molecular Signaling, presents the findings at the Experimental Biology '98 Meeting in San Francisco on Monday." More
Apr 17 '98	"WOMEN'S HEALTH: NOT SOLELY A MEDICAL ISSUE" ADDRESSED BY CARDIOLOGIST NANETTE WENGER AT EMORY GREAT TEACHERS LECTURE "In love, so the saying goes, women fall more often, but men fall harder. In heart disease, the opposite may be true. Emory University cardiologist Nanette Wenger was one of the first physician-scientists to speak out about the great underrepresentation of women subjects in medical research -- and was one of the first to uncover significant differences in how heart disease affects women and men. In 1994, she was named 'One of the 10 Most Important Women in Medicine' by Ladies Home Journal. On April 21, Dr. Wenger will address important trends in women's health research when she presents 'Women's Health: Not Solely a Medical Issue.'" More
Apr 17 '98	EMORY SKIN CANCER EXPERTS ADVOCATE USE OF SUNSCREEN DURING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES "Dermatologists in Emory's Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center say sunscreen should still be a very important part of a skin care regimen, despite a recent study casting doubt on the link between sunscreen use and development of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer." More
Apr 17 '98	MELANOMA MONTH ACTIVITIES AT THE WINSHIP CANCER CENTER "May is National Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, and the Winship Cancer Center is doing its part to raise awareness of this potentially life-threatening disease. The Cancer Center, along with Emory Hospitals, The Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center and the Emory Department of Dermatology, are offering free skin cancer screenings to the public. The Cancer Center also is presenting the annual melanoma lecture, featuring Dr. Donald Morton, president and medical director of the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California." More
Apr 17 '98	COMPULSIVE HAIR PULLING ADDRESSED AT EDUCATIONAL SYMPOSIUM "National experts in the compulsive disorder known as trichotillomania -- chronic hair pulling -- are convening in Atlanta on April 25 for a day-long educational symposium on this underdiagnosed and troubling disorder." More
Apr 17 '98	EMORY RESEARCHERS FIND LASER TREATMENT EFFECTIVE FOR EYE TUMOR "Early results from research conducted at the Emory Eye Center show that laser treatment using heat therapy is effective for treating patients with eye tumors." More
Apr 17 '98	NATIONAL TRIAL TESTS NEW TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH LIFE-THREATENING SKIN CANCER "A new nationwide study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and underway at several hospital and community-based sites, including the Winship Cancer Center of Emory University, combines two cancer treatments, immunotherapy and chemotherapy, to treat patients with metastatic melanoma. The incidence of melanoma, a type of skin cancer, is growing rapidly in the United States. Metastatic melanoma - when the cancer spreads to other organs - is one of the hardest cancers to treat, and has one of the worst survival rates for patients." More
Apr 15 '98	BREAST CANCER PREVENTION TRIAL SHOWS MAJOR BENEFIT, SOME RISK: Women from Atlanta Play Vital Role in Landmark Trial "Women at increased risk of breast cancer now have the option to consider taking tamoxifen (NolvadexR) to reduce their chances of developing the disease, says Winship Cancer Center surgical oncologist, Toncred Marya Styblo, M.D., principal investigator of the Emory component of the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT)." More
Apr 15 '98	THERAPEUTIC MAGNETS APPEAR TO LIFT MOOD IN CERTAIN DEPRESSED PATIENTS "Dark moods are lightened for many patients with medication-resistant depression who are stimulated with therapeutic magnets, according to recently published data from researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine. " More
Apr 15 '98	PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION THAT IS UNRESPONSIVE TO MEDICATION NEEDED FOR EMORY STUDY OF ELECTROMAGNETIC THERAPY "A team of psychiatric and neurologic researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine currently are recruiting patients for studies evaluating an investigational technique employing electromagnetic therapy to treat depression. Volunteers should be over 18 years of age and should have depression that is unresponsive to antidepressants." More
Apr 15 '98	WOMEN AGES 40-90 NEEDED FOR EMORY OSTEOPOROSIS STUDIES "The Osteoporosis Research Office at The Emory Clinic is conducting two studies using different doses of an approved medication used for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, or bone brittleness." More
Apr 15 '98	PLANTING DAMAGED HEART MUSCLE WITH 'SEEDS' OF NEW ARTERIES: Emory One of Three U.S. Sites Entering Patients into CHIRON Study "Emory University is one of three sites in the nation testing an entirely new genre of heart disease treatment known as angiogenesis -- the creation of new blood vessels." More
Apr 15 '98	STENTS: HEPARIN Stent Coatings 'Profoundly Decrease' Clotting, TRANILAST Inhibits Restenosis in Certain Porcine Arteries, DIABETICS Fare Worse than Nondiabetics After Stenting "Since Spencer B. King III, M.D., implanted the nation's first coronary stent at Emory University in 1987, the design and appropriateness of stents to prop open damaged coronary arteries has continued to be researched and refined at Emory and other centers. Results of current stent research recently were presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions. Dr. King, who is among the presenters, was inducted as the first interventional cardiologist named president of ACC. " More
Apr 4 '98	MINI MEDICAL SCHOOL OFFERS "DIAGNOSTICS SKILLS AND CLINICAL WORK-UPS" SERIES "Emory School of Medicine and The Emory Clinic are a new class on Diagnostics Skills and Clinical Work-ups, part of the popular Emory MiniMedical School sequence. The class will be held from 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays, April 15, 22, 29, and May 6, 1998, in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Administration Building auditorium on the Emory campus. No science or medicine background is needed, nor is it necessary to have taken the previous MiniMedical course. Students can register through Evening at Emory at 404/727-6000." More
Apr 4'98	COST & CARE: COST of Restenosis Prevention vs. Treatment, CATH is Not Necessary for All Heart Failure Patients, INDIVIDUALIZE Treatment of 'Partial' Heart Attack " 'Cost effectiveness analysis may help guide the choice of therapy and in setting policy over use of scarce resources,' said Williams S. Weintraub, M.D., a cardiologist and epidemiologist at the Emory University School of Medicine, in Session 1027, Poster No. 49, recently presented during the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions." More
Apr 4 '98	CONTACT LENS HELPS CORRECT PROGRESSIVE EYE CONDITION CALLED KERATOCONUS "Typically appearing during the teens to early 20s, keratoconus causes the cornea to thin and form scar tissue, until the eye is cone shaped. Since the cornea is responsible for most of refraction, any disruption can cause considerable visual distortion that may not be corrected with spectacles. Individuals with keratoconus require specially designed contact lenses to manage vision. " More
Apr 1 '98	RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME: Several RLS Resources Come Together this Week for Atlanta Sufferers Tired of Kicking the Night Away "This week the following resources related to RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME (RLS) are coming together in Atlanta, making this a particularly opportune time to consider featuring this frustrating sleep disorder. RLS is a little discussed but increasingly common neurologic movement disorder. It can affect women during pregnancy, can be brought on by certain antidepressants, can be misdiagnosed in children as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disproportionately affects older adults." More
Apr 1 '98	"WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUES" TO BE ADDRESSED AT APRIL 21 LECTURE BY EMORY'S DR. SALLY MCNAGNY"The physician heading the Emory University component of the largest ever study of women's health will present a free lecture on "Women's Health Issues" at 6 p.m., April 21, at the Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St., downtown Decatur." More

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