April 24, 2013
Cosmetic procedures no more regulated than floor cleaner
Dermal fillers are no more controlled than floor cleaner, according to a UK Department of Health review of cosmetic interventions published today. (New Scientist)
Monthly Archives: April 2013
April 24, 2013
Why do so many people want cosmetic procedures?
The cosmetic procedures industry is booming. It has undergone an estimated five-fold increase in turnover in a decade. At any period that would be astounding growth – in the teeth of a recession it is all the more astonishing. (BBC)
April 24, 2013
Paraplegic man conceives twin girls after sperm extraction
Raul Rodriguez of Camarillo, Calif., has been paralyzed since a 1997 car accident when he tried to pass a truck on a canyon road. His car spun out of control, slammed into a large tree and landed upside down in … Read More
April 24, 2013
Mental health: On the spectrum
Research suggests that mental illnesses lie along a spectrum — but the field’s latest diagnostic manual still splits them apart. (Nature)
April 24, 2013
Scientists discover new agent that removes potentially dangerous cells
Because these remaining pluripotent stem cells can subsequently develop into unintended cell types – bone cells among blood, for instance – or form tumors known as teratomas, identifying and separating them from their differentiated progeny is of utmost importance in … Read More
April 24, 2013
Radical gene therapy gives hope to young cancer patients
Australian doctors are using radical gene therapy to help treat a rare and aggressive childhood brain cancer, offering hope to young sufferers and their families. (ABC.net)
April 24, 2013
Nanotechnology to fight hospital bugs
Each year, twice as many people die in Europe from hospital acquired infections than from road accidents. These infectious diseases have developed antibiotic resistance and spread despite the best efforts of staff, mainly through textiles like bed linen. But the … Read More
April 24, 2013
Boston IVF receives $1 million from U.S. Health and Human Services to develop national protocol to promote the use of embryo donation as a family building option
Boston IVF, a leading medical practice providing specialized infertility treatment since 1986, has received a two-year federal grant, totaling $1 million, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to improve patient understanding of and interest in donating … Read More
April 24, 2013
Assisted suicide would jeopardize people with disabilities
In theory, legal assisted suicide sounds compassionate and safe, promising autonomy. How could one person’s decision about their own body possibly harm someone else? In reality, assisted suicide doesn’t live up to its billing. (CBC News)
April 24, 2013
Physician-assisted suicide: The case for legalization
In Canada, if you are a competent adult, then you have the legal as well as the moral right to insist that life-support be withheld or withdrawn, even if this will result in your immediate death. If, however, you are … Read More
April 24, 2013
Discovery of new genes may aid childhood arthritis treatment
Scientists have identified 14 new genes which may help advance treatment of childhood arthritis. (Business Standard)
April 23, 2013
Diagnostic errors are leading cause of successful malpractice claims
Diagnostic errors, not surgical misadventures, obstetrical mistakes or improperly delivered medications, are the main source of successful malpractice claims. However, little is being done to identify such errors and measure their effects. (Washington Post)
April 23, 2013
Regaining lost brain function
How do you make an electronic brain prosthesis that could restore a person’s ability to form long-term memories? Recent experiments by Theodore Berger and his colleagues, including Sam Deadwyler at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and … Read More
April 23, 2013
Nurses ‘warned off whistle-blowing in culture of fear’
Many nurses face bullying and being belittled when they try to whistle-blow, a survey suggests. (BBC)
April 23, 2013
US hospitals send hundreds of immigrant patients back to home countries to curb cost of care
Days after they were badly hurt in a car accident, Jacinto Cruz and Jose Rodriguez-Saldana lay unconscious in an Iowa hospital while the American health care system weighed what to do with the two immigrants from Mexico. (Associated Press)
April 23, 2013
Cancer patients could have treatment chosen by computer rather than a doctor
Cancer patients may soon have their course of treatment chosen by a computer rather than a doctor after scientists devised mathematical formulas that are better than humans at predicting how sufferers will respond to chemotherapy. (The Telegraph)
April 23, 2013
Radioactive microbes nuke tumor cells
Despite the advances made against many types of cancer, pancreatic cancer remains grimly resistant to treatment. Only about 4% of patients survive for 5 years, mainly because of the disease’s vicious ability to metastasize, or spread to other parts of … Read More
April 23, 2013
Scripps Research Institute scientists find antibody that transforms bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells
In a serendipitous discovery, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells. (The Wall Street Journal)
April 23, 2013
FCR congradulates Kansas, Gov. Brownback for authorizising stem cell research center
Family Research Council (FRC) congratulated Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and the state of Kansas for the passage and signing of Kansas SB 199. The law establishes a new adult stem cell research and treatment center at the University of Kansas … Read More
April 23, 2013
Cancer center goes public with assisted-suicide protocol
For the first time, a health care organization details how its physicians help terminally ill patients navigate the process of securing lethal prescriptions. (American Medical News)
April 23, 2013
Latest in IVF: Males with no sperms can reproduce
Between 12 and 15 million couples worldwide experience difficulty in conceiving and the trend is rising. A male factor contributes to subfertility in 40-60% of these couples. Over the last few decades, the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology has come … Read More
April 22, 2013
Happy Birthday, Human Genome
Ten years ago, on 14 April 2003, the National Institutes of Health unveiled the three-billion-letter code that serves as the blueprint for the human body. The Human Genome Project took 13 years and three billion dollars to complete, but the … Read More
April 22, 2013
State leaders deal with consequences of rejecting Medicaid expansion in Obama health overhaul
Rejecting the Medicaid expansion in the federal health care law could have unexpected consequences for states where Republican lawmakers remain steadfastly opposed to what they scorn as “Obamacare.” (Associated Press)
April 22, 2013
Individual genes alter effectiveness of smallpox vaccine
Senior author Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group, said worldwide vaccination is believed to have eradicated smallpox, but the highly contagious and sometimes fatal illness remains a bioterrorism concern. (UPI)
April 22, 2013
Embryonic stem cell transplant restores memory, learning in mice
For the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that helped mice regain the ability to learn and remember. A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the first to show that human stem cells … Read More
