New robot can help treat rare birth defect
Researchers at the University of Sheffield and Boston's Children Hospital, Harvard Medical School have created a robot that can be implanted into the body to aid the treatment of oesophageal atresia, a...
View ArticleStatins to prevent scar tissue in the eye?
According to a Finnish study, statin medication seems to reduce the risk of repeated surgery in patients who undergo a vitrectomy to treat a detached retina. The researchers believe that statins might...
View ArticlePatients with myeloproliferative neoplasms have a significantly increased...
Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) have a significantly increased rate of arterial and venous thrombosis, with the highest rates occurring at and shortly after diagnosis. The findings of...
View ArticleObese fat becomes inflamed and scarred, which may make weight loss harder
The fat of obese people becomes distressed, scarred and inflamed, which can make weight loss more difficult, research at the University of Exeter has found.
View ArticleHeart muscle disease patients benefit from defibrillator
Some heart disease patients who are treated with cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) would live longer and have fewer hospital admissions if they also received a defibrillator, concludes a team of...
View ArticleHow Gata4 helps mend a broken heart
During a heart attack, blood stops flowing into the heart; starved for oxygen, part of the heart muscle dies. The heart muscle does not regenerate; instead it replaces dead tissue with scars made of...
View ArticleUsain Bolt and Andre De Grasse—hamstring injuries explained
Judging by recent hamstring injuries of high-profile athletes at the world track and field championships in London, some may muse that perhaps it's a contagious virus hitting sprinters.
View ArticleBrazil lifts ban on controversial sterilization implants
Brazil has lifted a ban on the sale of Essure female sterilization implants after receiving results from clinical trials on its risks, authorities said Tuesday.
View ArticlePatching up a broken heart
It is almost impossible for an injured heart to fully mend itself. Within minutes of being deprived of oxygen – as happens during a heart attack when arteries to the heart are blocked – the heart's...
View ArticleMathematical models for healing burns
Daniël Koppenol, together with Fred Vermolen (both TU Delft), has developed various mathematical models to simulate the healing of wounds, in particular burns, with the aim of improving healing. As...
View ArticleRestoring cardiac function with a matrix molecule
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, yet the few available treatments are still mostly unsuccessful once the heart tissue has suffered damage. Mammalian hearts are actually able...
View ArticleUK researchers identify macrophages as key factor for regeneration in mammals
A team of University of Kentucky researchers has discovered that macrophages, a type of immune cell that clears debris at injury sites during normal wound healing and helps produce scar tissue, are...
View ArticleA promising target for kidney fibrosis
When the kidneys - vital organs for filtering the body's entire blood supply - become injured, it can set in motion an unfortunate chain of events that leads to a decline in health. Sometimes, in...
View ArticleZika can harm babies' vision, too
(HealthDay)—Although Zika virus is most well-known for the devastating neurological damage it can cause in the womb, a new study reports that some babies infected with Zika also may have lifelong...
View ArticleImmune cell drives heart failure in mice
A new study in mice reveals that eosinophils, a type of disease-fighting white blood cell, appear to be at least partly responsible for the progression of heart muscle inflammation to heart failure in...
View ArticleNew technique yields healthier blood vessels after heart surgery
Surgeons often take a blood vessel from your leg to graft onto your heart during a coronary bypass surgery. The practice can lead to scarring in many patients, which in turn can cause another heart...
View ArticleResearchers find that electrical function may be restored in damaged heart...
A Dalhousie Medical School researcher has discovered that scar tissue, like that caused by a heart attack, can maintain electrical function in damaged regions of the heart. Until now, scars in the...
View ArticleWhen stents don't work for blocked arteries, targeted radiation may help
Four times, Elaine Paparella Vandeputte underwent balloon angioplasty to clear dangerous blockages in her right coronary artery, usually also having stents implanted to prop open the blood vessel.
View ArticleUsing fat to help wounds heal without scars
Doctors have found a way to manipulate wounds to heal as regenerated skin rather than scar tissue. The method involves transforming the most common type of cells found in wounds into fat cells -...
View ArticleCigarette smoke exposure increases scar tissue in the kidney and heart, study...
Smoking may lead to fibrosis in the heart and kidneys and can worsen existing kidney disease, according to a new study. Fibrosis is tissue scarring that can impair the normal function of vital organs....
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