The secret of longevity isn’t drinking one beer every afternoon. Nor is it colonic cleansing, cruciferous vegetables, or the absence of regret. The secret is to live in a metro area that has not one but two top-flight medical schools and to keep up with their research. Last year alone, researchers at Saint Louis University and Washington University schools of medicine made thousands of discoveries about the human body. Here’s a pop quiz on a handful.
Ritalin’s only appropriate for kids with severe attention deficit disorder.
False. SLU is evaluating Ritalin’s ability to snap patients with Alzheimer’s disease out of an apathetic funk. (Removing apathy would also decrease their risk of falling.)
Testing for proteins in spinal fluid is the most effective way to detect early-stage Alzheimer’s.
False. Scans of brain networks are just as effective, according to a recent Wash. U. study. And they don’t hurt.
Being skinny keeps us alive longer.
Not exactly. But introducing more of a protein called Sirt1 does significantly delay aging, postpone cancer risk, increase vigor, and lengthen life—at least in mice. The mechanism is associated with a low-calorie diet, but now that Wash. U. researchers have identified it, we’re hoping they can just shoot Sirt1 into a cupcake.
One in 20 seniors suffers from an anxiety disorder.
True. Wash. U. researchers got great results, however, by combining an antidepressant (Lexapro) with relaxation techniques and practical problem-solving therapy. The combination worked so much better than medication alone, they’re now adding mindfulness-based stress-reduction into the mix.
If your brain’s arteries have narrowed, a surgical stent’s the most effective way to prevent a stroke.
False. A Wash. U. study found a combination of medication and lifestyle changes to be safer and just as effective.
There’s probably a connection between strokes and thunderstorms.
True. Saint Louis University neurologists are exploring the correlation, which nobody yet understands. Perhaps the humidity thickens our blood, or the electromagnetic energy affects our nervous system.
There’s a different genetic mutation behind every type of cancer.
False. Wash. U. scientists have found 127 repeatedly mutated genes associated with many different kinds of tumors. Down the road, a single diagnostic test could survey errors in a swath of genes, then use a patient’s unique genetic signature to guide her treatment.
Gene therapy can repair a damaged heart muscle.
Sure looks that way. SLU has expanded its CUPID study to test a novel treatment that infuses coronary arteries with SERCA2a, a regulatory protein that’s reduced by heart failure. By restoring normal levels, this gene therapy can change the heart cells’ function, helping them make better use of calcium and thus function more efficiently.
It’s healthy for cells to eat themselves.
True. That kind of recycling is what clears cellular debris from our eyes and helps cells recover vitamin A. If the cells don’t recycle, we’re at risk for macular degeneration. Wash. U. researchers note the same pattern in other parts of the brain—if proteins are allowed to build up in brain cells, that can contribute to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
