News

UC Davis researchers announced Tuesday that, after studying brain tissue from 423 Americans of Latino, African and non-Hispanic white descent, they have discovered startling variations in the causes of dementia among people of different races and ethnicities.

Via Modesto Bee

 

Seventeen-year-old Justin Silver was five when he was diagnosed with fragile X syndrome. Despite living across the country in New York, the family traveled to the UC Davis MIND Institute in Sacramento, Calif., where they met the world’s leading experts in the field.

Researchers at UC Davis zoomed in on a group of children whose older siblings already had an autism diagnosis. Across 241 kids, 14.1 percent of those whose mothers took prenatal vitamins during their first month of pregnancy went on to develop autism, versus 32.7 percent amongst the group whose mothers didn’t take the vitamins.

Via Popular Science

Charles DeCarli, neurologist and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center, and Kimberley McAllister, director of the Center for Neuroscience and professor in the neurology and neurobiology, physiology and behavior departments, are taking an interdisciplinary approach to rethink how brain health is defined as champions of the Healthy Brain Aging Initiative: Brain Health Across the Lifespan Big Idea for UC Davis.

As a physician, my loyalty is to my patients: listening to their stories, helping them choose medications, then getting them home to their families. But when that patient is a potential school shooter, my loyalties get complicated.

Via The New York Times

The Autism, Community and Technology Big Idea will pioneer a first-of-its-kind lifespan approach for everyone living with autism.

The Healthy Aging in a Digital World ‘Big Idea’ leverages the university’s strengths in telehealth, gerontology and interdisciplinary expertise to empower healthier aging via technology.

On its face, it might seem Dr. Fred Meyers at the UC Davis School of Medicine is looking at one very specific problem. He’s studying soldiers with complex trauma, such as a serious burn combined with a head injury. But he says the method he’s using — called precision medicine — could ultimately change the way doctors nationwide treat both military and civilian patients.

Via Capital Public Radio

Currently, one in 59 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder — triple the number of families affected in 2000 — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Effective treatments for ASD are not widely available, leaving many families without access to care, especially those in rural, low-income and underserved areas. In addition, services are limited for adults with ASD.

Via UC Davis Magazine