New CPR Promises Better Results by Compressing Abdomen, Not Chest IMPORTANT
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN -- September 6, 2007 -- A biomedical engineer at Purdue University has developed a new method to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation that promises to be more effective than standard CPR because it increases nourishing blood flow through the heart by 25% over the current method.

A new technique is desperately needed because conventional CPR has a success rate of 5% to 10%, depending on how fast rescuers are able to respond and how well the procedure is performed. For every one minute of delay, the resuscitation rate decreases by 10%.

"In other words, at 10 minutes, the resuscitation is absolutely ineffective," said Leslie Geddes, Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. "Any medical procedure that had that low a success rate would be abandoned right away. But the alternative is not very good, either: Don't do CPR and the person is going to die."

Geddes has developed the first new CPR alternative, called "only rhythmic abdominal compression," or OAC-CPR, which works by pushing on the abdomen instead of the chest.

"There are major problems with standard CPR," Geddes said. "One is the risk of breaking ribs if you push too hard, but if you don't push hard you won't save the person. Another problem is the risk of transferring infection with mouth-to-mouth breathing."

The new CPR method eliminates both risks, Geddes said.

Findings will be detailed in a research paper appearing this month in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, published by Elsevier Inc. The paper was authored by Geddes and his Purdue colleagues Ann E. Rundell, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering doctoral student Aaron Lottes, and basic medical sciences graduate students Andre Kemeny and Michael Otlewski.

In standard chest-compression CPR, which has been in practice since the 1960s, the rescuer pushes on the chest and blows into the subject's mouth twice for every 30 chest compressions. However, the risk of infection is so grave that many doctors and nurses often refuse to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. In one 1993 study of 433 doctors and 152 nurses, 45% of doctors and 80% of nurses said they would refuse to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a stranger.

"This is the real world that nobody knows about, and it's a sobering thought," Geddes said.

OAC-CPR eliminates the need to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The American Heart Association requires that rescuers administering CPR push with enough force to depress the chest 1 and a half to 2 inches at a rate of 100 times per minute.

"To depress the chest 1.5 to 2 inches takes 100 to 125 pounds of force," Geddes said. "So you have to push pretty hard and pretty fast, and two people are needed to perform it properly. One blows up the lungs and the other compresses the chest. And when the one who's compressing the chest gets tired, they change positions."

OAC-CPR requires only one rescuer.

Instead of two breaths for every 30 chest compressions, the new procedure provides a breath for every abdominal compression because pushing on the abdomen depresses the diaphragm toward the head, expelling air from the lungs. The release of force causes inhalation.

Researchers have known since the 1980s that pushing on the abdomen circulates blood through the heart. The idea was originated by Purdue nursing doctoral student Sandra Ralston, Geddes said.

"She made the remarkable observation that if you pushed on the abdomen after each chest compression you could double the CPR blood flow," he said. "So I started thinking, what would happen if you just pushed on the abdomen and eliminated chest compression entirely?"

The procedure provides a new way to effectively perform "coronary perfusion," or pumping blood through the heart muscle, which is critical for successful resuscitation because the heart muscle is nourished by oxygenated blood, Geddes said.

"Unfortunately, in standard chest-compression CPR, blood sometimes flows in the wrong direction, which means the coronary blood flow goes backward, bringing de-oxygenated blood back into the heart muscle," Geddes said. "This retrograde flow reduces the likelihood of resuscitation."

Findings showed that OAC-CPR eliminates this backward flow.

The Purdue researchers compared coronary artery blood flow during standard chest-compression CPR with the flow resulting from only abdominal compression CPR. Findings showed that using the new method and pushing with the same force recommended for standard CPR provided 25% more blood flow through the heart muscle without retrograde flow in the coronary arteries.

The researchers followed the standard recommended by the American Heart Association, pushing with 100 pounds of pressure 100 times per minute.

"With OAC-CPR, you really don't have to press as hard or as often, but we followed the American Heart Association standard to avoid possible criticism from people who could have said we didn't observe the standard," Geddes said.

Another benefit of OAC-CPR is that it eliminates rib fractures, which are commonly caused by compressing the chest. Rib fractures cause the chest to recoil more slowly, but effective CPR requires that rescuers wait until the chest recoils fully before compressing.

Geddes created a wooden "pressure applicator" that resembles a scaled-down version of a baseball home plate. It is contoured so that it can be used to compress the abdomen without pushing on the ribs. However, a rescuer could push with the hands to perform the procedure if no applicator were available.

Abdominal organs contain about 25% of the total blood volume in the body.

"You can squeeze all of that into the central circulation when you press on the abdomen," Geddes said.

Whether the procedure gains widespread acceptance depends on whether other researchers can duplicate the results.

"In research, you publish data and then the scientific community looks at the data and tries to duplicate it to verify that it works," said Geddes, who was awarded the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush in a White House ceremony on July 27. It is the nation's highest honor for technological innovation.

The research was funded by the Purdue Trask Fund.


SOURCE: Purdue University

45-minute operation to restore sight to millions

45-minute operation to restore sight to millions

A revolutionary technique being developed by British scientists could cure blindness in millions of people around the world.

The first 45-minute operations could take place within five years and could be as commonplace as cataract surgery in a decade.

The improvement is likely to be great enough to transform lives, allowing the blind to regain the ability to carry out everyday tasks such as reading or driving.

The pioneering stem cell surgery tackles age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in the elderly. There are about 300,000 sufferers in this country and the number is expected to treble in the next 25 years to around one million as the population ages.

AMD, which affects a quarter of over-60s in the UK and more than half of over-75s to some degree, occurs in two forms. While the "wet" form can be combated with drugs, there is no treatment for the "dry" form which accounts for 90 per cent of cases.

The treatment centres on human embryonic stem cells grown in a laboratory. These are "blank" cells with the power to turn into different cell types and are used to create small patches identical to the cells damaged in the eyes of AMD sufferers.

Packaged into a syringe, the patch is injected into the back of the eye where it replaces damaged cells and restores sight.

The technique is being developed by scientists and doctors from University College London, Moorfields Eye Hospital, also in London, and Sheffield University, working together in the London Project to Cure Blindness.

Their work has been boosted by a £4million donation from an anonymous American benefactor.

Last night project director Professor Pete Coffey said: "This could have a tremendous effect on a huge population who have no current therapy."

The technique has been tested on rats suffering from a condition similar to AMD and their sight was restored.

