Scientists at the University of Basel report first ever successful nose reconstruction surgery using cartilage grown in the laboratory. Cartilage cells were extracted from the patient
Four young men who have been paralysed for years achieved groundbreaking progress
Men who show signs of chronic inflammation in non-cancerous prostate tissue may have nearly twice the risk of actually having prostate cancer than those with no inflammation, according to results of a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The link between persistent inflammation and cancer was even stronger for men with so-called high-grade prostate cancer
By discovering a new mechanism that allows blood to enter the brain immediately after a stroke, researchers at UC Irvine and the Salk Institute have opened the door to new therapies that may limit or prevent stroke-induced brain damage.
A complex and devastating neurological condition, stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death and primary reason for disability in the U.S. The blood-brain barrier is severely damaged in a stroke and lets blood-borne material into the brain, causing the permanent deficits in movement and cognition seen in stroke patients.
Dritan Agalliu, assistant professor of developmental & cell biology at UC Irvine, and Axel Nimmerjahn of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies developed a novel transgenic mouse strain in which they use a fluorescent tag to see the tight, barrier-forming junctions between the cells that make up blood vessels in the central nervous system. This allows them to perceive dynamic changes in the barrier during and after strokes in living animals.
While observing that barrier function is rapidly impaired after a stroke (within six hours), they unexpectedly found that this early barrier failure is not due to the breakdown of tight junctions between blood vessel cells, as had previously been suspected. In fact, junction deterioration did not occur until two days after the event.
Instead, the scientists reported dramatic increases in carrier proteins called serum albumin flowing directly into brain tissue. These proteins travel through the cells composing blood vessels
Researchers in France have hit on a novel method to help kidney stone sufferers ensure they receive the correct and most effective treatment possible.
Kidney stones represent a major medical problem in the western and developing world. If left untreated, apart from being particularly painful, they can lead to renal failure and other complications. In many patients treated successfully, stone recurrence is also a major problem. Clearly a more effective pathological approach to diagnosis and treatment needs to be identified to ensure successful eradication of stones.
Worldwide approximately 1:7000 births are affected by cystinuria, the most frequent cause of stone formation among genetic diseases. Whilst stones are treatable many therapies exist with varying results depending on the type of stone and severity of the incidence.
Cystine stones, of which there are two forms, are composed of tiny micrometre-size crystallites, which are made up of a collection of nanocrystals. Both forms of cystine stone behave in a particular way under different chemical conditions induced by the drug or drugs administered.
By crystallographic techniques Dominique Bazin, Director of Research at Universit
Is doctor slang on the wane?
The inventive language created by doctors the world over to insult their patients – or each other – is in danger of becoming extinct. So says a doctor who has spent four years charting more than 200 colourful examples.
Medicine is a profession already overflowing with acronyms and technical terms, and doctors over the years have invented plenty of their own.
However, Dr Adam Fox, who works at St Mary’s Hospital in London as a specialist registrar in its child allergy unit, says that far fewer doctors now annotate notes with abbreviations designed to spell out the unsayable truth about their patients.
TOP MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS
CTD – Circling the Drain (A patient expected to die soon)
GLM – Good looking Mum
GPO – Good for Parts Only
TEETH – Tried Everything Else, Try Homeopathy
UBI – Unexplained Beer Injury
The increasing rate of litigation means that there is a far higher chance that doctors will be asked in court to explain the exact meaning of NFN (Normal for Norfolk), FLK (Funny looking kid) or GROLIES (Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt).
Dr Fox recounts the tale of one doctor who had scribbled TTFO – an expletive expression roughly translated as ‘Told To Go Away’ – on a patient’s notes.
He told BBC News Online: ‘This guy was asked by the judge what the acronym meant, and luckily for him he had the presence of mind to say: ‘To take fluids orally’.’
Regional dialects abound, even in the world of the medical abbreviation.
In the north of England, the TTR (Tea Time Review) of a patient is commonplace, but not in the south.
And the number of terms for patients believed to be somewhat intellectually challenged is enormous.
