Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine clone gene linked to Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 10 and epilepsy
According to a report to be released in the October 1 issue of Nature Genetics, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) and at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA) have identified the gene on chromosome 22 and the causative mutation that is linked to inherited diseases that lead to motor incoordination and epilepsy. Known as Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 10 (SCA10), this finding is significant in that epilepsy is not typically associated with late-onset ataxias. Ataxia is an umbrella description of neurodegenerative disorders that cause such disabling symptoms as unsteadiness and an inability to coordinate muscle movements. More than 150,000 Americans suffer from ataxias.
Coronary calcium scan may be important tool in identifying Type 1 diabetics who are at high risk for heart disease
A new report which appeared in the Sept. 2000 issue of the journal Diabetes indicates that a heart scan using electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) may be an important tool in identifying Type 1 diabetics who are at particularly high risk of developing heart disease. In 1998, Cedars-Sinai launched "Heart Watch," a cardiac program that features a coronary calcium scan using EBCT technology. The medical center's Chief of Cardiac Imaging, Daniel Berman, M.D., is available to comment on this new study and on EBCT technology.
Children's brain tumors, other nervous system disorders frequently treatable, says new director of pediatric neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute
Responding to a growing need in the greater Los Angeles area for highly specialized care of pediatric brain tumors and other central nervous system disorders, Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute has launched a state-of-the-art and comprehensive Pediatric Program for Neurosurgery. The program is led by pediatric neurosurgeon, Moise Danielpour, M.D., a Southland native, who has "returned home" to accept his challenging new role, and is one of a handful of pediatric neurosurgeons in the world who performs in utero surgery for myelomeningocele spinal cord defect.
Study published in New England Journal Of Medicine reports that testosterone patch improves sexual function and psychological well-being in surgically postmenopausal women
According to a study published in the Sept. 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, an experimental testosterone patch improved the sexual function and psychological well-being of women who had undergone surgical menopause (removal of the ovaries and uterus).
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center researchers shed new light on mechanisms causing neurodegeneration
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who have previously discovered and localized genes involved in neurodegenerative disorders called hereditary ataxias are presenting new findings about the underlying mechanisms causing these diseases. The September issue of Nature Genetics published the results of a new study in which the scientists analyzed biologic, chemical and genetic mechanisms in an attempt to discover how mutation in the SCA2 gene actually causes damaged nerve cells. They studied SCA2 in cultured cells, human brains and transgenic mice, comparing their results with those of studies conducted on other genes within the same family of diseases.
Surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center give new life to 30-year-old Shadow Hills resident by performing the first liver-lung transplant in western United States
In what is believed to be the first operation of its kind in the western United States, Dennis Weber, a 30-year-old resident of the northern Los Angeles suburb of Shadow Hills, CA, received on July 4 a life-saving transplant of two lungs and a liver at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The patient is available for interviews, as are members of his transplant team.
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