Further evidence that the technique is likely to succeed comes from human operations. In these, the researchers restored vision using healthy cells taken from the corner of the patient's own eye.

In some cases, the transplants were so successful that the patients were able to read, cycle and use a computer.

However, such surgery is extremely complex and time-consuming and so unlikely to be suitable for large-scale use. Using "readymade" patches of cells would greatly simplify the operation, making it suitable for use on millions.

The scientists are now working on making such patches, measuring just four by six millimetres, which will be injected into the back of the eye under local anaesthetic in an procedure lasting between 45 minutes and an hour.

The patient, who would have to take drugs to stop the cells from being rejected by the body, could go home the same day. After two to three weeks, vision should start to improve.

It is not yet known how long the effects will last but the patients who had transplants of their own cells are still benefiting from the treatment which took place two and a half years ago.

While the patches are most likely to benefit those in the early stages of AMD, the researchers believe it should be possible to adapt them to treat those in later stages.

It is hoped that the technique might also benefit those who have lost their sight as a complication of diabetes.

Consultant surgeon Lyndon da Cruz of Moorfields Eye Hospital said that within ten years the procedure could become as commonplace as cataract surgery.

He said: "If we can do a single procedure in a person under local anaesthetic in 45 minutes, it's feasible.

"The science is something we can work on but the surgery has to be something we can deliver to many people."

Eye experts said the research offered real hope to sufferers of AMD. Tom Bremridge of the Macular Disease Society said: "This development is exciting and encouraging for current and future generations of AMD patients.

"While treatments for "wet" AMD are advancing rapidly, sadly, patients with "dry" AMD have had no prospect of any viable therapy."

Professor Alistair Fielder, of the charity Fight for Sight, said the research represented "a real chance to tackle an untreatable condition and bring hope to many".

He added: "It is marvellous to think that clinical trials could start within four years."

Although many believe it is wrong to use embryonic stem cells - plucked from an embryo in the first days of life - in medicine, sophisticated laboratory techniques mean it should be possible to generate a treatment for millions of people from cells derived from a single embryo.

Stem cell research offers hope for treating and curing a host of conditions.

In recent work, British experts have succeeded in growing a "miniliver" - a tiny bundle of liver cells - from stem cells, while Israeli scientists have grown a tiny section of beating heart tissue from stem cells gleaned from human embryos.

 

Omega Benefits

Study points to omega benefits for children

 

A SIMPLE dietary supplement may help improve concentration, memory and problem-solving in children.

Scans on four British children who took an omega oil supplement for three months showed their brains developed dramatically - by the equivalent of three years - over that period.

The four children in the pilot study on the effects of diet on young brains were aged between eight and 13 and were classified as overweight. They took two capsules a day of a supplement called VegEPA, which contains a combination of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, found in fish, flaxseed oil and sunflower oil. They were also encouraged to cut down on fatty snacks and to exercise more.

After three months the children's reading age had advanced by more than a year, their handwriting was neater and they paid more attention in class. The scans showed an increase in nerve fibres in their brain, said the lead researcher, Basant Puri, from London's Imperial College. "It means you have more connections and greater density of nerve cells, in the same way a tree grows more branches," said Professor Puri, whose study is yet to undergo peer review.

Tiny magnet that soothes the misery of menopause
A tiny magnet not much bigger than a 50p piece could ease away the symptoms of the menopause.

Tests on hundreds of women have shown that the LadyCare magnet can relieve symptoms from anxiety and mood swings to hot flushes and memory problems.

Many of the volunteers also lost weight, with some shedding more than a stone after wearing the magnet under their clothes for three months.

Nyjon Eccles, the Harley Street physician who led the study, believes the £19 gadget will prove popular with women who are reluctant to take HRT because of its links to breast cancer, heart disease and strokes, for example.

"We know that HRT is associated with risks of various kinds, so if there is a way of reducing symptoms that is cheap and effective, why not?" he said.

He added that while it was unclear how the magnet works, it is possible it raises levels of the female sex hormones that fall during the change of life.

Some 508 women who were going through the menopause were asked to attach a LadyCare magnet to their underwear, day and night, for three months.

Every woman experienced some benefit, with symptoms such as anxiety, mood swings, fatigue, sleeping problems, incontinence and breast tenderness being reduced by up to 70 per cent.

Hot flushes, night sweats and irritability improved by a third, as did loss of libido and lapses in concentration. In addition, one in five of the women lost weight.

Previous studies have shown that magnetic therapy can ease period pain and speed up wound healing.

Last year, a fleecy "wrap" made by Magnopulse, the company behind LadyCare, became available on the NHS as a treatment for leg ulcers, after trials showed it cleared up the ulcers quicker than the compression bandages usually prescribed.

It is thought the magnets affect the body in several ways, speeding up wound healing by improving circulation and easing pain by interfering with the nerve signals that pass information about discomfort to the brain.

In LadyCare’s case, the magnetic field may boost levels of oestrogen and progesterone. Falling levels of the hormones, which are produced by the ovaries, are responsible for many menopause symptoms.

Amber Valentine had tried everything from evening primrose oil to HRT to ease her passage through the menopause.

But interrupted sleep, night sweats, weight gain and depression continued to make her life a misery.

So, when she spotted an advert for recruits for the LadyCare trial, she felt she had nothing to lose. A month later, many of her symptoms had eased considerably.

The 48-year-old, from North London, said: "The first thing I noticed was that I could sleep — that was the main thing. And the sweats lessened — I was still getting them, but they were not nearly as bad."

Now, a year after first starting to wear the powerful magnet, Amber has lost much of the weight she put on when the menopause started.

She said: "I definitely advise other women to give it a go. It will reduce the symptoms, even if it doesn't alleviate them completely, and that must make life much easier.

"If women knew about this, they wouldn't have to suffer in silence."

Dr Eccles, who plans another trial, says: "There is no doubt the menopause can be a challenging time for women.

"The LadyCare device may prove to be one of the greatest natural solutions for alleviating symptoms."

However, many doctors remain sceptical about the benefits. Research published in the British Medical Journal concluded that any healing effect is likely to be minimal, and can be explained by patients believing in the power of the treatment rather than it really working

Cholestorol can trigger onset of Alzheimers

 

Diet high in cholesterol can trigger onset of Alzheimer's, warn scientists

 

An unhealthy diet filled with high-cholesterol foods can increase your risk of Alzheimer's Disease, say scientists.

