Brittney Wheeler

1 week ago | medicine.washu.edu | Mark Reynolds |Brittney Wheeler

Love for sports can take a toll on aging bodies, with deteriorating joints leading to painful osteoarthritis, especially in the hip. For hardcore athletes and weekend warriors, a total hip replacement often limits participation in high impact or intense physical activities.

1 week ago | medicine.washu.edu | Mark Reynolds |Brittney Wheeler

The fatigue and lack of motivation that many cancer patients experience near the end of life have been seen as the unavoidable consequences of their declining physical health and extreme weight loss. But new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis challenges that long-held assumption, showing instead that these behavioral changes stem from specific inflammation-sensing neurons in the brain.

1 month ago | medicine.washu.edu | Mark Reynolds |Brittney Wheeler

Autoimmune diseases, which are estimated to affect more than 15 million people in the U.S., occur when the body responds to immune-system false alarms, and infection-fighting first responders are sent out to attack threats that aren’t there. Scientists have long understood how the false alarms get triggered, but the second step of dispatching the immune response has been a mystery.

Jan 22, 2025 | source.washu.edu | Kristina Sauerwein |Brittney Wheeler

Demand for weight-loss medications sold under brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy continues to surge, with a recent study reporting one in eight Americans has taken or is currently using the drugs to treat diabetes, heart disease or obesity. Formally, these drugs are known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) and include Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Jan 17, 2025 | medicine.washu.edu | Marta Wegorzewska |Brittney Wheeler

Individuals with sickle cell disease — a chronic illness where misshapen, sticky blood cells clump together, reducing oxygen delivery to organs — are at a higher risk for stroke and resulting cognitive disability. But even in the absence of stroke, many such patients struggle with remembering, focusing, learning and problem solving, among other cognitive problems, with many facing challenges in school and in the workplace.