Health

New research from West Virginia University suggests a widely used index to assess hospital patients’ risk of readmission may have a blind spot. Physicians and nurses use a tool called the “LACE index” to identify which patients are most likely to be readmitted to the hospital because symptoms come back or complications arise. But research out of the Health Sciences Center suggests the index fails to consider a key variables that could improve predictions in West Virginia: whether patients are on Medicaid.

A recent study led by Albeir Mousa, a professor in the West Virginia University School of Medicine, suggests telemedicine may improve these patients’ satisfaction with their postoperative care as well as their quality of life. Their results have been accepted for publication in The Annals of Vascular Surgery.

West Virginia University continues to rank among the nation’s elite research institutions as reflected in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Only 120 of the nation’s 4,500 colleges and universities attain this ranking.

West Virginia University students who walked across the commencement stage Saturday (Dec. 15) may feel the world they’re entering is uncertain, but the sure thing in their lives is that their Morgantown experience has changed them.

A clarification and tightening of West Virginia University’s tobacco-free campus rules was approved for comment Friday by the Board of Governors. The move is part of an ongoing revision of University governance stemming from the state Legislature’s adoption last year of laws permitting more independence from the state Higher Education Policy Commission.

Post-stroke depression stems from the cardiovascular changes in the brain that lead to a stroke in the first place. It’s a type of depression that scientists are just now starting to probe. At the West Virginia University School of Medicine, a team of researchers is taking a bench-to-bedside look at whether magnetic fields can help treat this unexplored mood disorder.

One isn’t just the loneliest number. It may also be the unhealthiest. New research led by Laurie Theeke, a professor and nurse practitioner in the WVU School of Nursing, suggests that loneliness can make it harder for middle-aged Appalachians to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

Richard Goldberg, who directs the West Virginia University Cancer Institute, is searching for new ways to slow colorectal cancer’s progression. In a recent study, he and an international team of scientists investigated a new drug combination for treating metastatic colorectal cancer in patients who had no—or only temporary—success with conventional chemotherapy treatments.

About half of all people with cystic fibrosis, the most common genetic disorder in the United States, die from a lung disease before they turn 40. A form of pneumonia called Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a likely culprit. These bacteria have become so hard to treat that the Centers for Disease Control deemed it a serious threat to the nation.

West Virginia University chemists have developed an experiment to improve the efficiency of creating new medicine. The research, conducted by Associate Professor of Chemistry Jessica Hoover and doctoral student Robert Crovak, was published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a top chemistry-focused journal