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NEW ARRIVALS |
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 Spinal Cord Injury Specialist John McDonald
John McDonald III, M.D., Ph.D., one of the key doctors who treated the late actor Christopher Reeve, is a pioneer in rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury.
Click here to read an interview with Dr. McDonald.
HEALTH NEWS
 C-reactive Protein or Cholesterol?
Two new studies in the New England Journal of Medicine have found that reducing c-reactive protein appears to be just as important as lowering cholesterol. Cardiologist Rick Lange, M.D., says that for many people, that's
going to mean statin therapy.
"Cholesterol lowering medications--statins--can lower both inflammation, as assessed with c-reactive protein, and cholesterol. But the reduction in cholesterol and the reduction in inflammation varies from patient to patient. Our next
studies will try to find agents that specifically decrease inflammation," explains Dr. Lange.
 Brain Inflammation May Cause Autism
People with autism have inflammation in their brains, a Hopkins study finds. This observation may help unravel the mystery of what causes autism and may also point the way toward possible treatments, says neurologist Carlos
Pardo-Villamizar, author of the study.
"For the first time we are demonstrating that autism is an ongoing process compared to what has been described before as just the result of injury during brain development."
Dr. Pardo-Villamizar and colleagues have shown that the inflammation can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting that a sample of the fluid may help diagnose and monitor autism.
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STAYING HEALTHY |
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 Second-Hand Smoke Increases Rates of Cervical Cancer
Women who don't smoke but live with a smoker face a 40 to 100% increase in their risk for developing cervical cancer, compared to women who neither smoke nor live with someone who does, according to a Hopkins study.
"The main message here is if a woman can reduce her exposure to other people's cigarette smoke not only will she decrease her risk of heart disease and lung cancer but also reduce her risk of cervical cancer," says epidemiologist
Anthony Alberg, author of the study.
The study also found that in women who smoke, cigarette smoking acts as a cofactor with human papilloma infection to promote the development of cervical cancer.
NEW TOOLS FOR HEALTH
 Penicillin-Like Drugs to Fight ALS
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a neurological disease that kills most within a few years of diagnosis. Now a new opportunity to change the course of patients with the disease could come from penicillin-like drugs, a Hopkins study
suggests.
Neurologist Jeffrey Rothstein, director of Hopkins' ALS research center and study leader, says this discovery in mice is being rushed to see if it will help patients. A clinical trial to test this theory in humans will start in the
coming months.
If these drugs work in humans, it would be phenomenal, says Dr. Rothstein, because drug development from scratch can take a very long time. These drugs could also prove helpful in other neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease
and MS. Dr. Rothstein cautions, however, that these drugs must be administered intravenously and the proper dose has not yet been determined.
INTERNET RESOURCES
Featured Condition: Pancreas Cancer
Uncovering the Secrets of Pancreas Cancer, on how a team of Hopkins specialists is identifying the various types of this disease to better target treatments.
Pancreas Cancer Website, a resource for patients and their families, including questions to ask your doctor, the latest research, and a patient chat room.
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