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Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences
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Total 132 results found since Jan 2013.
UCLA Health launches pioneering mobile stroke unit with support from L.A. County
Roughly every 40 seconds, someone in the United States will have a stroke. Almost every four minutes, one of those people will die as a result. Against that backdrop, UCLA Health has officially launched the first mobile stroke unit on the West Coast, enabling rapid delivery of brain-saving medications to stroke patients who might otherwise face debilitating delays in treatment. As part of the first phase of a pilot program, the specialized ambulance unit and highly trained personnel began responding in September to select 911 calls in Santa Monica in coordination with the Santa Monica Fire Department. With support from t...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - October 26, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
UCLA neuroscientists use weak electrical signal to stimulate human brain and improve memory
FINDINGSNeuroscientists at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have discovered precisely where and how to electrically stimulate the human brain to enhance people’s recollection of distinct memories. People with epilepsy who received low-current electrical pulses showed a significant improvement in their ability to recognize specific faces and ignore simila r ones.Eight of nine patients ’ ability to recognize the faces of specific people improved after receiving electrical pulses to the right side of the brain’s entorhinal area, which is critical to learning and memory. However, electrical stimulation deli...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - October 24, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
NIH awards almost $10 million to UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment
The National Institutes of Health, recognizing UCLA ’s leadership in understanding and developing interventions for autism spectrum disorder, has renewed its support of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment with a five-year, $9.7 million grant.The Autism Center of Excellence grant is directed by Susan Bookheimer, director of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at UCLA. It supports research projects led by autism experts Mirella Dapretto, Dr. Shafali Jeste, Connie Kasari, Elizabeth Laugeson, Dr. Daniel Geschwind and Dr. Jim McCracken.“This renewed support will allow UCLA to contin...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - October 13, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
One e-cigarette with nicotine leads to adrenaline changes in nonsmokers ’ hearts
A new UCLA study has found that healthy nonsmokers experienced increased adrenaline levels in their hearts after one electronic cigarette with nicotine.Thefindings are published in Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.Unlike cigarettes, e-cigarettes, also known as e-cigs, have no combustion or tobacco. Instead, these electronic, handheld devices deliver nicotine with flavoring and other chemicals in a vapor rather than smoke.“While e-cigarettes typically deliver fewer carcinogens than are found in the tar of tobacco cigarette ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 20, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Device used to close small hole in heart may protect against recurrent stroke
A device used to close a small hole in the heart may benefit certain stroke patients by providing an extra layer of protection for those facing years of ongoing stroke risk, according to the results of a large clinical trial led by UCLA researchers.“It is a major new treatment option for some people,” said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of theUCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center and lead author of the study. However, he added, “Using the device is going to have to be a considered clinical decision between the doctor and the patient about who’s the right person to get it.”Thefindings appear in the Sept. 14 New England Jo...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 14, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
For post-menopausal women, vaginal estrogens do not raise risk of cancer, other diseases
This study, the first to examine potential adverse health effects in users of vaginal estrogen compared with non-users, suggests that vaginal estrogen therapy is a safe treatment for genitourinary symptoms such as burning, discomfort, and pain during intercourse associated with menopause.AUTHORSThe paper ’s authors are Dr. Carolyn Crandall of UCLA; Kathleen Hovey of the State University of New York at Buffalo; Christopher Andrews of the University of Michigan; Dr. Rowan Chlebowski of City of Hope; Marcia Stefanick of Stanford University; Dr. Dorothy Lane of the State University of New York at Ston y Brook; Dr. Jan Shifre...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - August 16, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
UCLA researchers demonstrate new material that could aid body ’s cellular repair process
A research team led by UCLA biomolecular engineers and doctors has demonstrated a therapeutic material that could one day promote better tissue regeneration following a wound or a stroke.During the body ’s typical healing process, when tissues like skin are damaged the body grows replacement cells. Integrins are class of proteins that are important in the cellular processes critical to creating new tissue. One of the processes is cell adhesion, when new cells “stick” to the materials between cells, called the extracellular matrix. Another is cell migration, where at the cell’s surface, integrins help “pull” the...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - August 15, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Sleep biology discovery could lead to new insomnia treatments that don ’t target the brain
