• Alcohol & the brain
A new study may have finally found an explanation for the high relapse rates in people who struggle with alcohol dependence. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine discovered that acetate, a byproduct of alcohol breakdown, traveled straight to the brain’s learning system and directly affected the proteins that regulate DNA function in an animal model. This process was also found to affect pregnant mice and their fetuses, which could lead to insights into potential treatments for fetal alcohol syndrome. (EDITORS: Fell free to use this News Brief or the original article from which it was drawn.)
• MDs & assault victims
While physicians are aware of the physical and emotional responsibilities they have to patients who have survived sexual assault, a recent article proposes that physicians also have a social responsibility. “The first tenet of our social responsibility is prevention. We need to recognize acquaintance rape as the public health crisis it is,” the authors said. Florencia Greer Polite, a gynecologist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, became aware of this responsibility after realizing that many of her patients had suffered some sort of sexual assault but had never spoken about it. (EDITORS: Fell free to use this News Brief or the original article from which it was drawn.)
• Americans & the Supreme Court
More than two-thirds of Americans trust the Supreme Court to advocate in the best interests of the American people, but less than half believe the justices set aside their personal beliefs to make rulings. The survey of 1,104 adults was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center and also revealed that 63% of Americans believe that the court fluctuates between liberal and conservative “depending on the law and facts of the case.” (EDITORS: Fell free to use this News Brief or the original article from which it was drawn.)
• Spinal disc injuries
Researchers may have found a way to increase the short window of time doctors have to treat spinal disc injuries. The method involves using a biological inhibitor that relaxes cells around the injury and prevents them from kicking off a faulty healing response. “These data show us that treating disc injuries very soon after injury is essential, before this transition in phenotype occurs and the scar tissue forms,” said Robert Mauck of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. (EDITORS: Fell free to use this News Brief or the original article from which it was drawn.)
