Health

West Virginia leads the nation in overdose deaths, but distinguishing intentional overdoses from accidental ones is far from straightforward.

Sleep-disordered breathing exacerbates obesity, stroke, COPD and heart failure—some of the most prevalent conditions in Appalachia. A new program at WVU focuses on identifying hospital patients at risk of sleep-disordered breathing and intervening early. According to a study led by Sunil Sharma, a School of Medicine researcher, the program accurately screens patients and makes them less likely to return to the hospital after being discharged.

West Virginia University remains one of the top research institutions in the nation, according to the just-released 2021 rankings by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

With the continued spread of the omicron variant and increased hospitalization rates in the state and region, West Virginia University is providing additional guidance on campus health and safety protocols including masking, testing, vaccines and isolation.

The blood-brain barrier keeps foreign substances from entering the brain. That’s good when it comes to toxins and germs, but it makes treating tumors in the brain trickier. By shielding the brain from things that would harm it, the blood-brain barrier also blocks the chemotherapy that would help it.

To better understand the long-term effects of COVID-19— symptoms that may continue or even begin after the initial virus infection—researchers at the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute at West Virginia University, are engaging underserved populations that are traditionally underrepresented in clinical studies.

West Virginia University will resume its public dashboard this week to track and compile COVID-19 information collected on the Morgantown, Beckley and Keyser campuses.

By 2050, 12.8 million Americans age 65 or older are likely to have Alzheimer’s disease. That’s more than double the number who have it today. Paul Chantler—a researcher with the WVU School of Medicine—is investigating the link between Alzheimer’s disease and chronic stress. What he and his team uncover may suggest new ways to slow the disease’s progression or even delay its onset. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded the project $2 million.

West Virginia University reminds students, faculty and staff that it is extremely important to follow current public health guidance for individual, as well as campus community safety, in light of the continued rise in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant. Health experts predict the surge in positive cases may peak in West Virginia over the next two weeks.

Retinal diseases can make even the most mundane tasks—like cooking, driving and walking down the sidewalk—difficult or impossible, and they can’t be cured. WVU School of Medicine researchers Peter Stoilov and Visvanathan Ramamurthy are studying the role that specific proteins play in rapid retinal degeneration. What they learn may lead to new treatments that are more cost-effective and more widely applicable than the treatments available today.