UCLA scientists report the first evidence that a gene outside the brain controls the ability to rebound from sleep deprivation — a surprising discovery that could eventually lead to greatly improved treatments for insomnia and other sleep disorders that do not involve getting a drug into the brain.The scientists report that increasing the level of Bmal1 — a critical master gene that regulates sleep patterns — in skeletal muscle makes mice resistant to sleep deprivation.“When we first saw the importance of the muscle, we were surprised,” said senior author Ketema Paul, UCLA associate professor of integrative biolo...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - August 10, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
In assessing risk of hormone therapy for menopause, dose — not form — matters
FINDINGSWhen it comes to assessing the risk of estrogen therapy for menopause, how the therapy is delivered — taking a pill versus wearing a patch on one’s skin — doesn’t affect risk or benefit, researchers at UCLA and elsewhere have found. But with the commonly used conjugated equine estrogen, plus progestogen, the dosage does. Higher doses, especially over time, are associated with greater risk of problems, including heart disease and some types of cancer, especially among obese women.BACKGROUNDThe Women ’s Health Initiative established the potential of estrogen therapy to increase or decrease the risk of strok...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - July 27, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Medicaid waiver program helped public hospitals improve care to California ’s most needy
A five-year Medicaid waiver program that infused billions of dollars into public hospitals prompted significant improvements in health care to California ’s neediest population — the poor and uninsured, according to an extensiveevaluation by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.Seventeen designated public hospitals participated in the $3.3 billion “pay-for-performance” experiment, including five University of California hospital systems and 12 county‐owned-and‐operated hospital systems. Collectively, these facilities serve more than 2 million patients every year, including most of the state’s Medi-Cal p...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 28, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
High-fat diet leads to same intestinal inflammation as a virus
FINDINGSA new study by scientists at UCLA found that when mice eat a high-fat diet, the cells in their small intestines respond the same way they do to a viral infection, turning up production of certain immune molecules and causing inflammation throughout the body. The scientists also found that feeding the mice tomatoes containing a protein similar to that in HDL, or “good cholesterol,” along with the generic cholesterol drug Ezetimibe, reversed the inflammation.The results could lead to new types of drugs, targeting the intestinal cells, to reduce people ’s risk of heart attacks and strokes, or to treat other cond...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 21, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Rare genetic variants found to increase risk for Tourette syndrome
An international team led by researchers from UCLA and Massachusetts General Hospital has identified the first definitive genes associated with Tourette syndrome, giving scientists a long-sought foothold on the biology of the disease.The report in the June 21 issue of Neuron describes the discovery of rare mutations — either deletions or duplications of genetic material — in two neurodevelopmental genes, NRXN1 and CNTN6, in people with Tourette syndrome, a disorder characterized by multiple chronic, involuntary motor and vocal tics.“This is a first, key step in understanding the role of these genes in the disease pro...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 21, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
With a nudge from their wives, three longtime friends get vasectomies in solidarity
Paul Diaz, Basilio Santangelo and John Lambrechts had shared a lot of memorable experiences in their decades of friendship, but going to the doctor to all get vasectomies was one they never expected.The three — each married with two children — had decided with their wives that they didn’t want to continue growing their families. After a pregnancy false alarm, Diaz and his wife, Lisa, agreed that they were happy with their two girls. Lisa brought up the idea of Paul getting a vasectomy, but there wa s a problem.“Like most men,” Diaz said, “I don’t like going to the doctor. I don’t like going to the dentist. ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - March 30, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Scientists identify brain cells involved in Pavlovian response
In his famous experiment, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov rang a bell each time he fed his dogs. Soon, the dogs began drooling in anticipation when they heard the bell, even before food appeared.Now, a UCLA study has traced the Pavlovian response to a small cluster of brain cells — the same neurons that go awry during Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Tourette’s syndrome. Published March 22 in the journal Neuron, the research could eventually help scientists identify new approaches to diagnosing and treating these neurological disorders.“Species survive because they’ve learned how to link sensory cue...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - March 22, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Head injuries can alter hundreds of genes and lead to serious brain diseases, UCLA biologists report
Head injuries can harm hundreds of genes in the brain in a way that increases people ’s risk for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, UCLA life scientists report.The researchers identified for the first time master genes that they believe control hundreds of other genes which are linked to Alzheimer ’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, stroke, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, depression, schizophrenia and other disorders.Knowing what the master genes are could give scientists targets for new pharmaceuticals to treat brain diseases. Eventually, scientists...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - March 6, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
