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Cocktails & Chromosomes: The whole-body health spectrum

How can a tiny tumor, often no larger than a penny, affect an entire organism? This question is central to the work happening today at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center. The simple answer is that cancer is a whole-body disease. But what does that mean for cancer patients and their loved ones? CSHL Associate Professor Tobias Janowitz addresses this issue in the latest installment of our Cocktails & Chromosomes series.

Janowitz leads an international team focused on a condition called cachexia that’s common among advanced cancer cases. Cachexia is a metabolic disorder whereby patients experience severe, involuntary muscle loss. The patients “know that they should be eating, but they don’t feel like it,” Janowitz explained to our audience at Industry in Huntington, NY. “You may have been in that situation and offered [a] favorite meal to friends or family, and they have no interest in it. This creates a lot of distress and suffering on all sides.” Now, thanks in part to scientists like Janowitz, we’re beginning to figure out how this condition affects both the brain and the body.

Press play to hear about Janowitz’s groundbreaking research. And be sure to sign up for the next edition of Cocktails & Chromosomes, as our conversation on the connections between mind and body continues on August 29 with a talk from CSHL Assistant Professor Jeremy Borniger.