Health and Medicine

In a joint project with the STW Technology Foundation, medical information technologists from Leiden have developed a virtual robot which meticulously scans the heart muscle using images of the heart. The contours detector reduces the work of specialists and does not affect the patients. The research group will present the results in the middle of May at a congress in Honolulu.

To map the condition of a patient’s heart, physicians have until now used a series of MRI images (magnetic resonanc

Activity Generates New Nerve Cells For Old Mice – Study Supports Link Between Active Life And Lower Risk Of Neurodegenerative Disease

Active older people seem to have a lower risk of certain neurological disorders such as Alzheimer`s disease. A study published May 22 in the on-line edition of the Annals of Neurology, the research publication of the American Neurological Association, demonstrates how this increased activity might protect the brain.

Researchers in Germany and the Unit

Breastfeeding might protect against cot death, suggests research in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The researchers surveyed the parents of 244 babies who had died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and 869 babies still alive and well to find out how they had been fed. The study was conducted between 1992 and 1995. Over 80 per cent of the SIDS baby parents and almost three quarters of the comparison group responded.

During the study period breast feeding among the c

Further cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD) disease could arise as a result of human growth hormone treatment, even after low doses, suggests research in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Dutch researchers report on the case of a man who developed CJD 38 years after receiving human derived growth hormone.

A 47 year old man was given only a low dose as part of a diagnostic procedure, rather than being given full treatment, which may explain why the incubation period

Scientists at the University of Ulster have unveiled a monitoring system that can ensure transplant organs arrive in pristine condition for the life-saving surgery.
They have developed tiny sensors which are inserted in the organs, and which monitor if there has been any deterioration in the organs’ condition since being removed from the donor.

The sensors are flexible micro-electrodes based on pioneering nanotechnology, which are implanted in the donor organ.

The electrodes mo

Two studies in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlight how a new class of synthetic antithrombotic drug could be more effective than conventional therapy in reducing the risk of potentially fatal blood clots associated with hip-replacement surgery.

Between 16 and 30% of patients who undergo Hip-replacement surgery have a risk of developing deep-vein thrombosis (DVT)-even when anti-clotting agents such as heparin and warfarin are used. DVT from hip surgery can occasionally result in deat