World’s First Drug To Prevent Cataract Blindness

In a major breakthrough, the world’s 1^st drug capable of preventing blindness from cataracts has been developed by Australian scientists.

Cataracts develop when calpain, a protein, clouds the eye lens & impairs vision. The calpain protein may be activated by several triggers, including ageing. At present, the only treatment for cataract is to surgically remove the cloudy lens and replace it with synthetic lens.

Now, Adelaide University researchers claim to have discovered a non-surgical treatment for the debilitating condition.

The unique drug compound targets the calpain protein in the eye tissue and has proven very effective in the preliminary trials.

According to scientists, the treatment could be in the form of cream or drops to be put in the eye every night before bed.

The drug is capable of slowing cataract development so significantly that it eliminates the need for surgery.

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The Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System To Repair Stubborn Fractures

People stricken by stubborn bone fractures earlier faced a bleak choice – either undergo painful surgical intervention followed by many months of rehabilitation, or look forward to a possible lifetime of pain & immobility.

Now, British scientists have come up with a novel, non-invasive therapy using ultrasound shockwaves capable of healing broken bones avoiding the need for surgical intervention.

In the majority of cases, fractures mend naturally, often with the aid of a cast or splint to hold the bone in position, over a few weeks or months. Yet, in some cases, a gap is left between the 2 broken ends, frequently due to infection or damage to the blood supply to the bones.

These are known as non-union fractures. To allow healing to take place, the gap has to be filled in. In the absence of intervention, patients would be constantly in pain & unable to take weight on limbs.

Previously, bone graft was the only option. More recently, doctors used a man-made version of a growth factor known as bone morphogenetic protein.

But currently, to heal stubborn fractures orthopedic surgeons are employing pulsed ultrasound.

The Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System, a battery-operated device almost the size of a cell phone, produces low intensity sound waves via the skin to the fracture and these pulses promote bone healing.

The ultrasound produces minute vibrations. This makes the bones to create their own version of bone morphogenetic protein.

The Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System should be used by the patient daily for 20 minutes at home & it takes about 6 weeks for results to be shown on X-rays. This ultrasound treatment is painless & has no reported side effects.

However, there are limitations. Surgical intervention will be necessary if the gap is over half an inch

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Weight Loss Surgery Aids In Relieving Migraines

A new study by the Miriam Hospital has found that bariatric surgery might offer an additional benefit to extremely obese patients apart from weight loss: it could also help relieve the excruciating agony of migraine headaches.

According to researchers, overweight patients who had experienced agonizing and unbearable migraines prior to bariatric surgery spoke of improvements in headache severity, frequency & disability just 6 months after surgery. By then, most patients had shed an average of 66.4 pounds.

Migraines are reckoned to be induced by unusual brain activity, which is activated by stress, environmental factors, certain foods or other factors, even though the precise chain of events is unclear. Usually migraine pain is moderate to severe, frequently described as throbbing, pounding pain often experienced on entirely one side of the head.

Migraines can persist from 4 hours to 3 days & usually occur 1 to 4 times a month. The symptoms include vomiting, nausea and light sensitivity. No specific cure is available for migraine headaches though certain medications could help bring down the number of attacks.

Obesity is believed to contribute to aggravation of migraine, especially in extremely obese individuals. The study furnishes evidence that weight loss might play a key role in treating migraines in obese patients.

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Fat Resurfaces After Liposuction

Who wants to diet & exercise when there’s liposuction? In the U.S., this flab-busting procedure has become the most sought-after plastic surgery with surgeons removing fat from the saddlebags and love handles of almost half a million patients every year. But recent research has found a downside: fat that’s easily siphoned off tends to reappear over time elsewhere on the person’s body.

A study conducted by the University of Colorado found that all the fat sucked out through liposuction returned within a year in new places.

Obesity researchers say the body “defends” its fat. If you shed weight, even by dieting, it returns. And, if fat is sucked out with liposuction, even if it is just a pound, it still returns, but in other places.

The reason why fat doesn’t simply return where it was removed is probably due to liposuction destroying the structures under a person’s skin where fat cells reside.

Experts say the body tends to control the number of fat cells as diligently as it controls the amount of fat. Fat cells die & new ones are born all through a person’s lifetime. They live about 7 years.

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Hypnosis Aids in Healing

A recent study conducted by Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc., Belgium has found that resorting to a combination of local anesthesia & hypnosis in certain surgeries could aid in healing, cut down drug usage & hospital stay time.

Moreover, researchers have also discovered that the dual combination could help avoid cancer recurrence & metastases.

The combination was tested on patients undergoing thyroidectomy & different kinds of breast cancer surgeries.

Researchers discovered that although the hypnotized patients spent an extra couple of minutes in the operating theatre, there was significant reduction in their use of opioid drugs as was their recovery time & hospital stay.

Similar results were found in the thyroid analysis, wherein 18 patients in the local anesthesia/ hypnosis group were compared with 36 patients who had been administered general anesthesia.

The results showed that there was significant reduction in drug use, recovery time & hospital stay time among the hypnosis/ local anesthesia group.

Researchers say this approach may be used in other surgeries including plastic surgery procedures, gynecological surgeries, hernias & even a few heart surgeries. This will also provide benefits for the healthcare systems by lowering costs involved in extended hospital stays.

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