Health News

Measuring Oxygen In Individual Red Blood Cells In Real Time

Date: Mar-27-2013
In an engineering breakthrough, a Washington University in St. Louis biomedical researcher has discovered a way to use light and color to measure oxygen in individual red blood cells in real time. The technology, developed by Lihong Wang, PhD, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, could eventually be used to determine how oxygen is delivered to normal and diseased tissues or how various disease therapies impact oxygen delivery throughout the body. The research is published in PNAS Online Early Edition...

Interplay Between Microenvironment, Pancreatic Tumors And Metastasis

Date: Mar-27-2013
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered that a protein found in the cells surrounding pancreatic cancers play a role in the spread of the disease to other parts of the body. In a finding published in the journal Oncogene, researchers in the lab of Carol Otey, PhD, found that the protein palladin enhances the ability of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) to assemble organelles known as invadopodia to break down the barriers between cells and create pathways for tumors to spread throughout the body...

Rejuvenating Blood

Date: Mar-27-2013
The blood of young and old people differs. In an article published recently in the scientific journal Blood, a research group at Lund University in Sweden explain how they have succeeded in rejuvenating the blood of mice by reversing, or re-programming, the stem cells that produce blood. Stem cells form the origin of all the cells in the body and can divide an unlimited number of times. When stem cells divide, one cell remains a stem cell and the other matures into the type of cell needed by the body, for example a blood cell...

Sizing Down Glass Capillary Tubes Offers Surgical And Many Other Applications

Date: Mar-27-2013
Have you ever thrown into the fire - even if you shouldn't have - an empty packet of crisps? The outcome is striking: the plastic shrivels and bends into itself, until it turns into a small crumpled and blackened ball. This phenomenon is explained by the tendency of materials to pick up their original features in the presence of the right stimulus. Hence, this usually happens when heating materials that were originally shaped at high temperatures and cooled afterwards...

Improved Quality Of Life For Spinal Cord Injured Patients Who Undergo Hand Surgery

Date: Mar-27-2013
Reconstructive hand surgery can dramatically enhance the life quality and independence of those paralysed by a cervical spinal cord injury. Despite this, the operation is not frequently performed, either in Sweden or elsewhere. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy are now hoping to change that. A cervical spinal cord injury entails paralysis in both arms and legs, severely limiting daily life for its victims. Previous studies have shown that the capability that those with cervical spinal cord injuries most wish to recover is a functioning hand...

Improving Emergency Preparedness In The UK

Date: Mar-27-2013
Well designed and planned exercises are essential to ensure that the UK can respond effectively to emergencies of all kinds, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The emergencies may take the form of a terrorist attack, flooding, pandemic flu, rail or air disaster - or any major disruptive event requiring an emergency response...

Human Spinal Cord Modulation System For Relieving Chronic Pain

Date: Mar-27-2013
Each year, more than 35,000 patients in the United States are implanted with spinal cord stimulators to treat chronic pain. Unfortunately, up to half of such patients receive only very limited pain relief. To help more patients, scientists are developing a new device to deliver therapeutic stimulation in a more targeted way, reaching nerve fibers deep within the spinal cord. Standard devices, first introduced in 1967, work by delivering a low electrical current to the spinal cord that interferes with the body's pain signals...

Oral Drops Effective At Treating Allergies

Date: Mar-27-2013
Oral allergy drops have proved to be an effective alternative to using weekly injections or medications to treat allergies, according to new research at Johns Hopkins University. The liquid drops include small amounts of purified pollen, mold, dust mites and grasses. Researchers at Johns Hopkins published their report in the latest edition of the JAMA. The report is the largest study of its kind to evaluate the effectiveness of oral allergy drops against other therapies for reducing symptoms of sneezing, runny nose and wheezing...

Although We "Online Diagnose," Few Of Us Share Health Info On Social Media Sites

Date: Mar-27-2013
When it comes to posting on social media sites, there are few areas of our lives that are off limits. We post about eating, working, playing, hunting, quilting - you name it. Just about everything is up for public consumption ... except our health. A new study from BYU finds that while most of us go online regularly for help in diagnosing health issues, very few of us actually post information, questions or experiences on health topics...

Migraine Patients Have Brain Abnormalities, MRI Scans Show

Date: Mar-27-2013
Patients who suffer from migraines have reduced cortical thickness and surface area in pain-processing regions of the brain, compared to individuals who never have migraines, Italian researchers revealed. They explained in the journal Radiology that brain abnormalities in migraine sufferers may be either present at birth, or develop over time. Migraines are severe, throbbing headaches, which are sometimes accompanied by sensitivity to light, nausea and even vomiting. In some cases, the patient experiences a change in visual function (aura) before or during the headache period...