Studies have found that eating lots of foods containing saturated fats, such as butter and red meat, can boost levels of proteins in the brain linked to dementia.

 

Now scientists have discovered this may be because such a diet affects cholesterol-clearing substances in the brain.

They hope the discovery could lead to new drugs which allow the clogging fats to be cleared more effectively and so help slow down the progression of the debilitating brain condition.

In Britain 500,000 people have Alzheimer's Disease in which the progressive loss of their brain cells leads to memory loss, mood changes and eventually death.

One of the key characteristics of people with the condition is the formation of clumps, or 'plaques' of beta amyloid proteins which are thought to destroy brain cells.

Scientists increasingly believe diet and lifestyle may affect the build up of these damaging proteins.

Studies have found a Mediterranean-style diet rich in plant foods and fish and low in red meat cuts the risk of developing the brain disease by up to two-thirds.

Research in mice has also found that those given high-cholesterol diets have more amyloid beta proteins in their brain.

And there is growing evidence that taking cholesterol-lowering statins makes people less likely to develop Alzheimer's later in life.

To understand what lay behind this trend, Dr Brett Garner, of the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, and his colleagues used human and animal cells to probe how brain cells regulate their levels of cholesterol.

In the arteries it is known that ABC proteins help control cholesterol levels by expelling it from the immune cells.

The study, reported in the Journal of Biological Chemistry found these proteins were also present in the brain cells.

When the boosted levels of the proteins by tweaking genes that affect production, cell lines production of amyloid beta protein fell.

The study also identified another protein in brain cells called apoE that regulates cholesterol removal from brain cells.

Dr Garner told New Scientist magazine that drugs that increase expression of these proteins might slow the progression of Alzheimer's.

Similar drugs are already being used for research into heart disease.

He said: "A lot of people think there could be converging factors involved in these diseases."

Large amounts of harmful cholesterol are found in foods high in saturated fats such as red meat, butter, cheese and offal such as liver and kidneys.

If people have a diet high in saturated fats, their liver produces more of the harmful form of cholesterol called LDL, which is linked to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

Scientists increasingly believe an unhealthy diet may be a contributing factor in developing dementia.

Previous research has found fish oil capsules may help slow the mental decline of those with very mild Alzheimer's disease.

Last September a team from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee found drinking fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week could dramatically cut the chances of developing the condition.

Researchers from who followed almost 2,000 volunteers for up to ten years found the risk of Alzheimer's was 76 per cent lower for those who drank juices more than three times a week compared with those who drank them less than once a week.

Japanese scientists also found last year that green tea could halve the risk of mental decline in old age.

They found those who drank the tea the most - more than two cups a day - had a 54 per cent lower risk of dementia than those who drank the least.

COMMONSENSESECUITY

Common Sense Security

This site is designed to give an overview of what we can do to keep our computers safer and more secure while we are on the Internet. I have known the owner (Mark Rider) for a long time and confirm that his site is secure AND gives out some very useful advice. I can  recommend it highly.

Tony

Treat autism with diet and drugs

MMR doctor says: Treat autism with diet and drugs

By RACHEL ELLIS - More by this author » Last updated at 22:34pm on 3rd February 2007

Comments (19)

Transformation: Joanne Burke put autistic son Darryl on a special diet

 

The controversial doctor who started the MMR scare will return to Britain this week to issue a stark new warning about autism and claim many child victims don't need psychiatric help.

Dr Andrew Wakefield will claim that thousands of children with autism should not be receiving psychiatric help, but should be treated with drugs and a change in diet.

His assertion will anger the Government and doctors, who are desperate to draw a line under claims by Dr Wakefield in 1998 that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was linked to autism and bowel disease.

Share your thoughts on Dr Wakefield's opinions in readers' comments below...

Dr Wakefield will tell a conference on autism in Bournemouth that many children receive inappropriate care because it is largely considered a neurological condition. He is convinced that many are suffering from the bowel condition autistic enterocolitis and could be relieved of their symptoms - both physical and behavioural - if doctors were willing to treat it 'properly'.

He claims a climate of fear among doctors after the MMR controversy means few are willing to consider a link between autism and bowel disease.

The National Autistic Society says that some doctors are unaware of the treatment options. But it warns there is no established link between autism and bowel conditions.

"Most children diagnosed with autism tend to receive a psychological or behavioural programme because no other medical condition is indicated," said Richard Mills, director of research at the charity.

Dr Wakefield's rare trip back to Britain from America to speak at the Autism Is Treatable conference - funded by the parents of autistic children - comes amid growing criticism of his work.

At least 31 studies have found no association between MMR and autism and he has been ostracised by the medical profession.

But Dr Wakefield, who faces a General Medical Council hearing into his conduct this year, remains convinced there is a link.

He said: "The view among the medical profession is that autism is an incurable, untreatable problem, which it is not. The treatment is largely in the domain of psychiatrists.

"But it is not a psychiatric disease and it is not just a neurological disease. It is a disease that affects the brain rather than being simply a brain disease.

"A lot of the children's behaviour is linked to the pain they suffer. The children do something entirely appropriate for someone in pain whose ability to communicate is impaired.

"The changes we found in the intestines of some autistic children can be treated using diet or conventional anti-inflammatory drugs. When they are treated, a lot of the intestinal and behavioural problems are resolved.

"However, many children diagnosed with autism are not getting the treatment they need and, if they are, it is clandestine. There is a real fear among the medical profession about becoming involved in this whole area."

About one in 100 children is thought to suffer from autism.

Darryl Burke was two years old when a doctor found he wasn't speaking, making eye contact and had behavioural problems. He was diagnosed as autistic.

He also suffered from chronic diarrhoea, but NHS tests found no cause for the problem.

Then his mother Joanne was advised by a neighbour to change his diet. After four days of cutting out dairy and gluten products, his bowels were much improved.

Encouraged by the results, Mrs Burke found a diet on the internet for allergy-induced autism. She said: "Within a week he was looking at us, his bowels improved and he said his first words. He was almost four."

Unable to get further help on the NHS, Mrs Burke and her husband Peter went private. "We couldn't believe the difference between NHS testing and the private testing," she said.

"The private tests showed up all kinds of things - blood in the stools, bad bacteria, inflammation of the gut and the fact that he was lacking essential vitamins and minerals."

