Health and Medicine

Close up of Senior citizen female holding bottles of prescription medicine.

Study shows some generics can cost Medicare recipients more than brand-name drugs

Jul. 11, 2019—Medicare Part D enrollees may pay more out of pocket for high-priced specialty generic drugs than their brand-name counterparts, according to new research by health policy experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Helicobacter Pylori bacterium, medical illustration pathogenic microorganism in human stomach

Vanderbilt team shows how stomach bug can trigger cancer

Jul. 11, 2019—Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have obtained the first high-resolution image of a molecular “machine” used by the insidious stomach bug Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) to inject a cancer-causing protein into the stomach lining.

New look at atherosclerosis

Jul. 11, 2019—A new imaging method makes it possible to directly measure cell division and changes in metabolism in atherosclerotic plaques.

Pediatric health conditions, their treatments and the related stress hinder the prefrontal cortex, which is the region of the brain associated with learning, memory and behavior. (istock)

Working memory in psychotic disorders

Jul. 11, 2019—Functional MRI studies have revealed that targeting activation of certain brain regions may improve working memory and cognition in psychotic disorders.

Vanderbilt vaccine pioneer James Crowe honored with major science prize

Jul. 9, 2019—James Crowe Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, will be honored today by the science and technology company Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for his contributions to developing new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the world’s deadliest viruses.

Clinical study tests drug that may prevent cancer metastasis

Jul. 8, 2019—A clinical study of a drug that may block cancer metastasis is currently enrolling patients at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Benzodiazepine use with opioids intensifies neonatal abstinence syndrome

Jul. 1, 2019—Babies born after being exposed to both opioids and benzodiazepines before birth are more likely to have severe drug withdrawal, requiring medications like morphine for treatment, compared to infants exposed to opioids alone.

Older African American man and a young white female doctor discussing his health record in a doctor's office.

Health disparity for blacks exists within lung screening guidelines

Jun. 26, 2019—The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines that determine which smokers qualify for CT scans are excluding significant numbers of African Americans who develop lung cancer, a health disparity that merits modifications to lung cancer screening criteria, according to a study from Vanderbilt researchers.