People who need cataract surgery, but don’t like the prospect of having their eyes sutured, may be in for some good news: A team of researchers has developed a novel, adhesive hydrogel that can be painted over incisions from cataract surgery and offers the potential for faster, improved repair, they say. The hydrogel may help avoid complications associated with sutures — the most common repair method for those types of incisions — or unsutured incisions that are left to heal on their own
Men and women with mental disorders have higher odds of being diagnosed with brain tumors and lung cancer and they develop these cancers at younger ages than individuals without mental illness according to a study published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.
“This work is a piece in the larger puzzle of understanding the relationships between mental and physical health,” said Caroline Carney, M.D., M.Sc., associate professor of psychiatry and medicine at the Indian
Program presented at American Society of Plastic Surgeons annual scientific meeting
Patients without time for a facelift or intimidated by surgery now have more minimally invasive options that produce effective results. Barbed sutures, ultrasonic body contouring and soft tissue fillers, three emerging trends in the plastic surgery industry, offer patients faster results without the downtime of surgery, according to a program held today at the American Society of Plastic Surgeon
Teenagers whose bodies have a decreased response to insulin might face an increased risk of high blood pressure as adults, according to a large, long-term study reported at the American Heart Association’s 58th Annual High Blood Pressure Research Conference.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates glucose, a blood sugar. Insulin resistance occurs when the body begins to lose its ability to regulate glucose, which can lead to diabetes.
Researchers assessed insulin resist
Study presented at American Society of Plastic Surgeons annual scientific meeting
Botox, a household name for wrinkle reduction, could be assuming a new role as a pain reliever. In a study presented today at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2004 conference in Philadelphia, women injected with Botox in the pectoral muscles following the surgical removal of their breast experienced significantly less pain and shorter hospital stays. “As surgeons, our t
According to Dutch researcher Pascal Groenen, a balanced diet reduces the risk of a baby with spina bifida. He investigated how different nutritional components affected the risk of developing this condition.
Low concentrations of myo-inositol, zinc or vitamin B12 in the blood or a slightly elevated glucose concentration in the blood increase the risk of having a child with the congenital abnormality spina bifida.
Myo-inositol (hexahydroxycyclohexane) plays an important
Dutch researcher Manon Franssen has shown that cells which heal the skin following an injury play an important role in the development of the skin disease psoriasis. In people with psoriasis, the skin peels much faster than normal so that it flakes and becomes inflamed.
Franssen investigated the transit amplifying cells in the uppermost layer of the skin. These cells develop from stem cells (general unspecialised cells) and specialise into skin cells when new skin cells are neede
Medical investigators at the Hospital for Special Surgery have identified an important new signaling pathway they believe could be a valuable target for scientists to aim at with future drug therapies that might one day reverse diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a recent article published in “Nature Immunology.”
The chemical pathway involves the body’s responses to potent substances called cytokines which have dramatic influence on the progression, or rev
More than 150,000 children in the United States are affected by rheumatic diseases such as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, and systemic vasculitis. Because of a shortage of pediatric rheumatologists in the country, a majority of these children are not followed by pediatricians trained in the subspecialty, often leading to improper diagnosis and treatment. In an effort to improve care for children affected by rheumatic disorders, the American Academy of Pediatri
The use of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat patients with severe head injuries—common practice worldwide for the past 30 years—is actually dangerous and associated with around a 20% increase in death within two weeks of hospital admission, conclude authors of an international study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Around 3 million people worldwide die of trauma every year, many after arrival at hospital. Findings of a 1997 systematic review suggested that these drugs might reduce
Researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that mortality figures for children undergoing open cardiac surgery have dropped to a third of that recorded before the Bristol Inquiry.
According to research published in the British Medical Journal today, mortality figures for children under one year old who have undergone open heart surgery have fallen from 12 percent between April 1991 and March 1995 to four percent between April 1999 and March 2002 in England.
Provision of air rather than 100% oxygen for babies requiring ventilation after delivery could reduce infant mortality, suggests a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET. The finding is counter to the long-held belief that 100% oxygen is better than air for babies requiring ventilation in the first few minutes of life.
Between 5–10% of newborn babies require assistance with breathing after delivery. International consensus statements for resuscitation of newborn infants reco
Last week’s dramatic withdrawal of the COX-2 inhibitor rofecoxib (Vioxx) is discussed in this week’s lead editorial, which comments that more vigilant drug licensing is vital to prevent the endangering of patients’ health.
The relative paucity of data at the time drug’s come onto the market is a key issue for physicians. The editorial comments: ‘Doctors need to be more aware of the very preliminary nature of data, both for safety and efficacy, provided with newly licensed drugs.
MIT researchers and colleagues have identified three new chemical risk factors for bladder cancer in a study involving some 600 people in the Los Angeles area. The work was reported in the Oct. 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The newly discovered carcinogens are found in cigarette smoke, which is already known to be a major cause of bladder cancer, contributing to at least 50 percent of the approximately 60,000 cases in the United States every year.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a circuit in the brain that appears crucial in converting short-term memories into long-term memories. The circuit links the major learning-related area of the brain to another region that governs the brain’s higher functions.
The studies open the way for eavesdropping on one of the central processes in learning and memory, says HHMI investigator Erin M. Schuman. She and graduate student Miguel Remondes of the Califo
Skimping most common among those who pay the most out-of-pocket, earn the least, or don’t have prescription drug coverage
A recent nationally representative survey of older adults finds that 18 percent of those with chronic conditions such as heart disease and depression skip some of their prescription medicines because of out-of-pocket cost pressures, and 14 percent do so at least every month. Based on the study’s findings, the authors estimate that every month, this cost-rela
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