A Loyola University Medical Center surgeon is using electrical stimulation as part of an advanced surgical technique to treat Bell
Diabetic patients could benefit from a breakthrough that enables scientists to take cells from the pancreas and change their function to produce insulin. The research could reduce waiting times for patients with Type 1 Diabetes who need islet cell transplants.
These transplants are carried out to prevent life-threatening complications resulting from diabetes, such as seizures resulting from low blood sugar levels.
Islet cells – which occur naturally in the pancreas – produce insulin, which enables the body to store glucose. However, not enough of these cells can be provided by a single donor for a successful islet transplant to take place. This means that patients can wait months before a second pancreas becomes available so that a sufficient number of islet cells to be transplanted.
The breakthrough could enable pancreatic cells – other than islets – to be developed in the laboratory for transplant operations. The study was carried out by the University of Aberdeen, the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.
It could mean that only one pancreas donation would be needed to enable the successful transplantation of insulin-producing cells.
This would save months waiting for a second donor to become available as well as make more organs available for other patients
It would involve an islet cell transplant once an organ becomes available, followed by a second transplant soon after when enough pancreatic cells have been developed to produce insulin.
The effects of the operations would also be longer lasting than currently as more cells would be transplanted.
University of Edinburgh
A new low-cost method of in-vitro fertilisation developed at the University of Colorado Boulder that performed successfully in recent human clinical trials in Belgium may help thousands of infertile couples in developing countries.
The study using the CU-Boulder technology showed that the low-cost of IVF for developing and ‘resource-poor’ countries is feasible and effective, with baby delivery rates roughly the same as those achieved in conventional IVF programs. This proof-of-principle study, say the investigators, suggests that infertility care may now be universally accessible.
The research team showed the IVF methodology can be significantly simplified and result in successful outcomes at levels that compare favourably to those obtained in costlier, more sophisticated programs. The estimated cost of the simplified laboratory system, developed by CU-Boulder Research Professor Jonathan Van Blerkom, is estimated to be between 10 and 15 percent of current Western-style IVF programs. The team estimates that a cycle of IVF with the simplified procedure can be performed for around $250.
Infertility in women living in developing countries can be caused by a variety of factors ranging from blocked Fallopian tubes and endometriosis to ovulation disorders and pelvic adhesions. The personal stigmas often attached to infertile women in such countries can cause them to be disinherited, abused and ostracised. While roughly 5 million IVF babies have been born since 1978, the treatment of infertility by effective methods remains largely practiced only in developed countries.
A professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at CU-Boulder, Van Blerkom performed Colorado
More effective detection and diagnosis of oral cancer could result from an advance in non-invasive imaging of epithelial tissue by a Texas A&M University researcher who says her research has the potential to change the way doctors initially look for pre-cancerous and cancerous areas in a patient
Doctors at Henry Ford Hospital have created a new route to the heart to implant an artificial heart valve by temporarily connecting major blood vessels that do not normally intersect.
In a July 3 operation on 79-year-old Viola Waller of Charlevoix, physicians performed a world-first cardiac procedure when it became evident that other means would not work.
‘I knew of an experimental technique that had not yet been done in humans, and I had a patient with no other options who was failing rapidly,’ says William O
A report by The University of Manchester
It seems that even for the smallest of people, a gentle massage may be beneficial. Newborn intensive care units (NICUs) are stressful environments for preterm infants; mechanical ventilation, medical procedures, care-giving activities and maternal separation create these stressful conditions.
Born under-developed, preemies have an immature autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls stress response and recovery. For a preemie, even a diaper change is stressful and the immature ANS over reacts to these stressors. Since preterm infants can
Preoperative evaluations before facial cosmetic surgery find that about half of patients are taking herbal and other supplements.
A drug targeting a protein complex containing two different types of opioid receptors may be an effective alternative to morphine and other opioid pain medications, without any of the side effects or risk of dependence, according to research led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Morphine is still the most widely-used pain reliever, or analgesic, in people with severe pain, but chronic use can lead to addiction and negative side effects such as respiratory issues, constipation, or diarrhoea.
In a previous study by Lakshmi Devi, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mount Sinai, researchers identified a therapeutic target called a GPCR heteromer, which is a protein complex that is made up of two opioid receptors called mu and delta. They also showed that the heteromer is abundant in the area of the brain that processes pain, and is the likely cause of morphine tolerance and side effects.
In the current study, Dr. Devi carried out high throughput screening in collaboration with researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to identify which small molecules might act on the signalling pathway associated with this protein complex. Researchers found one compound called CYM51010 that was as potent as morphine, but less likely to result in tolerance and negative side effects. Dr. Devi
A new device could improve how blood pressure is measured, according to NHS researchers.
A team at University College London showed a sensor worn on the wrist could measure the pressure of blood leaving the heart throughout the day. Normally blood pressure is measured in the arteries in the arm, but the pressure at the heart might be a better predictor of future health problems. If blood pressure is too high it can lead to heart attacks and stroke.
About a third of people in the UK have hypertension, dangerously high blood pressure, but most are unaware of the condition.
A team at the NHS National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) trialled the sensor, which contains a mini-plunger that moves up and down as blood pulses past with every heartbeat. A computer programme in the wrist strap used this ‘pulse wave’ to work out the pressure in the heart. This was compared with measures taken from sensors in patients’ hearts.
‘It was remarkably accurate,’ said Prof Bryan Williams, the director of the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.
Guidelines in the UK recommend that blood pressure is measured at home over the course of 24 hours before drugs for hypertension are prescribed.
Their study showed that the measurements in the arm did not reflect the true changes in blood pressure at night.
Prof Williams said: ‘What we have shown is that pressures by the heart do not dip as much during sleep as we previously thought. ‘We know the pressure when someone is asleep is a strong predictor of heart disease. This [the device] almost certainly gives a better measure than blood pressure in the arm.
‘This is not mainstream, but in the future you could see people having their central blood pressure measured instead of in the arm.’
BBC
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