Mrs Burke, 36, from Manchester, said: "These children are treated for a psychological disorder but they have underlying medical problems. Treating these can lead to real improvements."

Darryl, now seven, attends a school for children with learning difficulties.

Please NOTE

I have added a link under "Medical Sites" in the sidebar to a site called MediLexicon

Who are gradually gathering every Pharmaceutical and Medical Association in the world onto their site. The list is searchable by alphabetical letter or by using the search box on the site. Well worth looking at and keeping it as a favourite.

Tony

The New plastic implant that restores perfect sight.

 

The new plastic implant that restores perfect sight

By KATE MAXWELL - More by this author » Last updated at 13:16pm on 24th January 2007

Comments

Julie Young was one of the first people to be given revolutionary lenses to combat presbyopia — a form of longsightedness.

More than 23 million people in Britain suffer from presbyopia - a form of longsightedness which usually affects those aged 40 and over.

Until recently, it's been impossible to cure it, and most people had to use reading glasses. But now, lens implants remove the need for spectacles.

Last year, Julie Young became one of the first to have these revolutionary lenses. Julie, 47, who runs a beauty business and lives in Dorset with her husband Marc and daughter Camilla, 21, tells her story, while her specialist explains the procedure.

THE PATIENT:

Turning 40 was a double whammy. Not only was it a milestone in terms of age, my eyesight also began to go. I'd always had 20/20 vision, but suddenly things when weren't as sharp as before and I would have to hold a book at arm's length to focus on it.
•

It was a real problem at work. I run a beauty salon where I do nail extensions and apply semi-permanent make-up, so I need to see clearly or my clients won't get 40. the look they're after.

The optician said I had presbyopia and needed reading glasses. At first, they made a difference, but over the next five years my sight began to deteriorate seriously.

I had to keep going back for check-ups every year and had the prescription changed every couple of years. It all perfect became rather expensive as I'd usually leave having ordered another pair of specs which had taken my fancy.

I must have ended up with about six pairs, including one I kept at work and another I kept in my handbag, plus a couple of prescription sunglasses.

Wearing reading glasses was also fiddly thanks and debilitating. I found that if I wore them while walking it made me dizzy because they are meant for near vision.

So I'd perch them on the top of my head until I needed to see something close up — but they'd keep falling off if I bent over.

Then last year I realised it wasn't just close-up things I couldn't see - the new middle distance was also becoming blurry. Things were actually clearer if I looked through my reading glasses, which I found very scary.

One of my clients told me she'd had a bacteria new procedure to correct her presbyopia. It was called refractive lens surgery, in which artificial lenses were put in her eyes to replace the natural lenses.

I winced when she told me how the surgeon had cut her eyes open, but she was so pleased with the results that I took down the details.

I went to see Robert Morris, the eye surgeon, in April, and he clinched it for me when he said that without surgery, within five years I'd need varifocal glasses to see anything, near or far.

Before the operation, I was given eye drops to dilate my pupils and a light sedative was injected into my hand.

I could just have had anaesthetic drops, but I didn't want to be fully conscious when the surgeon was rummaging around.

I could have gone for a full anaesthetic, but I thought being knocked out cold was a bit over the top for such a quick operation.

Mr Morris put a wire instrument on my right eye to stop me from blinking and I was told to look at the light of a microscope.

I was a little anxious, but I don't remember anything after the injection. Although I was conscious, the sedative acted like an amnesia drug. I woke up feeling fine, had a sandwich and a cup of tea and went home.

My eye wasn't sore at all. I was told not to do anything too strenuous for a week and had to put in antibiotic drops every day.

I was aware immediately that the vision had improved in my right eye, even though it was a bit blurry at first.

It was weird not being able to see properly out of the other eye — I still had to wear my glasses to work until it was operated on a week later.

When I went back to the surgery, Mr Morris gave me a book and asked if I could read it with my right eye.

When I said it was blurry, he told me to hold it a bit closer - my instinct was to hold it further away because that's what I'd been doing for the past five years. I did as he said and, suddenly, the words came into focus.

For the second operation, I was more relaxed and the results were instant - it was truly amazing. As soon as I woke up from the anaesthetic, my vision was sharp. I could even read the serial number of my iPod, which I hadn't been able to do before.

I was able to go back to work the next day. For a short while, things felt slightly tender around my eyeballs whenever I removed my make-up, but they didn't hurt.

It's wonderful not having to remember to take reading glasses with me wherever I go. It was well worth £4,550. If I live for another 30 years, I would have spent that much on specs anyway, and I'd far rather be without them.

THE SURGEON:

Robert Morris is consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital and founder of Grange Eye Consultants, based at Wessex Nuffield Hospital. He says:

The eye is designed to adjust so that it can focus near and far, like a pair of binoculars.

It's the lenses that make this possible. In youthful eyes, the cilliary muscle contracts to change the shape of the lens, allowing it to focus at close range.

But as we age, our lenses become harder, thicker and less flexible, making it increasingly difficult for the muscle to adjust its shape, so the eye loses the ability to focus on near objects.

The eye is naturally set to focus at distance, so in the early stages of presbyopia, only near vision is affected.

However, as eyes deteriorate, the mid-range and distance vision also get worse. As a result, over the age of about 45, we are often less able to see near objects clearly and so need reading glasses.

Presbyopia is not the same as long-sightedness, which some people are born with, where the eyeball is 'shorter' than it should be or the cornea is too flat, so that light coming into the eye focuses at a point behind the retina.

Laser surgery is not an option for presbyopia because it is the lens that is the problem, and lasers simply cannot make it more flexible.

The new technique we use to treat presbyopia is similar to that already used for treating cataracts.

But while a conventional cataract lens is moulded into five 'zones' or ridges, with each zone a different power so it can focus on a different distance (like varifocal glasses), the ReSTOR lens has many more ridges, giving it a much wider range of distance.

Julie's poor vision was really beginning to affect her work and she could read only the top two or three lines of an optician's chart.

I have treated about 200 patients like her for presbyopia, and she was very enthusiastic, even after I'd explained the risks - 20 per cent of patients still need to wear glasses afterwards.

I measured the length and curvature of Julie's eyes to calculate the power of lens I would require - she needed similar lenses in both eyes. We always operate on one eye first and then leave it to recover for a week before operating on the second.

In Julie's case, we started with the right eye. I made a minute 2.6mm incision at the top of the eyeball, just below the lid, and inserted a tiny ultrasound wave-emitting probe.

