Hear It For Yourself

by sammielee24 23 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  TheOldHippie

  Man, are some of the reactions by US citizens scaring! Claiming that public healt service = communism/socialism/Soviet Union, that "illegals" will exploit it, that they do not want refugees to get it, that one should not care about the advances that have been made in other countries, claiming there are no right wing news media in the US ......

  Man, are there strange opninion among many US citizens! Makes me scared, and makes me realize Obama has some extremely hard work ahead of him.

  Over here in Europe, Obama would be a right wing politician, whereas in the US, many of you regard him more or less a Communist?
• 

  sammielee24

  February 17, 2009

  Paediatric world first - SickKids team performs lifesaving lung procedure

  16-year-old patient back in action at school and soccer field

  Toronto – In a world first, doctors at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) performed an innovative operation using an external artificial lung to keep a paediatric patient alive until new donor lungs were available.

  Sixteen-year-old Katie Sutherland was temporarily fitted with the Interventional Lung Assist device or Novalung®. For 30 days, Katie’s blood circulated externally through a small white box, which enriched her blood with oxygen, removed carbon dioxide and most importantly for Katie, relieved the pressure on her heart caused by her sick lungs.

  The SickKids surgical team, led by Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program, used the German-made Novalung® device to partially bypass Katie’s failing lungs allowing her heart to do less work.

  Unlike older artificial lungs which were run by mechanical pumps, Novalung® is powered by the patient’s own heartbeat. It is a membrane ventilator that allows oxygen and carbon dioxide to exchange through simple diffusion.

  Last summer, Katie, then 15, was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. This rare condition constricts veins and arteries within the lungs and forces the heart to work much harder than normal to pump blood to the lungs. As a result Katie’s heart was failing. Before the operation her heart had swelled up to four times its regular size and was no longer pumping enough blood.

  “Katie was gravely ill and in fact had a short period of cardiac arrest in the operating room,” says Keshavjee. “She almost certainly would have died that night. Our procedure helped her stay alive long enough for suitable donor lungs to become available for transplant.”

  The three-hour procedure at SickKids was performed on July 3, 2008, by a 10-member team led by Dr. Keshavjee, Dr. Marc de Perrot and Dr. Andrew Pierre, SickKids cardiovascular thoracic surgeons. With the artificial lung, Katie remained stable for a month until suitable donor lungs became available for her. During that time she was able to breathe, talk and eat, and do gentle exercises.

  The success of Katie’s month-long stint on an artificial lung is attributable to the coordinated efforts of health-care professionals from SickKids and Toronto General Hospital (TGH); including respiratory physicians Dr. Mindy Solomon and Dr. Hartmut Grasemann, critical care physicians, anesthesiologists, operating room and critical care nurses, respiratory therapists and cardiovascular perfusionists.

  This is the first time in the world that the Novalung® has been used in this way in a paediatric patient, and only the second time the device has been applied in this fashion in North America.

  Up to 20 per cent of patients on the lung transplant waiting list die before a matching lung is found, and patients with pulmonary artery hypertension are at the highest risk level.

  “We know that Katie’s life has been saved, and we are incredibly thankful to the staff,” says Paul Sutherland, Katie’s father. “To actually experience a technological step forward is very humbling.”

  Katie, who celebrated her 16th birthday in the Critical Care Unit at SickKids, returned home with a new pair of lungs. She is finally getting back into her routine – just recently returning to school and she has just started playing soccer.

  The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada’s most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children’s health in the country. As innovators in child health, SickKids improves the health of children by integrating care, research and teaching. Our mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized care by creating scientific and clinical advancements, sharing our knowledge and expertise and championing the development of an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. For more information, please visitwww.sickkids.ca. SickKids is committed to healthier children for a better world.

  Toronto an International Lung Transplant Centre

  The Toronto Lung Transplant Program, a combined adult and paediatric program based at SickKids and Toronto General Hospital (TGH), University of Toronto, is a leader in lung transplantation. The first successful single lung transplant in the world was performed in Toronto in 1983.
• 

  sammielee24

  Just making sure that the nitwits who think that only the USA has research or contribution to the medical world - understand that all over the world there are people doing their bit to improve conditions for everyone. sammieswife.

  August 3, 2009

  SickKids scientists discover a potential treatment for a previously untreatable bone cancer

  TORONTO – While recent advancements in cancer research have led to longer survival rates, there are still some cancers that are not responsive to existing treatments. Chondrosarcoma, a rare bone cancer that develops in the bone cartilage, is one of the cancers that is not effectively treated with chemotherapy. Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto have found a novel approach to treating this disease.

