Health and Medicine

Studying why premature infants develop high blood pressure after receiving steroids to aid their lung function, University at Buffalo neonatologists found that steroids interfere with production of nitric oxide (NO), a critical biological component known to relax blood vessels and reduce blood pressure.

Infectious disease specialists at the University at Buffalo have demonstrated a potentially effective treatment to prevent the frequently life-threatening complications that can develop in infants from infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of infant deaths around the world.

World-class scientists in the fields of bioinformatics, structural genomics and proteomics will gather next month at a symposium presented by the University at Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics to discuss the cutting-edge science essential for advancements in genetic analysis and drug discovery in the post-genomic era.

Pediatric researchers at Women and Children's Hospital here have shown that the incidence of disease-producing microorganisms in the lungs of its infants on life support can be reduced markedly by installing an ultraviolet germicidal irradiation device in the ventilation system of its neonatal intensive care unit.

Children are becoming obese as young as 3 years old, and obese 10-year-olds are showing abnormal liver function and abnormally high insulin levels, which may lead to type 2 diabetes, analysis of data from a group of children referred to University at Buffalo pediatric endocrinologists has shown.

Two related University at Buffalo studies examining the incidence of diabetes and related conditions among patients suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder indicate that it is the illness -- not the atypical antipsychotic medications used to treat the disorders -- that contributes to the increased incidence of diabetes in these patients.

Though there is much still to learn about the cause and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a University at Buffalo virologist says the behavior of other respiratory viruses suggests that SARS could either "collapse" within the next two months or continue into the winter as a flu-like illness of moderate severity.

Sebastian Ciancio, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, has received the 2003 Pharmacology, Therapeutics & Toxicology Research Award from the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).

Gender, race and type of strenuous physical activity -- whether on an organized sports team or informal physical exercise -- play a role in the relationship between physical activity and sexual risk-taking by teen-agers, according to a study led by a researcher at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions

Scientists from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are helping to reveal the mysteries of the mammalian biological clock, the grouping of cells in the brain that regulates the basic physiological functions known as circadian rhythms.