Category: School of Medicine
Scanning for skin cancer: Infrared system looks for melanoma
March 1, 2010
Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a noninvasive infrared scanning system to help doctors determine whether pigmented skin growths are benign moles or melanoma, a lethal form of cancer. The prototype system works by looking for the tiny temperature difference between healthy tissue and a growing tumor. The researchers have begun a pilot study of 50 […]
Going green in the hospital will save money, reduce waste
March 1, 2010
Johns Hopkins researchers say that recycling medical equipment saves money, reduces waste and is safe. Wider adoption of the practice of recycling medical equipment—including laparoscopic ports and durable cutting tools typically tossed out after a single use—could save hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars annually and curb trash at medical centers, the second-largest waste producers […]
‘Milk drops’ under the tongue appear to treat milk allergies
March 1, 2010
Placing small amounts of milk protein under the tongues of children who are allergic to milk can help them overcome their allergies, according to the findings of a small study at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Duke University. The findings were presented Feb. 28 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, […]
Heavy Lifting
March 1, 2010
People at Johns Hopkins often display power of the mind. Last month, a trio of JHU affiliates showed off some major brawn and came home champions. Rajiv Mallipudi, a master’s degree candidate at the School of Public Health; Roosevelt Offoha, a first-year student at the School of Medicine; and Floyd Hayes, a senior lecturer in […]
Personalized blood tests for cancer developed
February 22, 2010
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used data from the whole genome sequencing of cancer patients to develop individualized blood tests they believe can help physicians tailor patients’ treatments. The genome-based blood tests, believed to be the first of their kind, may be used to monitor tumor levels after therapy and determine […]
NIH grant funds study on stem cells from ALS patients
February 22, 2010
A two-year $3.7 million stimulus grant from the National Institutes of Health will allow Johns Hopkins neurologist and lead researcher Jeffrey Rothstein to expand on his long-standing research into the nerve- and muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Using stem cells developed in a laboratory from skin cell samples taken from 20 ALS patients and […]
Interest grows in medical checklists, but they’re not magic wands
February 22, 2010
In the wake of Johns Hopkins’ success in virtually eliminating intensive-care unit bloodstream infections via a simple five-step checklist, the safety scientist who developed and popularized the tool warns medical colleagues that it is no panacea. “Checklists are useful, but they’re not Harry Potter’s wand,” said Peter Pronovost, a professor of anesthesiology and critical care […]
Obesity—mild or severe—raises kidney stone risk, study finds
February 22, 2010
Obesity nearly doubles the risk of developing kidney stones, but the degree of obesity doesn’t appear to increase or decrease the risk one way or the other, a new study from Johns Hopkins shows. “The common thinking was that as weight rises, kidney stone risk rises as well, but our study refutes that,” said study […]
Seniors stymied unnecessarily in wait for kidney transplants
February 22, 2010
One-third of people over the age of 65 wait longer than necessary for lifesaving new kidneys because their doctors fail to put them in a queue for organs unsuitable to transplant in younger patients but well-suited to seniors, research from Johns Hopkins suggests. Results of a study reported online in the American Journal of Transplantation […]
Study: Small amounts of lead may damage children’s kidneys
February 22, 2010
Small amounts of lead in the bodies of healthy children and teens—amounts well below the levels defined as “concerning” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—may worsen kidney function, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study published in the Jan. 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. In 1991, the CDC reduced the […]