LONDON: Scientists have developed a range of sprays that can help repair body parts, heal wounds, protect teeth enamel and even prevent post-surgery complications.
Researchers have developed a spray-on bandage for minor cuts and scrapes that helps to keep them clean and free from infection.
Based on a plastic that is used in Lycra, called polyethylene glycol, the thick liquid is sprayed on to the wound and sets within five minutes, the Daily Mail reported.
When the plastic sets it pulls the edges of the wound together, aiding healing and helping to prevent infection.
"Sprays allow more accurate and consistent delivery of the drug or treatment, and allow it to be held in the controlled sterile environment of a spray can," Sam Shuster from the Newcastle University said. Spray-on teeth are also being developed by scientists at King's College London and Imperial College London.
The spray contains a type of calcium and helps repair damage to the tough outer coating of teeth - the enamel - and may help repair any exposed dentin. Scientists have also devised a non-stick coating for organs that prevents them sticking together after surgery.
The coating prevents adhesions - a common side-effect of surgery that causes tough scar tissue to form between organs, which pulls them out of shape.
A study of cases where the spray has been used showed that 90% of patients were adhesion-free seven days after surgery. A trial at Loma Linda University in the US is looking at a similar product for use in adhesions in paediatric heart surgery.
To treat burns, a silicone spray is being used by doctors. In a US Army Institute of Surgical Research trial, patients will be treated with the spray or a placebo each day for three months.
'Clot nets' to help in stroke recovery
LONDON: Using small nets to extract blood clots from patients' brains instead of a coil may improve their recovery, two new studies have claimed. The latest methods involve a tiny wire cage instead of a coil. This pushes the clot up against the walls of the artery and enmeshes the clot in the wires, allowing doctors to pull the clot back out of the groin.
Two similar devices were compared with the current coil methods. One trial of 113 patients showed 58% had good brain function after three months, compared with 33% of those treated with the coil method, as well as a lower death rate.
Clots block blood vessels, starving parts of the brain of oxygen, which leads to symptoms such as paralysis and loss of speech. Two studies, presented in the Lancet medical journal, suggest extracting clots with nets could improve recovery, the BBC reported. There are already techniques for reopening blocked blood vessels in people's brains.
Some patients will be given "clot-busting" drugs, but this needs to be in the hours just after the stroke and is not suitable for everyone.
Two similar devices were compared with the current coil methods. One trial of 113 patients showed 58% had good brain function after three months, compared with 33% of those treated with the coil method, as well as a lower death rate.
Clots block blood vessels, starving parts of the brain of oxygen, which leads to symptoms such as paralysis and loss of speech. Two studies, presented in the Lancet medical journal, suggest extracting clots with nets could improve recovery, the BBC reported. There are already techniques for reopening blocked blood vessels in people's brains.
Some patients will be given "clot-busting" drugs, but this needs to be in the hours just after the stroke and is not suitable for everyone.
Now, permanent cure for high blood pressure PTI | Aug 28, 2012
LONDON: Scientists have developed a radical therapy that could provide a permanent cure for high blood pressure by zapping the kidneys with radio waves.
The breakthrough by researchers from Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne, Australia could bring hope to thousands of patients who do not respond to drugs.
The procedure known as renal denervation may be available on UK's National Health Service as early as next year after trials showed it produced dramatic improvements in the condition, the Daily Mail reported.
High blood pressure is a risk factor in heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Changes in lifestyle, such as cutting back on salt and alcohol and exercising, can control blood pressure and there are a number of drug treatments available. Many who are on medication, as many as five different types, still have difficulty with it. It is this group who can be helped.
The technique uses a burst of radiofrequency energy delivered through a catheter to knock out a number of tiny nerves that run in the lining of the arteries of the kidney.
High blood pressure is sometimes caused by faulty signals from the brain to these nerves. Latest findings from a trial showed reductions in blood pressure persist for at least 18 months after treatment.
The breakthrough by researchers from Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne, Australia could bring hope to thousands of patients who do not respond to drugs.
The procedure known as renal denervation may be available on UK's National Health Service as early as next year after trials showed it produced dramatic improvements in the condition, the Daily Mail reported.
High blood pressure is a risk factor in heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Changes in lifestyle, such as cutting back on salt and alcohol and exercising, can control blood pressure and there are a number of drug treatments available. Many who are on medication, as many as five different types, still have difficulty with it. It is this group who can be helped.
The technique uses a burst of radiofrequency energy delivered through a catheter to knock out a number of tiny nerves that run in the lining of the arteries of the kidney.
High blood pressure is sometimes caused by faulty signals from the brain to these nerves. Latest findings from a trial showed reductions in blood pressure persist for at least 18 months after treatment.
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