From LOBNH (Lights On But Nobody Home), CNS-QNS (Central Nervous System – Quantity Not Sufficient), to the delightful term ‘pumpkin positive’, which refers to the implication that a penlight shone into the patient’s mouth would encounter a brain so small that the whole head would light up.
Regular visitors to A&E on a Friday or Saturday night are also classified.
DBI refers to ‘Dirt Bag Index’, and multiplies the number of tattoos with the number of missing teeth to give an estimate of the number of days since the patient last bathed.
A PFO refers to a drunken patient who sustained injury falling over, while a PGT ‘Got Thumped’ instead.
MEDICAL TERMS – A GLOSSARY
Digging for Worms – varicose vein surgery
Departure lounge – geriatric ward
Handbag positive – confused patient (usually elderly lady) lying on hospital bed clutching handbag
Woolworth’s Test – Anaesthetic term (if you can imagine patient shopping in Woolies, it’s safe to give a general anaesthetic)
This is an international language – Dr Fox’s research reveals that a PIMBA in Brazil can be translated as a ‘swollen-footed, drunk, run-over beggar’.
And much of the slang is directed at colleagues rather than patients. Thus rheumatology, considered by hard-pressed juniors one of the less busy specialties, becomes ‘rheumaholiday’, the ‘Freud Squad’ are psychiatrists, and ‘Gassers’ and ‘Slashers’ are anaesthetists and general surgeons respectively.
Dr Fox is keen to point out that neither he, nor the other authors of the paper, published in the journal Ethics and Behavior, actually advocate using any of the terms.
He said: ‘It’s a form of communication, and it needs to be recorded. It may not be around forever.’
He said: ‘I do think that doctors are genuinely more respectful of their patients these days.’
If that is the case, perhaps the delights of a ‘Whopper with Cheese’, ‘Handbag positive’ or ‘Coffin dodger’ could be lost forever.
BBC
Inflammation has long been considered an integral part of the biological process that leads to deadly scarring in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. New research at National Jewish Health, however, suggests that a little inflammation may also be crucial to the healing and repair processes in the lungs. Elizabeth Redente, PhD, assistant professor of cell biology at National Jewish Health, and her colleagues report that the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α can speed recovery of injured lungs and accelerate the resolution of established fibrosis in a mouse model.
‘The role of inflammation in the development of scarring has been hotly debated in recent years,’ said D
‘Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a relentless, progressive scarring of the lungs for which there is no approved medical therapy. The disease has no known cause and patients generally die within three years of diagnosis. Approximately 40,000 Americans die of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis every year.
Inflammation was long believed to be a precursor and cause of scarring in the lungs. However, anti-inflammatory treatments have shown no positive effect on the progress of the disease. In recent years, some researchers have thought that inflammation may be part of the healing process as well as the scarring of the lungs.
r. Redente.
The development of graphene
The artificial pancreas promises to dramatically improve the quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes, which typically develops in childhood. All previous artificial pancreas trials, in hospitals and in home environments, have seen researchers strictly monitor patients. The latest trial, funded by JDRF, has shown for the first time that unsupervised use of the artificial pancreas overnight can be safe.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the pancreas is unable to produce insulin, a hormone which regulates blood glucose levels. High levels of glucose can seriously damage the body’s organs. People with type 1 diabetes currently rely on multiple insulin injections or pump infusions every day; a child diagnosed at the age of five faces up to 19,000 injections and 50,000 finger prick blood tests by the time they are 18.
Participants in the trial, all aged between 12 and 18, saw improved blood glucose control during the trial, experiencing fewer nights with hypoglycaemic episodes, generally known as
An ancient form of meditation and exercise could help women who suffer from urinary incontinence, according to a new study from UC San Francisco.
In a study UCSF researchers discovered that a yoga training program, designed to improve pelvic health, can help women gain more control over their urination and avoid accidental urine leakage.
‘Yoga is often directed at mindful awareness, increasing relaxation, and relieving anxiety and stress,’ said first author Alison Huang, MD, assistant professor in the UCSF School of Medicine. ‘For these reasons, yoga has been directed at a variety of other conditions
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