This went through her cornea and pupil, to the lens which I was going to replace. The lens is like a plum, and you need to cut through the skin and remove the 'flesh' and 'stone' inside.

We do this by using ultrasound waves to emulsify the lens so that it turns from a hard jelly to a murky fluid that can be sucked out using the same probe.

Then I injected the new ReSTOR lens - which is made of acrylic and folded up tightly - through the incision with a device like a peashooter.

The great thing about these acrylic lenses is that they will last a lifetime - they won't age and change like natural lenses do, and there is no chance of a patient developing cataracts.

The incision is so small it seals itself without stitches and the lens unfolds by itself. The whole procedure lasts only 20 minutes.

Julie then had a cup of tea and a snack in the recovery room and was able to go home. The eye takes a couple of days to adjust to the new lens, during which time the vision will be blurry.

The operation went very well, and a week later Julie came back to have her other eye done. She is now set for life and should not need glasses again.

This operation costs £2,275 per eye. It is not available on the NHS. For more information, call 023 8025 8468 or go to www.grangeeyeconsultants.com

Are Statins Really the wonder drug?

Statins won't prevent women getting heart disease, claim doctors

 

Doubts were have been cast on the value of "wonder drugs" prescribed to millions of Britons to prevent heart disease deaths.

A new study claims there is no evidence to show that giving statins to women keeps them free of heart disease.

Read more ...
• DEBATE: Are statins really the wonder-drug that everyone says they are?
• Have we been conned about cholesterol?

There is also no data to suggest they help men over 69 who have only a moderate risk of getting problems in the future, say scientists.

The Harvard researcher behind the study concluded the drugs should no longer be regularly prescribed to these two groups of patients.

The suggestion is highly controversial as up to four million Britons are currently taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs at a cost of almost £1 billion to the NHS.

Other experts last night disputed the new research, insisting that there is very good evidence of how the drugs can cut heart disease and deaths from heart attacks.

At present, GPs are given guidance recommending they prescribe statins to anyone diagnosed as having a 20 per cent risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years.

Up to four million Britons are therefore thought to be taking statins regularly because they are at risk of a heart attack or stroke.

The drugs are designed to reduce levels of bad cholesterol called LDLs which can fur up the arteries and lead to heart disease.

Past studies have suggested they could be saving around 7,000 lives a year in the UK alone.

But now Dr John Abramson, from Harvard Medical School, and Dr James M. Wright, from the University of British Columbia, have cast doubt on this.

They say the pills do help those aged between 30 and 80 who already have established heart disease and for them their use is "not controversial".

But from re-analysing eight major studies, they concluded there is no clear evidence they work as a primary prevention tool for women.

There is also little to support the idea of them helping men over the age of 69 who do not yet have heart disease.

They said even those men below 69 who are seen as being at high-risk of heart disease should be advised that around 50 patients would have to be treated for five years to prevent one serious heart attack.

"Statins did not reduce total coronary heart disease events in 10,990 women in these primary prevention trials," they said.

"Similarly in 3,239 men and women older than 69 years, statins did not reduce total cardiovascular events.

"Our analysis suggests that lipid-lowering statins should not be prescribed for true primary prevention in women of any age or for men older than 69 years."

Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP who has worked with the European Society of Cardiology welcomed the study published in The Lancet medical journal.

Dr Kendrick, a long-standing sceptic of giving statins to people with only a low risk of heart problems, said: "I hope this will reignite the debate about this and allow a more reasoned set of arguments to take place.

"I hope this at least makes people question things and then maybe the truth will come out that we are having the wool pulled over our eyes.

"There is no reason for women to take statins."

Meanwhile other new research released yesterday promoted the potential benefit of the drugs for people with breathing problems.

The study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, concluded the drugs could improve survival rates among those with chronic bronchitis or emphysema.

The researchers from the Akerhus University Hospital in Norway said this may be because many of those with these problems in fact have a form of heart disease that has not yet been diagnosed.

Some experts have in the past suggested the drug should be prescribed on a mass scale to those who have only a tiny risk of heart disease.

The Heart Protection Study Collaborative Group at Oxford University, writing in the British Medical Journal last year, claim those as young as 35 with a 1 per cent risk of a heart attack or stroke could benefit.

They claimed if they take cholesterol-lowering drugs for the next 35 years, they would gain nine months of extra life expectancy.

However earlier this month a study claimed that patients taking the cholesterol-busting drugs statins could be at a much higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Researchers in the United States has found that patients with low levels of LDL cholesterol are three times more likely to have Parkinson's disease.

At the time UK experts immediately reassured patients the pills were safe.

They claimed it was unlikely that statins caused Parkinson's – and said they were more likely to protect against it.

Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "The benefits of statins in reducing blood cholesterol and preventing heart attacks in patients known to have artery disease are beyond doubt.

"However there is an ongoing debate about which patients who do not yet have the disease should also receive statins.

"Anyone currently prescribed statins should keep taking them."

Dr Iqbal Malik, consultant cardiologist St Mary's Hospital Paddington, said: "The research in the Lancet which prompts this discussion is a comment piece based on summary statistics and is yet to be peer reviewed.

"Meanwhile, very well-respected research in the UK and abroad shows a strong link between cholesterol and heart disease.

"My advice is that middle-aged men who don't have heart disease should take statins. If someone says their cholesterol is normal they should bear in mind that the normal UK man has a high risk of suffering a heart attack. One in five men will die prematurely of a heart attack or stroke. So for most people lowering their cholesterol is a good idea." He added: "As far as the cost to the NHS goes, you have to look at the cost to the wider economy. People who have heart attacks and have to give up their jobs are a big drain on the Exchequer.

"I am an Asian man nearing 40, with low risk factors for heart disease. I am about to start taking statin tablets to lower my risk of heart disease, and I'm prepared to take the small risk of side effects."

A Happy New Year to one an` all.
May the year ahead bring all that you desire and more.
If that includes a substantial lottery win my address is available on
request.

