Advanced practice registered nurse Nancy Buccola recently led a Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center research team conducting a study linking schizophrenia to a specific area of DNA. The area of DNA linked to the disease is on chromosome 6, an area that also houses key genes related to immune function.
“Scientists have been looking for schizophrenia susceptibility genes since the early 1900s … This study shows that these genes can be found and sets the stage for future research,” said Buccola in an LSUHSC press release.
The study, “Common variants on chromosome 6p22.1 are associated with schizophrenia,” was published July 1 issue of the journal Nature.
Next month, October 15-18, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5TH and www.saks.com will be donating 2 percent of sales (up to $250,000) to local and national women’s cancer charities with Key to the Cure. Limited-edition Michael Kors T-shirts, designed exclusively to benefit Key to the Cure, will also be sold. More information is available online at www.saks.com.
Ochsner Health System was recently named in the American Hospital Association’s Hospitals & Health Networks magazine as one of America’s 100 most “wired” hospitals. The “2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study” is an annual examination of hospitals’ utilization of information technology to improve care, services and safety.
The Cardiovascular Institute of the South recently issued a new policy that transformed all CIS campuses into tobacco-free areas. The policy will encompass all properties owned or controlled by CIS.
“CIS is implementing this policy to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke and to encourage both patients and employees to improve their health,” a CIS press release states.
The St. Charles Surgical Hospital has announced the inception of a one-of-a-kind lymphedema treatment program. Lymphedema is a condition marked by retention of fluids due to a damaged lymphatic system, occurring most often after breast cancer treatments. The hospital created the lymphedema treatment program in association with Dr. Marga Massey, who will work in partnership with Drs. Scott Sullivan and Frank DellaCroce, St. Charles Surgical Hospital’s principal surgeons.
– Leigh Ann Stuart
