Sepsis screening tool spots subtle signs, saves lives
A simple screening tool predicts sepsis early in trauma patients and reduces mortality, according to a new study.
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Prolonged statin use may lower risk of lung cancer death
Lung cancer patients who used statins in the year prior to a lung cancer diagnosis or after a lung cancer diagnosis had a reduction in the risk of death from the disease, according to a study.
Faecal transplants in treatment of Clostridium difficile infection
New evidence has been gained for the success of faecal microbial transplantation in treating severe Clostridium difficile infection, a growing problem worldwide that leads to thousands of fatalities every year. The findings have important implications for a range of diseases associated with microbial imbalance, or dysbiosis, researchers say.
Research led by Michael Sadowsky, Alex Khoruts, and colleagues at the University of Minnesota in collaboration with the Rob Knight Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder, reveals that healthy changes to a patient’s microbiome are sustained for up to 21 weeks after transplant, and has implications for the regulation of the treatment. Findings also demonstrate the dynamic nature of faecal microbiota in FMT donors and recipients.
In FMT, faecal matter is collected from a donor, purified, mixed with a saline solution and placed in a patient, usually by colonoscopy. In contrast to standard antibiotic therapies, which further disrupt intestinal microflora and may contribute to the recurrence of CDI, FMT restores the intestinal microbiome and healthy gut function.
Using DNA samples of healthy individuals from the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) as a baseline, Sadowsky and his team compared changes in faecal microbial communities of recipients over time to the changes observed within samples from the donor. Significantly, the composition of gut microbes in the both donor and recipient groups varied over the course of the study, but remained within the normal range when compared to hundreds of samples collected by the HMP.
According to Sadowsky, the findings have important implications for a range of diseases associated with microbial imbalance, or dysbiosis, and could influence the regulatory regime surrounding FMT, currently treated as a drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
‘The dynamic nature of fecal microbiota in both the donor and recipients suggests that the current framework of regulation, requiring consistent composition, may need to be re-examined for faecal transplantations,’ says Michael Sadowsky. ‘Change in faecal microbial composition is consistent with normal responsiveness to shifts in the diet and other environment factors. Variability should be taken into account when comparing microbial composition in normal individuals to those with dysbiosis characteristic of disease states, especially when assessing clinical interventions and outcomes.
Also discovered in the research, the performance of frozen and fresh preparations of faecal material was indistinguishable. Though the sample was limited and warrants further study with a larger cohort, it has several implications for the widespread adoption of FMT. The frozen preparation greatly simplifies the standardization and distribution of the faecal material. It also facilitates long-term storage of donor material for future study and makes FMT accessible to a greater number of physicians and patients. Finally, it offers advantages over fresh material in the testing of faecal samples for pathogens, which in some cases can take several weeks to complete. ScienceDaily
Non-invasive device could end daily finger pricking for people with diabetes
A new laser sensor that monitors blood glucose levels without penetrating the skin could transform the lives of millions of people living with diabetes.
Currently, many people with diabetes need to measure their blood glucose levels by pricking their fingers, squeezing drops of blood onto test strips, and processing the results with portable glucometers. The process can be uncomfortable, messy and often has to be repeated several times every day.
The new technology, developed by Professor Gin Jose and a team in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Leeds, uses a small device with low-powered lasers to measure blood glucose levels without penetrating the skin. It could give people a simpler, pain-free alternative to finger pricking.
The technology has continuous monitoring capabilities making it ideal for development as a wearable device. This could help improve the lives of millions of people by enabling them to constantly monitor their glucose levels without the need for an implant.
It is also good news for healthcare providers as it could provide a simpler and cheaper alternative to both of the current methods
A lightweight, portable system to produce the gas nitric oxide from the air
Treatment with inhaled nitric oxide (NO) has proven to be life saving in newborns, children and adults with several dangerous conditions, but the availability of the treatment has been limited by the size, weight and complexity of equipment needed to administer the gas and the therapy
Re-inflating balloon after carotid stenting appears to double risk of stroke
After reviewing outcomes from thousands of cases, researchers at Johns Hopkins report that patients with blocked neck arteries who undergo carotid stenting to prop open the narrowed blood vessels fare decidedly worse if their surgeons re-inflate a tiny balloon in the vessel after the mesh stent is in place.
Although the overall risk of stroke and death is low in patients who undergo carotid stenting, the common practice of
Livers donated after cardiac death safe to use in liver cancer patients
Patients with liver cancer can be cured with a liver transplant. But because of the shortage of donated organs, these patients often die waiting for a liver. That
Sedatives for patients receiving general anesthesia questioned
Although sedatives are often administered before surgery, a randomized trial finds that among patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia, receiving the sedative lorazepam before surgery, compared with placebo or no premedication, did not improve the self-reported patient experience the day after surgery, but was associated with longer time till removal off a breathing tube (extubation) and a lower rate of early cognitive recovery.
Patients scheduled for surgery may experience considerable stress and anxiety. Benzodiazepine (a class of sedatives) premedication is frequently used to reduce anxiety but also causes amnesia, drowsiness, and cognitive impairment. Treating anxiety is not necessarily associated with a better perioperative (before and after surgery) experience for the patient. More needs to be known about the efficacy of preoperative anxiety treatment to better counsel patients to make informed decisions, according to background information in the article.
Axel Maurice-Szamburski, M.D., of the H
Combined chemotherapy and immunotherapy shows promise for advanced prostate cancers
Immune cell manipulation plus chemotherapy achieves prostate cancer remission in mouse models where chemotherapy alone fails
Chemotherapy can be very effective against small prostate tumours. Larger prostate tumours, however, accumulate cells that suppress the body
Selenide protects heart muscle in the wake of cardiac arrest
Damage to heart muscle from insufficient blood supply during cardiac arrest and reperfusion injury after blood flow is restored can be reduced by nearly 90 percent if selenide, a form of the essential nutrient selenium, is administered intravenously in the wake of the attack, according to a new preclinical study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Mark Roth, Ph.D., and colleagues in the Fred Hutch Basic Sciences Division have published their findings.