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A team of scientists at the Boston Childrens Hospital have invented what is being considered one the greatest medical breakthroughs in recent years. They have designed a microparticle that can be injected into a persons bloodstream that can quickly oxygenate their blood. This will even work if the ability to breathe has been restricted, or even cut off entirely.
Medical research Hair dye manufacturers are on notice: The cure for gray hair is coming. That's right, the need to cover up one of the classic signs of aging with chemical pigments will be a thing of the past thanks to a team of European researchers. In a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal people who are going gray develop massive oxidative stress via accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle, which causes our hair to bleach itself from the inside out, and most importantly, the report shows that this massive accumulation of hydrogen peroxide can be remedied with a proprietary treatment developed by the researchers described as a topical, UVB-activated compound called PC-KUS (a modified pseudocatalase). What's more, the study also shows that the same treatment works for the skin condition, vitiligo.
The world’s only bionic eyes -- implants that can bring sight to the blind -- keep getting better.
Created by Second Sight Medical Products and recently approved by the FDA, the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System uses an implanted camera and computer to convert the world at large into electronic signals, enabling the brain to see.
It’s the first implanted device that can provide sight to people 25 and older who have lost their vision from degenerative eye diseases like macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa
Two Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers — a stem cell biologist and a practicing cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital — have identified a protein in the blood of mice and humans that may prove to be the first effective treatment for the form of age-related heart failure that affects millions of Americans.
When the protein, called GDF-11, was injected into old mice, which develop thickened heart walls in a manner similar to aging humans, the hearts were reduced in size and thickness, resembling the healthy hearts of younger mice.
Even more important than the implications for the treatment of diastolic heart failure, the finding by Richard T. Lee, a Harvard Medical School professor at the hospital, and Amy Wagers, a professor in Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, ultimately may rewrite our understanding of aging.
(Reuters) - Three more people have died in China from the new strain of H7N9 bird flu virus, raising the death toll to 35 while the total number of infections rose to 130, state media said on Monday.
May 13, 2013 — In a landmark cancer study published online in Nature, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have unraveled a longstanding mystery about how pancreatic tumor cells feed themselves, opening up new therapeutic possibilities for a notoriously lethal disease with few treatment options. Pancreatic cancer kills nearly 38,000 Americans annually, making it a leading cause of cancer death. The life expectancy for most people diagnosed with it is less than a year
Researchers have found that marijuana users have lower fasting insulin levels compared to non-users, as well as healthier waist sizes and BMI scores.
The robotic ‘iLimbs” can cost up to $120,000 each.
Touch Bionics has donated a pair of robotic “iLimbs” to flesh-eating bacteria victim Aimee Copeland, reports CBS News.
A spokesperson for the company said Copeland has agreed to compensate them by acting as an ambassador for their products.
Without Touch Bionics’ generosity, Copeland might have had trouble affording the ultra iLimb revolution technology, as the bionic hands can cost up to $120,000 each.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and Oregon National Primate Researcher Center report the first success in cloning human stem cells. It is thought that stem cell therapies could someday replace cells damaged through injury or illnesses. Drs. Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a senior scientist at ONPRC, and Paula Amato, along with their colleagues in OHSU’s Division [...]
Several emerging treatments for this debilitating illness could dramatically improve cure rates, while greatly decreasing the side effects and period of time needed to recover.
It is estimated that between 130200 million people or nearly 3% of the world's population are living with chronic hepatitis C. The disease was first postulated in the 1970s and proven in 1989. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread primarily by blood-to-blood contact from intravenous drug use, poorly sterilised medical equipment and transfusions. Affecting mainly the liver, it is often asymptomatic, but can lead to eventual scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, liver failure, cancer and other life-threatening conditions.
No vaccine against hepatitis C is available. HCV induces chronic infection in 5080% of cases. Of these, around 75% will clear with medication. However, lengthy periods of treatment are often required up to 48 weeks or more, depending on the genotype. Adverse side effects are common, with half of people getting flu-like symptoms and a third experiencing emotional problems. The economic costs are significant both to the individual and society. In the USA for example the average lifetime cost of the disease has been estimated at $33,407, with a liver transplant costing $200,000.
At the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), held recently in Atlanta, a range of new studies on direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) was highlighted. They are summarised in the abstract of a paper which states:
"In HCV monoinfected patients, several interferon alfa-sparing, all-oral regimens demonstrated cure rates of greater than 90% with 12 weeks of treatment, including for hard-to-treat patients."
Interferon is an immune-boosting drug used in current treatments and is responsible for many of the side effects described earlier so its replacement with new, direct-acting drugs like those mentioned here would be a major boost in terms of curing HCV.