Best Wishes
Tony

Complaints about Memory

Complaints About Memory Are Associated With Alzheimer-Related Brain Damage

Memory complaints could offer an early warning system for Alzheimer's disease
CHICAGO, IL -- December 1, 2006 -- Researchers at Rush University Medical Center found that having complaints about memory problems is associated with changes in the brain related to Alzheimer's disease. They reported their findings in the November 2006 issue of Neurology.
The researchers looked at the association between memory problems reported by study participants and signs of disease found in their brains after death. The study looked at autopsies of 90 older adults from the Rush Memory and Aging Project. The study included both participants who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (23) and those that showed no clinical signs of the disease (67).
"One of the most interesting findings of the study was that individuals who had yet to have any clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease still showed a strong link between their self-reported memory complaints and brain pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease," said Lisa L. Barnes, PhD, from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. "This information may allow us to use memory complaints as a measure to intervene at an early point in the disease process."
To measure memory complaints participants were asked two questions:
How often do you have trouble remembering things?
How is your memory [now] compared to 10 years ago?
The researchers combined the answers to these two questions to create a scale to measure the severity of memory complaints. They used the memory scores taken closest to time of death. They also adjusted for confounding factors that might be related to memory problems like age, sex, and level of education.
The researchers then compared this scale with the levels of damage to the brain revealed during autopsy. The damage specifically looked at was the amount of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain at the time of death. These plaques and tangles are the type of damage most closely linked to Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers found that each unit of Alzheimer-related pathology was associated with one point higher score on the memory complaint scale. "Our results suggest that older persons with and without dementia possess some insight to their level of functioning, and this insight is related to actual changes in the brain," said Barnes. "The data suggests that if you're having complaints there's probably something going on. In other words, if mom notices that there's something different about her memory, we need to listen closely and investigate further."
The study shows that memory complaints should be taken seriously and not seen as just part of the aging process. "In my opinion, it is possible to preserve your memory into old age," said Barnes. "Memory loss is not an inevitable consequence of aging.
In fact, if you think you are having memory problems, you should probably see your doctor. As Barnes noted, "although not all memory complaints will lead to Alzheimer's disease, our data support the idea that memory complaints in older adults may represent the presence of significant Alzheimer's disease pathology in the brain."
"I don't want to cause concern for people who experience occasional memory loss, like losing their keys or forgetting their wife's birthday," said Barnes. "The important point in our study was that the people who hadn't developed Alzheimer's disease by the time they died, but complained about their memory performance, already had Alzheimer's pathology in their brains. We don't know whether they might have eventually developed the disease had they lived longer. The data suggest, however, that memory complaints may be an early sign of disease in some people."
The researchers at Rush are grateful for the remarkable dedication and altruism of the volunteers participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. The research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging, which leads the Federal effort to support and conduct basic, clinical, and social and behavioral studies on aging and on Alzheimer's disease.
SOURCE: Rush University Medical Center

Walnuts protect arteries from effect of fatty foods

 

Walnuts protect arteries from effects of fatty foods

from Heartwire — a professional news service of WebMD

Sue Hughes

October 10, 2006 (Barcelona, Spain) - Another study has suggested that eating walnuts can reverse the impairment of endothelial function associated with eating a fatty meal. But olive oil did not have the same beneficial effect.

Senior author of the study, Dr Emilio Ros (Hospital Clínico, Barcelona, Spain), explained to heartwire: "When we eat a fatty meal, inflammatory molecules are increased that prevent the endothelium from producing nitric oxide, which thus leads to endothelial dysfunction. In our study, eating a handful of walnuts prevented the increase in the inflammatory substances and the endothelial dysfunction, whereas olive oil prevented the increase in inflammatory molecules but did not prevent the endothelial dysfunction associated with eating fatty food. Olive oil does have some beneficial effects--it is not bad, but walnuts are better."

Ros et al have previously reported a study showing eating walnuts over a four-week period can improve endothelial dysfunction. The current study, published in the October 17, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, adds to this by showing that the effect is seen after just one serving.

But Ros said that people should not be told that they can continue eating unhealthy fats provided they add walnuts to their meals. Instead, they should consider making walnuts part of a healthy diet that limits saturated fats.

He noted that walnuts have several components that could be contributing to their benefits. These include polyunsaturated fats, including alpha-linolenic acid; arginine, which is a precursor of nitric oxide; and many antioxidants. "It could be any one of these or maybe all three together that protect the vessels." Olive oil also contains antioxidants but has more mono- rather than polyunsaturated fats, and it does not contain arginine or omega-3 oils, he added.

He said that while walnut oil would probably also be somewhat beneficial, eating the nuts themselves was a better option, as the oil does not contain all the beneficial components. "The oil contains the fats and the fat-soluble antioxidants, but it does not contain arginine, which is not fat soluble," he explained to heartwire. He also pointed out that it was better to eat the raw nuts, rather than cooking them, as heating could inactivate some of the beneficial components.

"Eat a handful of nuts every day"

"I would recommend that people eat a handful of walnuts every day--about six to eight nuts. They could eat these before or after a meal or as part of the meal--for example, in salads and desserts. Or they could replace unhealthier options that are usually used for snacks," he advised.

The current study had a crossover design and involved 24 nonsmoking adults with normal body weights and blood pressures, half of whom had normal cholesterol levels and half had moderately high levels. Each was asked to follow a cholesterol-lowering Mediterranean diet for two weeks before the study and throughout its duration. They were provided with two high-fat meals, eaten one week apart. The meals were identical, consisting of a salami-and-cheese sandwich on white bread and a small serving of full-fat yogurt. For one meal, the researchers added about 5 teaspoons (25 mL) of olive oil. For the other, they added 40 g of walnuts, or about eight shelled nuts. Venipunctures and ultrasound measurements of brachial artery endothelial function were performed after fasting and four hours after test meals.

Results showed that in both study groups, flow-mediated dilation (a measure of endothelial dysfunction) was worse after the olive oil meal than after the walnut meal. Levels of oxidized LDL decreased after both meals, as did concentrations of soluble inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules. But the adhesion molecule E-selectin was reduced more after the walnut meal.

Nuts may contribute to Mediterranean diet benefits?
Commenting on the study in a journal press release, Dr Robert Vogel (University of Maryland, College Park), who did not participate in the study, said: "This demonstrates that the protective fat from walnuts actually undoes some of the detrimental effects of a high-saturated-fat diet, whereas a neutral fat, such as olive oil, does not have as much protective ability. This raises a very interesting issue, because many people who eat a Mediterranean diet believe the olive oil is providing the benefits. But this research and other data indicate that's not true. There are probably other factors in the diet, including that it is a relatively rich source of nuts. This is not to say that olive oil is bad, but it's not the key protective factor in the Mediterranean diet." Vogel added that research continues to indicate that all monounsaturated-rich foods, including olive oil, likely are relatively neutral in terms of their ability to protect vascular health. On the other hand, he said, omega-3 rich oils and fats--including walnuts, canola oil, and flaxseed oil--"are probably quite protective."

