In Review
Research Notes
Rochester Team: Air Force Program Reduces Suicide
Active duty personnel in the United States Air Force are less likely to commit
suicide, domestic abuse, murder, and other violence, according to a new study
by researchers at the University who evaluated a prevention program put in place
by the Air Force. Kerry Knox, assistant professor of community and preventive
medicine, says the program could be a model for other workplaces. The University
team found that severe family violence declined the most, 54 percent, after
the prevention program began. Homicides dropped 51 percent, suicides decreased
33 percent, and accidental deaths slid 18 percent. The research was reported
in the British Medical Journal.
Breast Cancer Patients Not Getting Full Doses, Study Finds
Fewer than half of women with early stage breast cancer are receiving the full,
recommended dose of potentially lifesaving chemotherapy, researchers from the
James P. Wilmot Cancer Center reported in a study published in the Journal
of Clinical Oncology. The team found that 56 percent of the 20,799 women treated
for early stage breast cancer in 1,243 community-based oncology practices nationwide
received less than 85 percent of their prescribed chemotherapy dose intensity
due to treatment delays or dose reductions.
Epilepsy Drug May Get New Life Against Alzheimer’s
A 20-year-old medication that has been successfully used to treat epilepsy,
migraines, and bipolar disorder may provide new hope for the more than 4 million
Americans suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. The Medical Center is launching
a national study involving 30 institutions to determine if the drug valproate
preserves functioning and delays the expected decline associated with Alzheimer’s.
Rochester Focuses on Rare Neurological Diseases
Three uncommon neurological disorders will get new, focused attention from
University scientists as result of a Rochester’s selection to lead one
of seven national centers to study especially rare diseases. The Rochester center
is led by Robert Griggs, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology,
who 10 years ago coined the word “channelopathies” to describe diseases
caused by abnormal cell channels that regulate levels of crucial chemicals.
Griggs’s center will focus on three channelopathies—periodic paralysis,
episodic ataxia, and nondystrophic myotonias —that are so rare that most
doctors never see a single case in a lifetime of practice.
Custom Contact Lenses Get Test
A scientist at the Rochester Eye Institute is developing customized contact
lenses in a four-year effort to improve the vision of people whose eyesight
remains poor even with the best conventional techniques. Geunyoung Yoon, assistant
professor of ophthalmology, will use adaptive optics—the same technology
that helps astronomers remove the twinkle from starlight—in an effort
to discover why patients who have had a corneal transplant or who have abnormal,
cone-shaped corneas don’t see as well as most people. Yoon will make sensitive
measurements of each participant’s eye, then will use a laser to sculpt
a soft contact lens tailored precisely to counter the patient’s unique
optical aberrations.
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