News about 2018

New Study Transforming Tissue Cells Into Skin Cells

Researchers have transformed tissue cells into skin cells to help heal serious wounds, a technique that could revolutionise care for victims of burns and other severe injuries.

The research is the culmination of a decade of work and holds promise for a variety of patients, including those with serious burns or elderly patients with bedsores and other recurring lesions. The study was published in the journal Nature, involves a technology called “cell reprogramming” in which genes are inserted into cells to change them from one form to another.

Standards of Practice In Acute Ischemic Stroke Intervention: International Recommendations

The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) today joined 12 other neurointerventional societies to release new guidelines outlining the criteria for Level 1, 2 and 3 stroke centers that provide acute ischemic stroke interventions (AISIs) to stroke patients. The study was published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

Flight Brings Space Weightlessness To Earth

Not many aircraft captains give their passengers a rocket launch-style countdown before take-off, but this is no ordinary plane. For starters, everyone on board, apart from the crew, is a scientist and has passed a full medical check including a heart assessment. This is not a trip for nervous fliers.

The captain’s instructions refer to a manoeuvre so challenging it requires three pilots to be in the cockpit. The aircraft pulls up from a level flight into an incline at increasingly steep angles of 30, then 40 degrees. In the middle section, where the windows are blocked by a padded wall, everyone is either standing, sitting on the floor or lying down because the seats in this Airbus A310 have all been removed.

Prevalence And Correlates of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Among African Americans

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that is associated with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and other chronic health disorders. About 80 to 90% of individuals with sleep apnea are undiagnosed and a large number of them are African-Americans. The study was published in the journal Sleep.

Treatable Diseases not the Heathcare Access for More Indians deaths

Some 2.4 million Indians die of treatable conditions every year, the worst situation among 136 nations studied for a report published in The Lancet. Poor care quality leads to more deaths than insufficient access to healthcare–1.6 million Indians died due to the poor quality of care in 2016, nearly twice as many as due to non-utilisation of healthcare services (838,000 persons).

Mechanisms of Sleep Deprivation-Induced Hepatic Steatosis And Insulin Resistance

Losing a single night's sleep may affect the liver's ability to produce glucose and process insulin, increasing the risk of metabolic diseases such as hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) and type 2 diabetes. The findings of the mouse study are published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Sickle Cell Anaemia: Prevalence in Tharu and other Communities

Sickle cell anaemia, a genetic disease caused by mutation of red blood cells mostly seen in the people of Tharu community in Nepal, has been seen in people from other communities also.

Pigment Loss With White Spots On Skin Causes Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a common skin condition where there is loss of pigment with white spots or patches on different areas of the body. This condition is thought to have a genetic or autoimmune component. The most common areas affected are the face, hands, arms, legs and sometimes the genital areas.

Anyone can develop vitiligo, and most that develop it are in good health. Vitiligo is not contagious and it is treatable. However, treatment can take up to two years to regiment the affected areas. 

Use of HIV Medications in Injection-Drug Users, Simple Interventions

A relatively simple effort to provide counseling and connect injection-drug users with resources could prove powerful against the spread of HIV in a notoriously hard-to-reach population, new research suggests.

Emergency Department Implementation Of CDC Brain Injury Guidelines

New evidence-based guidelines, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with input from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and others put forward recommendations for a broad range of health care providers responsible for detection and management of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury, most of which are concussions.

The CDC recommendations are outlined in an Annals of Emergency Medicine editorial and span diagnosis, prognosis, management and treatment in a variety of clinical settings. From 2005-2009, there were almost 3 million emergency visits for pediatric mild traumatic brain injury, according to the CDC.

Potential Biomarker For Autism

Investigators at the UC Davis MIND Institute and NeuroPointDX, a division of Stemina Biomarker Discovery, have identified a group of blood metabolites that could help detect some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Part of the Children's Autism Metabolome Project (CAMP), the largest metabolomic ASD study ever attempted, these findings are a key step toward developing an ASD biomarker test. The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.