1. Cortés B, Núñez I, Cofán M, et al. Acute effects of high-fat meals enriched with walnuts or olive oil on postprandial endothelial function. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006; 48:1666-1671.

The complete contents of Heartwire, a professional news service of WebMD, can be found at www.theheart.org, a Web site for cardiovascular healthcare professionals.

KETAMINE aids the chronically depressed

 

Report: Ketamine aids the chronically depressed

 

NIMH researchers gave low dosages of ketamine to 18 chronically depressed patients, and their condition improved within two hours. Snip from  The Washington Post article by Neely Tucker: (See link above)

Ketamine, sweet ketamine, answer to our glutamatergic dreams. In the long November night of the soul, in the ever-dark downpour of depression, it turns out that there might be a better umbrella than Prozac and Zoloft and Paxil and their serotonin-loving ilk. Of course, when it comes to antidepressants, nobody really knows anything, anyway, so why not go with ketamine,

This Wikipedia item includes links to previous studies on the drug's effectiveness as an antidepressant.

ALL of this is interesting reading

Cancer cell 'executioner' found

BBC NEWS
Cancer cell 'executioner' found
Scientists have developed a way of "executing" cancer cells.

Healthy cells have a built-in process which means they commit suicide if something is wrong, a process which fails in cancer cells.

The University of Illinois team created a synthetic molecule which caused cancer cells to self-destruct.

Cancer experts said the study, in Nature Chemical Biology, offered "exciting possibilities" for new ways of treating the disease.

These findings present an exciting new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of some cancers
Dr Michael Olsen, Cancer Research UK

One of the hallmarks of cancer cells is their resistance to the body's cell suicide signals, which allow them to survive and develop into tumours.

All cells contain a protein called procaspase-3, which the body should be able to turn into caspase-3 - an executioner enzyme.

But this transformation does not happen in cancer cells, even though certain types, such as colon cancer, leukaemia, skin and liver cancers paradoxically have very high levels of procaspase-3.

Healthy cells unaffected

The researchers examined more than 20,000 structurally different synthetic compounds to see if any could trigger procaspase-3 to develop into caspase-3.

They found the molecule PAC-1 did trigger the transformation, and cancer cells from mice and from human tumours could be prompted to self-destruct - a process called apoptosis.

The more procaspase-3 a cancer cell had, the less of the molecule was needed.

Healthy cells, such as white blood cells, were found to be significantly less affected by the addition of PAC-1 because they had much lower levels of procaspase-3, so cell-suicide could not be triggered.

When the scientists tested PAC-1 on cancerous and non-cancerous tissue from the same person, the tumour cells were 2,000-fold more sensitive to PAC-1.

Since different levels of procaspase-3 were found in the cell lines studied, the researchers suggest some patients would be more responsive to this therapy than others, so the it might one day be possible to tailor treatments to individual patients.

'Exciting'

Professor Paul Hergenrother, who led the research, said: "This is the first in what could be a host of organic compounds with the ability to directly activate executioner enzymes.

"The potential effectiveness of compounds such as PAC-1 could be predicted in advance, and patients could be selected for treatment based on the amount of procaspase-3 found in their tumour cells."

Cancer Research UK expert Dr Michael Olson, who is based at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, said: "These findings present an exciting new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of some cancers.

"It remains to be seen which, if any tumour types consistently express elevated procaspase-3. That will tell us how many patients could potentially benefit from the drug.

"Clinical trials will be needed to confirm whether procaspase-3 causes any adverse effects in humans."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/5284850.stm

Published: 2006/08/27 23:51:33 GMT

© BBC MMVI

Getting Through The Day When Your Anxieties Are out of Control

What do you do when your fears and anxieties overwhelms you as soon as you get up in the mornings? Well the first thing you need to do is to seek the services of a professional and/or counselor who can teach you how to manage your fears and give you the help that you need. Until you can meet with someone, what can you do in the meantime to cope with your fears?

The first step is to take a deep breathe and try to find something to do to get your mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper, watch TV, play on the computer or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things. This will distract you from your current problem. Most importantly, doing something will give you the self confidence that you can still function and that you can get through the rest of the day.

Another thing to remind yourself is that things change and events do not stay the same. For instance, you may feel overwhelmed in the mornings with your anxiety and feel that this is how you will feel the rest of the day. This isn't correct. No one can predict the future with 100 Percent accuracy. Even if the thing that you feared does happen there are circumstances and factors that you can't predict which can be used to your advantage. You never know when the help and answers you are looking for will come to you.

I was told by a counselor that your anxiety and worry decrease over time. Your anxieties may seem intense at the moment, but that won't be like that forever. Your worry will eventually decrease. I asked a professional why does the worry and anxiety decrease over time and she told me, "Because it just does".

In every anxiety related situation you experience, begin to learn what works, what doesn't work, and what you need to improve on in managing your fears and anxieties. For instance, you have a lot of anxiety and you decide to play on the computer to help you feel better. The next time you feel anxious you can remind yourself that you got through it the last time by playing on the computer. This will give you the confidence to manage your anxiety at the present time.

Don't forget to Pray and ask God for help. A person can only do so much. Asking God for help can give us additional resources to help manage our fears and anxieties. It is not always easy, however God is in control and he will help you if you ask him.

As a Layman, I realize it is not easy to deal with all of our fears. When your fears and anxieties have the best of you, seek help from a professional. The key is to be patient, take it slow, and not to give up. In time, you will be able to find those resources that will help you with your problems.

