University of Florida News

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sleeping woes may explain why children with epilepsy are often so hyperactive, say researchers with the University of Florida’s Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Superfund sites are infamous for their hazardous, stubborn chemical wastes, but one cleanup solution may be to put the right mix of plants and microbes together in the soil, according to a new University of Florida study.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Gum disease has been linked to hardening of the arteries for nearly a decade, and scientists have long fingered a gang of oral bacteria as the obvious suspects behind many cases of the vessel-clogging killer.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the manatees who call Florida’s coastal tributaries home, speeding boaters are like charging bulls in an underwater china shop.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Patients who hear the dreaded words “you have cancer” invariably look forward to the day the doctor tells them “you’re cured.” But University of Florida researchers say survival often comes at its own price — the mind may need mending even after the body heals.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tossing out tobacco, noshing nutritious foods and exercising are heart healthy habits key to slashing stroke and heart attack risk. But some patients also must take medicines when these efforts aren’t enough to rein in high blood pressure, long linked to the debilitating, often deadly condition.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A genetic tool with the potential to identify which trauma and burn patients are most likely to become seriously ill has worked consistently in a wide range of experimental clinical settings — an important hurdle to overcome before the method is routinely used in emergency rooms and intensive care units.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Call it a chemical crystal ball. A new approach to predict whether a drug in development is likely to work and which dose is best could get antibiotics to market faster and more cheaply, say University of Florida researchers.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Carloads of young people are dusting off the flip-flops, icing down the beer and heading to warmer climes this month for the annual ritual of alcohol-fueled partying known as Spring Break. The participants include many college and high school students under the drinking age who all too often are able to purchase alcoholic beverages illegally.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — ”Tell me where it hurts” is the classic opening to many a doctor’s examination, and University of Florida researchers have given it a digital twist. The scientists have created a virtual reality “patient” that can help medical students master the subtle art of the patient-doctor interview.