UC Davis biomedical engineers turn to human skin for inspiration in creating a new moisture-wicking fabric
Read more: Coffee may protect against rare liver disease, plus five other benefits | Science RecorderHere are five additional benefits of coffee:
1. Coffee may help lower your risk of getting Type 2 diabetes. According to a 2012 study, a compound in coffee can block a substance in the body that may be linked to the development of diabetes.
2. A cup of coffee plus exercise may protect you from skin cancer. A team of researchers at Rutgers University found that the combination of exercise and caffeine contributed to the destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun.
3. Coffee may reduce your risk of oral cancer. American Cancer Society researchers discovered that people who consumed more than four cups of coffee a day were about 50 percent less likely to die from oral cancer.
4. Drinking coffee increases your fiber intake.
5. Coffee may lower your risk of depression. Researchers reporting in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine discovered that women who drank four or more cups of coffee a day had a 20 percent lower risk of developing depression over the study period.
When we age, all parts of our body deteriorate over time. But while aging as a whole might be an accumulation of disparate processes, scientists have long wondered if it might be controlled by some central location in the body. Researchers have now uncovered an area in the brain about the size of an almond in humans that wields powerful control over the body’s aging process. By manipulating a single substance secreted by the hypothalamus they were able to extend the lives of mice. The work opens up the possibility that the hypothalamus may be an important target in treating age-related diseases such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
The hypothalamus controls a number of hormones that influence development, growth, metabolism and reproduction. Previous research has also shown that an unhealthy hypothalamus can lead to disorders associated with aging such as glucose intolerance and hypertension. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University then asked if the hypothalamus might have some greater control over aging in general.
Swiss scientists reveal the mechanism responsible for aging hidden deep within mitochondria—and dramatically slow it down in worms by administering antibiotics to the young.
...For a virus to infect a cell, the virus has to change from a spherical shape to an hourglass shape. The new drug developed by Schang and his team prevented viruses from changing their shapes and infecting cells.
“The compounds or drugs we developed insert themselves inside a certain part of the virus and then the virus no longer has enough energy to change its shape and fuse to cells. When a virus fuses to a cell, this allows the virus to enter the cell and infect it,” explains Schang. “So our discovery prevents the virus from infecting new cells, although it does not stop the virus from killing already infected cells.”...
Under the microscope, they look like simple jacks, with eight spikes jutting out of a central ball. But these protein nanoparticles are science's latest weapon against influenza: a new breed of flu vaccine that provides better and broader protection than commercially available ones at least in animal tests
Once thought to be a low-level form of pain, itch is instead a distinct sensation with a dedicated neural circuit linking cells in the periphery of the body to the brain, a study in mice suggests.
BBC News - Stroke patients see signs of recovery in stem-cell trialScience correspondent, BBC News Foetal blood stem cells Trial patients will get progressively higher doses of stem cells
Five seriously disabled stroke patients have shown small signs of recovery following the injection of stem cells into their brain.
Prof Keith Muir, of Glasgow University, who is treating them, says he is "surprised" by the mild to moderate improvements in the five patients.
He stresses it is too soon to tell whether the effect is due to the treatment they are receiving.
A new drug that could help reduce damage to the body after a heart attack, stroke or major surgery has been developed by UK scientists.
Tests in mice suggest the compound protects the heart when blood flow is restored suddenly after a period when tissue has been starved of oxygen.
MitoSNO has yet to be tested on humans, but could lead to a whole new class of medicines.
The research is published in the journal Nature Medicine.
The infection causes a rash and painful blisters, but in some cases results in brain infections which can be fatal. A trial involving 10,000 children, published in the Lancet, showed the vaccine was 90% effective against one virus which causes the disease. It does not protect against other viruses that result in the disease. Viruses can cause large outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease. In 2009, there was an outbreak in China involving 1.2 million people. Nearly 14,000 people had severe complications and 353 people died.
Groups of researchers in Jiangsu province and Beijing tested a vaccine made from a deactivated enterovirus 71 (EV71), which causes the disease. Two jabs were given to children between six and 35 months old. They prevented 90% of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease caused by EV71. "Infection with EV71 is of particular concern because it can cause severe disease and even death in children. The EV71 vaccine could help prevent hospital admissions and severe cases," the researchers said.
The infection causes a rash on the hands and feet as well as mouth ulcers
Hand, foot and mouth disease is caused by many other viruses, such as Coxsackievirus A16 and even other strains of EV71, so this vaccine could not eliminate the disease. The researchers themselves warn that: "The EV71 vaccine might have little part in reducing the overall incidence of HFMD, even by universal mass immunisation of children."
Commenting on the research, Dr Nigel Crawford and Dr Steve Graham, both from the University of Melbourne, said the vaccine was tailored to the predominant strain in China. "The major effect of this vaccine will be to reduce hospital admission, which is an important result of many vaccines. "The next step is to assess the appropriateness of including an EV71 vaccine in China's national immunisation programme."
BBC News - Hand, foot and mouth disease: First vaccine