Meals High in Saturated Fat Impair 'Good' Cholesterol's Ability to Protect Against Clogged Arteries

BETHESDA, MD -- August 8, 2006 -- Before you bite into that burger or devour that doughnut, first chew on this: New research shows that just one meal high in saturated fat can affect the body's ability to protect itself against some of the underlying causes of heart disease and stroke.The research, conducted at The Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, appears in the Aug. 15, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.According to the study, even a single meal high in saturated fat can reduce the ability of the body's "good" cholesterol, or high-density lipoproteins (HDL), to protect the inner lining of the arteries from inflammatory agents that promote the formation of artery-clogging plaques. A single high-fat meal also can affect the ability of the arteries to expand in order to carry adequate blood to tissues and organs.On the other hand, according to the research, eating a meal high in polyunsaturated fat, a healthier form of fat, can increase the anti-inflammatory properties of HDL, helping to protect the inner lining of the arteries, called the endothelium, from plaque buildup."The take-home, public-health message is this: It's further evidence to support the need to aggressively reduce the amount of saturated fat consumed in the diet," said researcher Stephen J. Nicholls, MB, BS, PhD, now a cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "This study helps to explain the mechanisms by which saturated fat supports the formation of plaques in the arterial wall, and we know these plaques are the major cause of heart attack and stroke."Saturated fats are found in both animal and plant products, and typically are solid at room temperature. Examples include butter, lard and palm oil. The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommend that people limit their intake of saturated fat to no more than 7% of their total daily calories. Polyunsaturated fats, on the other hand, come mainly from plants and are liquid at room temperature. Examples include sunflower and corn oil.For the study, Dr. Nicholls and his colleagues recruited 14 healthy volunteers and supplied them with two meals, eaten one month apart. The volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to 40, were examined and had blood drawn before eating (following an overnight fast), three hours after eating and again six hours after eating their supplied meals. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew which meal was eaten during which visit.The meals were identical, except that one was high in saturated fat (coconut oil), while the other was high in polyunsaturated fat (safflower oil). Each meal consisted of a slice of carrot cake and a milkshake. All meals were specially prepared so that each participant consumed 1 gram of fat per kilogram of body weight or 1 gram of fat for every 2.2 pounds. (For a 150-pound person, that's nearly the fat equivalent of eating a double cheeseburger, a large order of french fries and a large milkshake at one meal.)In examining the volunteers, Dr. Nicholls and his colleagues found that after three hours, the saturated fat meal had reduced the ability of the endothelium to expand the arteries in order to increase blood flow. The researchers determined this by using a blood pressure cuff to restrict blood flow and then monitoring the body's response. The polyunsaturated meal also reduced this ability slightly, but the results were not statistically significant.After six hours, researchers found the meal high in saturated fat had diminished the protective qualities of HDL, allowing more inflammatory agents to accumulate in the arteries than had been present before the volunteers ate. The polyunsaturated meal, however, seemed to boost the anti-inflammatory abilities of the body's good cholesterol, with the researchers finding fewer inflammatory agents in the arteries than before the volunteers ate."In putting this all together," Dr. Nicholls said, "we have a difference between the two meals regarding a number of factors that influence the early stages of plaque formation. We have a situation where consumption of a single meal containing a high level of saturated fat is associated with impairment of vascular reactivity and impairment of a normal protective property of HDL. In contrast, consumption of a meal high in polyunsaturated fat results in HDL that is more protective."It is a small study," he concluded, "but I think the findings have broad implication because diet and exercise are the cornerstones of all strategies for preventing heart disease."Robert Vogel, MD, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center, did not participate in the research, but agrees it provides "one more nail in the coffin" against eating diets high in saturated fat."This study helps to flesh out just why we shouldn't eat too much saturated fat," Dr. Vogel said. "Traditionally, we think of unhealthy foods as raising cholesterol or raising blood pressure, but this demonstrates that depending on what you eat, you can actually change the effect of HDL typically thought of as 'good' cholesterol from protective to detrimental. This opens up new insights and avenues for research."SOURCE: American College of Cardiology

test

just that

Quote of the Week

Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.- Margaret Thatcher

Heat may be key to cancer therapy

BBC NEWS
Heat may be key to cancer therapy
Researchers believe they have found out why so many men with testicular cancer survive against the odds.

Testicular cancer, such as that famously conquered by Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, is often treatable even when it has spread.

Experts at Johns Hopkins University say the cells are super-sensitive to body heat making them more vulnerable.

And heat therapy may be used to combat other cancers they write in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The testes are a few degrees cooler than the rest of the body as sperm are sensitive to heat and tend to die when they are placed at the normal body temperature of 37C.

"We tried to put our heads together about what we know about the differences between testicular and other cancers"
Professor Robert Getzenberg

Professor Robert Getzenberg and colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medical School say several pieces of evidence suggest that testicular cancer cells may also have this sensitivity to heat, making them more amenable to treatment, a phenomenon they term the 'Lance Armstrong effect'.

So, when the cells spread to other areas of the body, they may be weakened by higher temperatures, becoming more susceptible to chemotherapy or radiotherapy than other types of cancer.

Studies in men who have a condition in which the testes do not descend and remain in the body show that the nuclear matrix, the protein scaffolding in the control centre of the cell, becomes 'wrecked' and is heat sensitive.

Professor Getzenberg and his team are now experimenting with different methods of weakening the nuclear matrix in cancer cells by heat.

"We tried to put our heads together about what we know about the differences between testicular and other cancers. There is an amazing difference in treatment success and we wanted to come up with a simple idea that has a biological basis."

Professor Getzenberg said heat, or hyperthermia, is a very old form of cancer therapy but in order to make it a successful it needs to be targeted specifically at cancer cells.

"Some groups are doing localised heating of tumours but the real advance would be to move this into people with systemic disease. These are not big golf ball size tumours they're small tumours that you can't really see."

"We need to think how we can target these cancer cells anywhere in the body."

Nanoparticles

Professor Getzenberg is using nanotechnology to target iron particles directly to cancer cells.

These 'nanoparticles' can be developed to be attracted to specific markers present on the surface of cancer cells.

Once attached to the cancer cells they can be heated using an external magnetic field, weakening the cells and hopefully making them more susceptible to chemotherapy or radiation.

The team are currently assessing this technique for treating prostate cancer in animal models.

"These nanoparticles exist now and can be used in the body. The advantages are you don't have to put them in every cell as long as you are getting a warming environment," he said.

"We are also working on study on bladder cancer looking at putting a warm solution in the bladder, using a more localised approach."

Ed Yong, cancer information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "If cancer cells can be shown to be susceptible to higher temperatures, heat therapy may well become an option for treating cancer patients.

"To be effective, the heat must be targeted to cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. Nanoparticles can provide a way of doing this.

"Nanotechnology is a very exciting new field of science and it is set to play an increasing role in detecting and treating cancers."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/5214030.stm

Published: 2006/07/25 23:07:24 GMT

© BBC MMVI