http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from University of Pennsylvania (Medical Xpress)—A research team including members of the Department of Bioengineering in the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has discovered that drug intervention to reduce intercellular signaling between astrocytes following traumatic brain injury reduces cognitive deficits and damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-therapeutic-traumatic-brain-injury.html Neuroscience Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:30:01 EST news284710693 (Medical Xpress)—According to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, pre-operatively identifying patients with certain comorbid risk factors that may increase their chance of being admitted to the ICU following total hip replacement surgery results in fewer deaths, post-surgery complications, and unplanned ICU admissions. The full results of the study will be presented at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting this week in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-pre-op-triage-total-hip-patients.html Surgery Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:48:01 EST news283423675 Shared decision-making between patients and physicians about health care decisions has previously been presented as superior to an approach that emphasizes physicians taking a leading role in directing key aspects of a patient's care. But now, a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, calls into question the efficacy of shared decision-making as a tool for eliciting a patient's genuine preference for care. The results of the study will be presented this week at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-efficacy-unintentional-effects-patientphysician-decision-making.html Surgery Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:47:37 EST news283423650 (Medical Xpress)—A psychological experiment known as "the marshmallow test" has captured the public's imagination as a marker of self control and even as a predictor of future success. This test shows how well children can delay gratification, a trait that has been shown to be as important to scholastic performance as traditional IQ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-marshmallow-rational-decision.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:11:14 EST news283072260 (Medical Xpress)—By studying the underlying differences in gene expression during healing after a bone break in young versus aged mice, Jaimo Ahn, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues aim to find specific pathways of fracture healing in humans. The team of researchers will present their findings in a poster presentation beginning Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-differences-bone-mice-seniors.html Surgery Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:09:55 EST news283072188 (Medical Xpress)—The brain's prefrontal cortex is thought to be the seat of cognitive control, working as a kind of filter that keeps irrelevant thoughts, perceptions and memories from interfering with a task at hand. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-suppressing-brain-filter-creative-tasks.html Neuroscience Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:17:56 EST news282471369 (Medical Xpress)—Higher mortality rates among Americans younger than 50 are responsible for much of why life expectancy is lower in the United States than most of the world's most developed nations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-links-mortality-age-life-lagging.html Health Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:58:12 EST news282329792 (Medical Xpress)—A multi-institution study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has identified several important risk factors, including a donor's smoking history and recipient obesity, linked to severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD), the major cause of serious illness and death after lung transplantation. PGD is a common complication that affects up to 25 percent of lung transplant patients shortly after surgery. The study also found that some previously identified risk factors, including donor sex, race, age, and means of death, were not associated with PGD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-donor-recipient-obesity-tied-higher.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 07 Mar 2013 07:50:03 EST news281862566 The mammalian placenta is more than just a filter through which nutrition and oxygen are passed from a mother to her unborn child. According to a new study by a research group from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, if a mother is exposed to stress during pregnancy, her placenta translates that experience to her fetus by altering levels of a protein that affects the developing brains of male and female offspring differently. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-mammalian-placenta-exposure-stress-impacts.html Medical research Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:01 EST news281615205 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have discovered that a protein called Jagged-1 stimulates human stem cells to differentiate into bone-producing cells. This protein could help both human and animal patients heal from bone fractures faster and may form the basis of treatments for a rare metabolic condition called Alagille syndrome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-uncover-pathway-bone-growth.html Medical research Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:05:27 EST news279975915 (Medical Xpress)—"You are what you eat," the saying goes, but is what you eat playing a role in how much you sleep? Sleep, like nutrition and physical activity, is a critical determinant of health and well-being. With the increasing prevalence of obesity and its consequences, sleep researchers have begun to explore the factors that predispose individuals to weight gain and ultimately obesity.  Now, a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania  shows for the first time that certain nutrients may play an underlying role in short and long sleep duration and that people who report eating a large variety of foods – an indicator of an overall healthy diet – had the healthiest sleep patterns. The new research is published online, ahead-of-print in the journal Appetite. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-dietary-nutrients-patterns.html Health Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:50:02 EST news279441752 With a new insight into a model of Parkinson's disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a novel target for mitigating some of the disease's toll on the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-reveals-parkinson-disease-therapies.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:12:19 EST news277794730 Periodontitis, a form of chronic gum disease that affects nearly half of the U.S. adult population, results when the bacterial community in the mouth becomes unbalanced, leading to inflammation and eventually bone loss. In its most severe form, which affects 8.5 percent of U.S. adults, periodontitis can impact systemic health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-strategy-halt-periodontal-disease.html Medical research Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:20:47 EST news274108785 Passing one's genes on to the next generation is a mark of evolutionary success. So it makes sense that the body would work to ensure that the genes the next generation inherits are exact replicas of the originals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-class-rna-molecules-germ-cells.html Genetics Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:35:23 EST news272223312 When a virus such as influenza invades our bodies, interferon proteins are among the first immune molecules produced to fight off the attack. Interferon can also play a role in suppressing tumor growth and the effects of autoimmune diseases, and doctors may use an artificial form of interferon to treat patients with certain cancers or multiple sclerosis. But even this approach sometimes fails when patients' bodies reject the foreign interferon or growing resistant to its effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-medicine-approach-combat-viral-infections.html Medical research Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:32:43 EST news271701151