UCLAhealth.org Health News

UCLA medical students brace for news at residency 'Match Day'

2010-03-17T00:00:00.0000000-07:00

WHAT:

Match Day is the fun, frenzied day when medical students nationwide learn which hospital has accepted them for residency — advanced training in their chosen specialty. At UCLA, the ceremony climaxes in a mad scramble for the envelopes, with 150 aspiring doctors tearing them open with their families and friends. Many videotape themselves and let distant loved ones listen in on cell phones during this emotional rollercoaster of an...

Nearly 2 million Californians lost health insurance during recession, study finds

2010-03-16T00:00:00.0000000-07:00

Nearly 2 million Californians lost their health insurance during 2008 and 2009 — years characterized by a deep recession and mass layoffs — bringing the total number of uninsured in the state to more than 8 million, according to new estimates from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

The number represents a 25 percent increase in the number of uninsured since 2007, when 6.4 million Californians lacked insurance, according to the authors of...

Novel 'medical home' program for pediatric patients, families cuts ER visits in half

2010-03-16T00:00:00.0000000-07:00

For parents of children with multiple medical problems, keeping up with countless doctor's appointments, ongoing tests and a variety of medications can be overwhelming, especially for those in challenging socioeconomic situations.

As a result, families often wind up using the emergency room, the country's most expensive form of care delivery, to get help for their kids.

But a growing concept in health care reform called the...

Researchers ID brain abnormalities in children exposed to methamphetamine in utero

2010-03-16T00:00:00.0000000-07:00

It has long been known that alcohol exposure is toxic to the developing fetus and can result in lifelong brain, cognitive and behavioral problems. Now, a new report out of UCLA shows that the effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure — or worse, a combination of methamphetamine and alcohol — may be even more damaging.

Reporting in the March 17 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, UCLA professor of neurology...

Kenneth Jonsson, who helped found UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, dead at 79

2010-03-16T00:00:00.0000000-07:00

Kenneth A. Jonsson, who along with his late wife, Diana, helped to found UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, died March 15 at his Pacific Palisades home. He was 79.

A longtime supporter of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Jonsson made his first...

Pageant queens to visit UCLA pediatric patients for 'Day of Tiaras and Toys'

2010-03-10T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

WHAT:

Miss California USA Nicole Johnson and Miss California Teen USA Emma Baker will visit patients at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, bringing smiles to the youngsters' faces and delivering tiaras for the girls and toys for the boys, provided by Mattel Inc.

As the reigning winners of the Miss California and Miss California Teen competitions, Johnson and Baker are dedicated to volunteering their time in the...

Got brains? UCLA to show hundreds of school kids what gray matter's all about

2010-03-08T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

WHAT:

Ever touched a human brain? More than 250 local K–12 students will get the chance to do just that as part of the UCLA Brain Research Institute's annual Brain Awareness Week. Each day, a group of 60 school kids will visit the campus to learn about what makes the noggin tick – how it functions, what it's made of it, and what happens when it's injured or...

Anna Deavere Smith to perform one-woman show at UCLA School of Public Health event

2010-02-26T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

WHAT:

Playwright, actor and professor Anna Deavere Smith, hailed by Newsweek as "the most exciting individual in American theater," will perform her singular brand of "documentary theater" at the 36th Annual Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture and Dinner, hosted by the UCLA School of Public Health.

Smith will present...

Gene-based stem cell therapy specifically removes cell receptor that attracts HIV

2010-02-25T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

FINDINGS:

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers successfully removed CCR5 — a cell receptor to which HIV-1 binds for infection but which the human body does not need — from human cells. Individuals who naturally lack the CCR5 receptor have been found to be essentially resistant to HIV.

Using a humanized mouse model, the researchers...

OneWest Foundation grant helps launch project to help low-income patients obtain medical care through UCLA, Venice Family Clinic

2010-02-25T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Los Angeles, CA, February 25, 2010 - Thanks to a generous three-year, $300,000 grant from the OneWest Foundation - matched by funds from the UCLA Health System - qualified Venice Family Clinic patients who need hospitalization or specialized medical care may now be helped by a pilot project launched by the foundation, the clinic and the UCLA Health System.

"Currently, there is a fragmented system in place to ensure access to specialty and inpatient care for...

Midlife crisis: Unmarried older women twice as likely to lack health insurance, study shows

2010-02-24T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Older women who are divorced, separated or widowed or who have never married have twice the uninsured rate of their married peers, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

The study, "Health and Health Care Access Among California Women Ages...

UCLA–Veterans Affairs team develops new tool to help guide pancreatic cyst treatment

2010-02-24T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

As a result of improved imaging technology, pancreatic cysts are increasingly diagnosed in asymptomatic individuals who undergo scans for other reasons. And while most of these cysts follow a benign course, a small but significant number are either malignant at the time of diagnosis or have the potential to develop into pancreatic cancer during a patient's lifetime.

The dilemma for both patient and clinician is determining which cysts to leave alone and which...

