A major cause of patient pain and suffering and additional healthcare costs in hospitals and aged care facilities – pressure ulcers (bed sores)- can be more than halved by using a simple but effective bedding overlay product developed by CSIRO.
A recent ’randomised controlled trial’ (RCT) involving CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology, Deakin and Melbourne universities and Royal Melbourne, Fremantle and St Vincent’s hospitals, has confirmed that the Australian Medical Sheepskin
At the Curie Institute in Paris, CNRS researchers have discovered a new proliferation marker : the CAF-1 complex. Since deregulated cell proliferation is one of the most characteristic features of tumor cells, this discovery represents a breakthrough in the cancer field. The researchers from the Curie Institute have already validated the use of this complex as a tumor marker in the context of breast cancer, the most frequent cancer in women.
By combining this marker with other tumor indicato
Although it is tea that usually receives the favourable publicity as far as health benefits are concerned, contrary to popular belief, coffee may also be good for you! For the first time scientists have identified the antioxidants found in coffee in substantial amounts and they appear to be in a form that can be absorbed readily by the body. Professor Alan Crozier (University of Glasgow) will present his findings on Friday 2nd April at the SEB Annual Meeting at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh whe
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that a component in green tea helps kill cells of the most common leukemia in the United States.
The research using laboratory cell cultures shows that a component of green tea known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) [epi-gallo-cat-ekin-3-gal-ate] helps kill leukemia cells by interrupting the communication signals they need to survive. The findings are reported in an early electronic article in the journal Blood (http://www.bloodjournal.org/
Chewing gum may just be the latest in a growing list of functional foods
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found that Big Red — the popular cinnamon-flavored chewing gum made by Wrigley’s — reduced bacteria in the mouth that cause bad breath.
The finding was presented at the recent annual meeting of the International Association for Dental Research.
Given that the gum contains cinnamic aldehyde, a plant essential oil used for flavorin
Human organs deteriorate rapidly without free-flowing blood. The condition, known as ischemia, can be a problem during surgical operations or the transport of graft organs. MICROTRANS’ answer is a small silicon needle with multiple sensors, capable of continuously measuring the electrical impedance of tissues.
Heart surgeons carefully monitor a beating heart on an electrocardiograph. But if they need to artificially stop the heart during a procedure, these measurements may be lacking f
Dr. Miles Brennan of the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute at the University of Denver (ERI) and Dr. Ute Hochgeschwender of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation have patented a method of reducing insulin resistance that could lead to potential treatments for diabetes accompanying obesity.
Insulin is a hormone that prompts cells to store glucose, a natural sugar, while another hormone called glucagon has the opposite effect, prompting cells to release stored glucose into the bloodstream. In he
A drug commonly prescribed to halt pre-term labor and stave off premature birth might leave the brains of children susceptible to other chemicals ubiquitously present in the environment, according to research conducted on laboratory animals by Duke University Medical Center pharmacologists. Their new study found that rats exposed to the pre-term labor drug terbutaline suffer greater brain cell damage than those not given the drug upon secondary exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos.
The
Many women report an increase in gingival inflammation and discomfort associated with their menstrual cycle, according to findings published in the March Journal of Periodontology. This is the first time this well-known phenomenon has ever been studied.
“What we found is that several women reported considerable oral symptoms prior to menses,” said Eli E. Machtei, D.M.D., Unit of Periodontology Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Rambam Medical Center and Technion Faculty of Medicine.
Surgeons battle time and the body’s defenses as they stitch together veins and arteries, whether after an injury or in the course of such treatments as transplants or bypasses. Loss of blood before a site is closed and too much clotting soon after challenge medical care.
Virginia Tech researchers are creating biocompatible adhesives for use with vascular tissue that will speed the process of mending tissue. They will present the research at the 227th annual meeting of the American Chemical
Researchers at Brown Medical School in Providence, R.I., have reported that stent placement should be considered the standard of care for treating patients with abnormal circulation, or “ischemia” to the legs, due to obstruction of the iliac arteries. The iliac arteries are large arteries in the pelvis that supply blood to the legs. The study appears in the April issue of the journal Radiology.
Lower-extremity ischemia, a type of peripheral vascular disease (PVD), occurs when arteries in th
A pilot study using radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat small breast cancers has found the procedure feasible and safe, according to an article appearing in the April issue of the journal Radiology.
“This study has added another potential weapon to the breast cancer treatment arsenal,” said the study’s lead author, Bruno D. Fornage, M.D., who is a professor of radiology and surgical oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
RF ablation tre
Researchers tap modified plant viruses to ward off cervical cancer-causing infections; and a Pied Piper progesterone receptor antagonist leads breast cancer cells toward death
New vaccinations to prevent infections that lead to cervical cancer and targeted therapeutics aimed at breast cancer were examples of research highlights presented by scientists today at the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Scientists described advances that feed into the drug
Stem cells that act as seek-and-destroy missiles appear to be able to find cancer wherever it hides out – at least, so far, in animals.
This novel approach at gene therapy, reported by researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, may have use in a wide variety of both solid and blood cancers.
“This addresses our great need for cancer gene therapies aimed at curbing the metastatic spread of cancer cells,” says Michael Andreeff, M.D., Ph.D., professor in th
West Nile virus and dengue fever, two of the most feared diseases spread by mosquitoes and other biting insects, could be controlled in future by using techniques learned from studying the influenza virus, fruit flies and plants, according to scientists from the University of California speaking today, Monday 29 March 2004, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting in Bath.
“We can study the way insects fight off viruses by looking at fruit flies”, says Professor Shou-Wei Ding of th
Using tiny amounts of gold and a genetic ’hairpin probe’, US scientists have developed a sensor which will aid hospitals in the fight against serious infections such as Staphylococcus aureus, researchers from the University of Rochester, New York, will announce tomorrow, Tuesday 30 March 2004, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting in Bath.
The feat of micro-engineering is the latest response by medical researchers against the constant and continuing threat from hos
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