Patients suffering from heterotopic ossification could hope for remedy to their illness which will appear soon. Scientist from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have released thesis which presents results of tests on mice. In the thesis the scientists focus on affecting retinoic receptor RAR-y. The results of experiments were released in Nature Medicine. Read full text »

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is one of the most common disorders, affecting about 10­20% of general population. Unfortunately it tends to be very difficult to treat. Patients rarely respond to such treatment options as diet and lifestyle modification, fiber supplementation, psychotherapy or current pharmacotherapy. The lack of understanding of the underlying cause of IBS limits the development of novel treatment. Recently it has been suggested, that IBS may be linked to an alteration of intestinal bacterial flora, thus many trials involving antibiotic treatment of IBS were conducted. TARGET1 and TARGET2(1) are the latest, major studies published in the beginning of year 2011 in The New England Journal Of Medicine. The results are more than promising. Read full text »

For a long time now, projects with the object of creating an artificial limb that could be controlled by the patient’s thoughts have been known.To the well-known technologically advanced prosthesis projects belong: an international project Smart Hand, prosthesis of a British Touch Bionics, an Otto Bock company’s and dr. Todd A. Kuikenen’s from Chicago due to which the patient is able to feel the touch. Worth mentioning is also a Japanese model in which innovative control system was employed. It figures, that the patients after injuries can hopefully look forward to recovery. Read full text »

1990 brought the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait, called the Persian Gulf War. It’s dusk in 1991 brought the revolution in medical diagnostics. It has been found that men with severe pneumonia caused by inhalation of poison gas tend to have high levels of procalcitonin (PCT). Attracted by this discovery, scientists began a series of tests involving injecting healthy patients with bacterial endotoxins. PCT was to appear in the serum of volunteers as one of the body’s response to inflammation. Moreover the concentration of procalcitonin changes overtime: increased levels appeared after 3-4 hours after the inflammation factor, reached maximum in 6-8 hours, and normalized within 72 hours. Scientists have concluded that the procalcitonin is an excellent indicator of inflammation and bacterial processes. Read full text »

Many women suffering from epilepsy become pregnant. In that case proper control and correct attacks prevention is extremely important. Only a few drugs, used in epilepsy treatment are considered to be safe for expectant mothers. The most popular is carbamazepine. There is also a group of drugs with proven negative impact on the developing fetus. On March 2011 one more drug joined this group. It was topiramate, which is used by adults and children over the age of two in therapy of partial seizures, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, unconsciousness, myoclonic, Lennox-Gastaut and Waet syndrome, as well as in the treatment of chronic migraine and obesity.
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Multiple sclerosis is the most common neurological disease, affecting chiefly young people. It leads to damage of the central nervous system due to abnormal activity of autoreactive T cells, which results in damage of myelin sheath of neurons and formation of so-called demyelinating plaques. As a consequence, we can observe a broad spectrum of symptoms, including optic neuritis, pyramidal weakness, sensory disturbances, cerebellar ataxia, dizziness or spastic bladder. Clinically, MS may occur as a relapsing-remitting or chronic. Unfortunately, each type eventually leads to the irreversible progression of the CNS and progression of neurological symptoms. Read full text »

Once in a while the literature shows contradictory information about the health benefits of tea intake. Societies around the world are encouraged to drink tea as a remedy for virtually every disease from respiratory diseases, skin diseases, the circulatory system diseases to cancer therapy. However, is drinking tea entirely safe for the human body? Read full text »

Clostridium difficile is a widespread bacterium and it affects thousands of patients, posing a danger to their health and life. The costs associated with treatment are estimated at 10 to 20 billion dollars only in North America. Scientists from the University of Calgary at the National Research Council in Canada carried out a research on Clostridum difficile and expect success thanks to the use of antibodies from a llama. Read full text »

Epidemiological data from the United States of America are… depressing. More than 2 million people aged 65 years and older, have symptoms of depression. This includes up to 50% of the residents of nursing homes. Rate of suicide among white men over 85 years of age is six times higher than the population risk. Read full text »

Latest study shows that resveratrol, red wine derived and known for its anti-inflammatory properties, reduces development and progression of endometriosis in mice model and decreases the invasiveness of endometrial tissue in vitro. Read full text »