UCLA study finds genetic link between misery and death

2010-02-24T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

In ongoing work to identify how genes interact with social environments to impact human health, UCLA researchers have discovered what they describe as a biochemical link between misery and death. In addition, they found a specific genetic variation in some individuals that seems to disconnect that link, rendering them more biologically resilient in the face of adversity.

Perhaps most important to science in the long term, Steven Cole, a member of the UCLA...

Hospital-based initiative significantly improves stroke patient care and outcomes, study finds

2010-02-24T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Care and clinical outcomes for acute stroke patients have improved significantly at hospitals participating in an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association quality-improvement program, according to a new academic study that examined the first million patients enrolled.

To better characterize contemporary stroke patients and determine the impact of participation in the Get With the Guidelines–Stroke program, researchers analyzed several aspects of...

UCLA study reveals how genes interact with environment to cause disease

2010-02-18T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

A new UCLA study reveals how human genes interact with their environment to boost disease risk. Published in the Feb. 18 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the findings shed light on why the search for specific gene variants linked to human diseases can only partly explain common disorders.

"We know that genes and environmental factors influence common human diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer," said principal...

Even severely disabled seniors would lose home care under proposed state cuts, study finds

2010-02-17T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Despite claims that proposed state budget cuts to programs that provide in-home care to disabled senior citizens will not affect those with the highest level of need, a new analysis by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research finds that even severely disabled seniors will experience a total loss of services.

Specifically, an analysis of data provided by nine...

'The First Lady,' chamber opera composed by UCLA psychiatrist, debuts on campus Feb. 19

2010-02-17T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

When Ken Wells isn't busy with his day jobs as a UCLA professor, director of the UCLA Health Services Research Center and an adjunct staff member at the RAND Corp., he pens operas.

The result of his latest moonlighting efforts is "The First Lady," a semi-fictionalized operatic account of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt during the two weeks following the death of her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, which premieres Friday, Feb. 19, on the UCLA campus. The event is...

Researchers find biomarkers in saliva for detection of early-stage pancreatic cancer

2010-02-16T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Physicians and scientists agree: If we cannot entirely prevent cancer, the next best thing is to find it earlier to augment the chances of a successful fight.

The good news is that there may soon be a new weapon in the battle against the so-called "worst" cancer — cancer of the pancreas. A multidisciplinary group of investigators from the UCLA School of Dentistry, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the UCLA School of Public Health and UCLA's...

Tapping into social media to improve teen health

2010-02-10T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

With the average teen spending approximately nine hours a week on social networking sites, the UCLA School of Public Health has partnered with Health Net of California to develop a health literacy training intervention using social media to encourage adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 to utilize their health care more effectively.

The two-year project, funded...

Hospital-based initiative helps close age-related gaps in care for stroke patients

2010-02-10T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Gaps in care and outcomes between older and younger ischemic stroke patients are diminishing as hospitals improve adherence to treatments outlined in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With the Guidelines–Stroke initiative, according to a new UCLA study.

The study was published online Feb. 8 in Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association, in advance of the journal's Feb. 23 print edition.

Childhood obesity: It's not the amount of TV, it's the number of junk food commercials

2010-02-08T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

The association between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly related to children's exposure to commercials that advertise unhealthy foods, according to a new UCLA School of Public Health study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study, conducted by Frederick J. Zimmerman and Janice F. Bell, is the first to break down the types of television children watch to better determine whether different kinds of...

Researchers reveal 3-D structure of bullet-shaped virus with potential to fight cancer, HIV

2010-02-08T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, has long been a model system for studying and understanding the life cycle of negative-strand RNA viruses, which include viruses that cause influenza, measles and rabies.

More importantly, research has shown that VSV has the potential to be genetically modified to serve as an anti-cancer agent, exercising high selectivity in killing cancer cells while sparing healthy cells, and as a potent vaccine against...

Young inventor turns philanthropist

2010-02-04T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Cameron Cohen is...

High-risk populations may not accept an HIV vaccine, study finds

2010-02-03T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

HIV vaccines are considered the holy grail of AIDS research. The availability of a safe and effective vaccine could prevent millions of new HIV infections. Yet the simple availability of a vaccine is not enough to ensure that it would actually be widely accessible and taken by people at risk for HIV.

Though each year sees 2.5 million new HIV cases worldwide — including 55,000 in the United States — questions about a vaccine's effectiveness and...

Dental school provides free care to kids as part of national oral health awareness campaign

2010-02-02T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

WHAT:

The UCLA School of Dentistry will offer free dental care to infants and children up to 14 years of age as part of a nationwide service event known as Give Kids a Smile. The event is celebrated each February, National Children's Dental Health Month, to raise awareness of the need for greater access to...

UCLA brings wellness to the community

2010-02-02T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Researchers at UCLA will be introducing a new concept to the Santa Monica community this week: a neighborhood clinic designed to assist families in becoming — and staying — healthy.