  The research team identified what causes benign (non-cancerous) cartilage tumours to transform into malignant (cancerous) ones. Then they found a possible therapy to prevent and treat the cancer. Clinical trials are now underway to test the effectiveness of a combined drug therapy to treat these tumours. The research is published in the August 4 edition of Cancer Cell.

  “This work really shows how understanding fundamental science can identify a potentially better treatment for what is otherwise an untreatable cancer,” says the study’s principal investigator Dr. Benjamin Alman, a Senior Scientist and Head of Orthopaedic Surgery at SickKids, and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. “In the future we hope to help identify other pathways like this one that can be targeted with new treatments.”

  The project began 10 years ago when the researchers looked at how cartilage tumours were formed. Typically, bones start off as cartilage. When they turn into bone, some cartilage stays behind and becomes the person’s growth plate – this is what makes the body grow over time. The scientists found that benign tumours called endochondromas were forming next to the growth plate. They discovered a mutation in the tumour cells that they believed would change the way the cartilage cells mature and would make them more prone to developing into a tumour.

  To test their finding they used genetically modified mice called Gli2, that had a growth plate mutation. The mice developed endochondromas and some of these benign tumours went on to become malignant. The scientists then set out to find out what causes benign tumours to change into malignant ones.

  “The idea is to use this information to identify therapeutic targets, or at least find ways to prevent benign tumours from becoming malignant,” says Alman.

  When the researchers crossed the Gli2 with a mutated gene called P53 (a tumour suppressor gene), chondrosarcomas (malignant cartilage tumours) were formed in the mice.

  The next step was to identify what the Gli2 mice and P53 mice had in common: a
  gene called IGFBP3 that appeared to be regulated by the signaling in both Gli2 and P53 mice.

  In benign tumours there is a higher level of IGFBP3; in malignant tumours it is lower. The researchers also found this to be the case in humans. This led them to the novel approach of targeting the IGFBP3 gene found in the Gli2 and P53 mice to treat chondrosarcomas.

  Currently, there are two drugs that are being used in clinical trials that have been developed to treat both mutations individually. As a result of this study, new clinical trials are already underway to determine the effectiveness of both drugs in combination in treating chondrosarcomas.

  “In the end we hope to develop a multi-drug regimen that will work,” says Alman. “We may have one drug that will prevent people from getting tumours and other drugs that will treat tumours after they have developed. The intent would be to make treatments that are more effective and less toxic for the patient.”

  This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Canada Research Chairs Program and SickKids Foundation.
• 

  sammielee24

  I could go on but this is the last....no more time..sammieswife.

  February 9, 2009

  SickKids researchers solve a universal lab test mystery

  It is a phenomenon that has boggled molecular scientists for decades … the protein size puzzle. It has to do with a lab test called SDS-PAGE, arguably the world’s most commonly used biochemical lab method. The procedure is used to identify and study proteins. But while it is widely used, it often doesn’t give correct readings for certain types of proteins and scientists have been at a loss to explain why.

  A team led by Dr. Charles Deber, SickKids Senior Scientist and Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto, believe they have solved the long standing mystery. The findings are published in the February 10th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

  SDS-PAGE involves taking proteins and encasing them in soap-like detergents. They are then placed on a gel plate, where they move from one end to another. Generally, the smaller proteins move faster and bigger proteins mover slower. Where the proteins end up on the plate determines their size. But for years, researchers have found that readings for one type of proteins - membrane proteins (proteins that surround cells) - are not always accurate.

  SickKids scientists have found that the detergent molecules can actually weigh the membrane proteins down.

  “The detergent-binding amounts are extremely important, because if the proteins become too heavily encased in detergents, the protein molecules tend to become denatured (lose their original biological shape),” says lead author Arianna Rath, post-doctoral fellow.

  Membrane proteins are coded for by 20-30 percent of all human genes, and represent 70 percent of drug targets approved by the FDA in the past decade. When the membrane proteins are absent or dysfunctional, diseases such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes and certain cancers can result.

  “The proper identification and study of these proteins is essential. Our findings could help tailor future experiments. Scientists may now be able to determine some of the structural effects of disease-causing mutations, and to use the information to focus on proteins that will be the best candidates for structural studies,” says Dr. Deber.

  The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, SickKids Foundation and SickKids RESTRACOMP.