The UCLA Family Commons, a new family wellness center at 1221 Second Street in Santa Monica, close to the Third Street Promenade, will celebrate its official opening on Thursday, Feb. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. The...

Researchers find 'broad spectrum' antiviral that fights multitude of viruses

2010-02-01T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Viruses are insidious creatures. They differ from each other in many ways, and they can mutate — at times seemingly at will, as with HIV — to resist a host of weapons fired at them. Complicating matters further is that new viruses are constantly emerging.

One potential weapon is a small-molecule "broad spectrum" antiviral that will fight a host of viruses by attacking them through some feature common to an entire class of viruses. For example, there...

Why the mirror lies

2010-02-01T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Everyone checks themselves in the mirror now and then, but that experience can be horrifying for individuals suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD, a psychiatric condition that causes them to believe, wrongly, that they appear disfigured and ugly. These people tend to fixate on minute details — every tiny blemish looms huge — rather than viewing their face as a whole.

Now researchers at UCLA have determined that the brains of people with BDD have...

Woman to meet 10 strangers who donated blood platelets to save her life

2010-01-28T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

WHAT:

Due to confidentiality laws, most blood donors never know who receives their blood. Similarly, patients never learn the identities of the people who donated their time and blood to save their lives. On Friday, that's all about to change. For the first time, a UCLA cancer patient will meet a group of longtime blood-platelet donors who sustained her life with their generous...

Non-invasive testing, earlier surgery can stop seizures in tuberous sclerosis complex

2010-01-28T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

(Note to editors: A patient family is available for interviews.)

Anya, 2, who underwent non-invasive testing and surgery at UCLA, is now seizure-free

Improved air quality linked to fewer pediatric ear infections

2010-01-27T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

A new study by researchers at UCLA and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston suggests that improvements in air quality over the past decade have resulted in fewer cases of ear infections in children.

Ear infections are one of the most common illnesses among children, with annual direct and indirect costs of $3 billion to $5 billion in the United States.

"We believe these findings, which demonstrate a direct correlation...

UCLA researchers image earliest signs of Alzheimer's, before symptoms appear

2010-01-27T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Estimates are that some 10 percent of people over the age of 65 will develop Alzheimer's disease, the scourge that robs people of their memories and, ultimately, their lives.

While researchers race to find both the cause and the cure, others are moving just as fast to find the earliest signs that will predict an eventual onset of the disease, well before any outward symptoms. The reason is simple: The earlier the diagnosis, the earlier treatments can be...

UCLA's Haitian Relief Efforts

2010-01-23T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Feb 26, 2010: Coming home

UCLA's seven-member Operation Haiti team gets home tonight after two weeks volunteering their medical expertise in Port-au-Prince. Volunteer Patti Taylor reports that they are all well and excited to be coming home to their friends and loved ones. (visit our blog for more)

Study predicts HIV drug resistance will surge

2010-01-22T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

New research based on a novel mathematical model predicts that a wave of drug-resistant HIV strains will emerge in San Francisco within the next five years. These strains could prove disastrous by hindering control of the HIV pandemic.

In a study published Jan. 14 on the website of the journal Science, researchers from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the University of California, San Francisco's HIV AIDS Program...

Have a Heart Healthy Valentine's Day: Gift, Food and Activity Ideas

2010-01-21T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Celebrate with a Loved One, Friends or a Pet

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women nationwide so keep heart healthy foods, gifts and activities in mind this Valentine's Day.

"There are lots of delicious and heart healthy foods that can be part of a special Valentine's Day meal or treat," said Susan Bowerman, M.S., R.D., assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

Healthy Food, Gift and Meal...

Event looks at integrating complementary and alternative approaches with Western medicine

2010-01-21T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

WHAT:

Millions of Americans use alternative and complementary therapies to meet their health needs. A unique UCLA conference will address the benefits and, given current health reform efforts, the timeliness of integrating traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine. Tai chi chih, acupressure, Chinese herbal medicine and more will be discussed. The event is sponsored by the UCLA Collaborative...

Dr. A. Eugene Washington to lead UCLA Health Sciences

2010-01-21T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

Photo by Elisabeth Fall

Dr. A. Eugene Washington, an internationally renowned clinical investigator...

Common heart medications may also protect against Parkinson's disease, study finds

2010-01-21T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

UCLA researchers have discovered that a specific type of medication used to treat cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, angina and abnormal heart rhythms may also decrease the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

In the first large-scale population-based study of its kind, Dr. Beate Ritz, professor of epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health, in collaboration with researchers from the Danish Cancer Society, found that a specific...

Med students say conventional medicine would benefit by integrating alternative therapies

2010-01-20T00:00:00.0000000-08:00

In the largest national survey of its kind, researchers from UCLA and the University of California, San Diego, measured medical students' attitudes and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and found that three-quarters of them felt conventional Western medicine would benefit by integrating more CAM therapies and ideas.

The findings appear Jan. 20 in the online edition of the peer-reviewed journal...