Foot Blog News - Issue 15
First Ever Study Predicts Outcome For LimbThreatening Infections In Diabetes
Medical News Today - Researchers from the University of Washington, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Merck Laboratories, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have released a study suggesting that specific laboratory and clinical tests can predict outcome of antibiotic therapy for infections in persons with diabetes. “This study is unique in a couple of ways,” said Dr. David G. Armstrong, Professor of Surgery at Scholl’s Center for Lower Extremity Ambulatory Research (CLEAR) at Rosalind Franklin University. “It comes from the largest-ever clinical trial of antibiotics for this type of infection, and it used very specific, day-to-day measures that can be done in any hospital, world wide.”Among other findings, the study revealed that a bad outcome rose nearly five-fold for wounds that were either assessed as being deep, or those that were associated with a very high white blood cell count. Dr. Armstrong concluded that “Data from this study will now help us continue to move forward to better care for those patients who are most in need.”
Malignant Melanoma Headlines
Multiferon(R) Shows Potent Activity In Preventing The Progression Of Malignant Melanoma; Study To Be Published-Viragen, Inc. (AMEX: “VRA”; “VRA.U”; “VRA.WS”) and Viragen International, Inc. (OTC BB: “VGNI”) today announced results from a sponsored in vitro study conducted at Umea University in Sweden, which found that Multiferon(R) (multi- subtype, human alpha interferon) suppressed development of resistant human melanoma clones to a far greater degree than recombinant alpha interferon. The study has been accepted for publication in AntiCancer Research, International Journal of Cancer Research and Treatment.
Dermatologists Warn Myths About Melanoma Could Lead To Delayed Diagnosis And Treatment -When it comes to melanoma the most serious form of skin cancer that accounts for more than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths knowing the facts about its causes and characteristics could save your life. Dermatologists hope that dispelling some common myths about melanoma could help more people understand their risk factors and be more aware of melanomas that don’t fit the typical diagnostic mold.
New Survey Reveals Americans Know Skin Cancer Is Preventable, Yet Many Aren’t Taking Action-A new survey from the American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) found that while four out of five survey respondents (80%) are concerned about skin cancer and feel it is important to protect themselves, more than half (54%) have never been screened for skin cancer by a health care provider and nearly one-quarter (23%) never examine their own skin for changes to moles and other blemishes. These results have served as a call to action for dermatologists to teach their neighbors to Be Sun SmartTM and provide free skin cancer screenings in their communities.
New Study Identifies Five Risk Factors Linked To Melanoma Detection-Since its inception in 1985, the American Academy of Dermatology’s (Academy) National Melanoma/Skin Cancer Screening Program has screened more than 1.7 million people and detected more than 171,200 suspicious lesions. More than 20,000 of these lesions were suspected melanomas the most serious form of skin cancer. Now, a new study published online today in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology suggests criteria to help gauge a person’s melanoma risk and identify those that may be most in “HARMM’s” way. The full text of the article can be found at http://www.eblue.org.
Expert Shoe-Buying Tips
Washington Post - SURE, FASHION CAN BE A PAIN, but you don’t have to feel it in your feet. Here are some expert shoe-buying tips:Judge a shoe by how it fits, not its size. If shoes feel tight, don’t buy them. There is no such thing as a “break-in period.”
Data Suggest Cymbalta® Reduced Severity Of Night Pain In Patients With Diabetic Nerve Pain
Medical News Today - Data from a pooled analysis of three studies suggest that in patients with pain caused by diabetic nerve damage, or diabetic peripheral neuropathy, who are treated with Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl), improvements in both average daily pain and night pain severity were associated with less pain-related sleep interference than in those patients taking sugar pill. Results from the analysis of more than 1,000 patients were presented today at the annual meeting of the American Pain Society in Washington D.C.
The APOS System for Knee Osteoarthritis
MedGadget - The APOS system, developed by APOS Medical and Sports Technologies Ltd. of Herzliya, Israel, can “significantly improve pain and function in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA)–sometimes immediately,” according to a statement by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, after results from a double blind study were published at the society’s 2007 annual meeting poster presentations. The device’s benefits likely come from its design that eliminates flat surface walking.
Warts Causes And Symptoms
Medical News Today - The human papilloma virus (HPV) causes the skin problem of warts. This HPV is present in millions of people around the world and many of them will live out their lives never knowing that they carry the virus nor having a wart appear. Many others will develop warts mostly on the hands but they can appear anywhere. Most people consider warts to be unsightly and so there is often a social stigma attached. Therefore many people seek treatment for them and many have found a natural healing product to be helpful for such treatment. Maggots rid patients of MRSA
EurekAlert - University of Manchester researchers are ridding diabetic patients of the superbug MRSA – by treating their foot ulcers with maggots. Professor Andrew Boulton and his team used green bottle fly larvae to treat 13 diabetic patients whose foot ulcers were contaminated with MRSA and found all but one were cured within a mean period of three weeks, much quicker than the 28-week duration for the conventional treatment. Professor Boulton, who published the results in the journal Diabetes Care, has now been awarded a £98,000 grant by Diabetes UK to carry out a randomized controlled trial to compare this treatment with two others. “Maggots are the world’s smallest surgeons. In fact they are better than surgeons – they are much cheaper and work 24 hours a day,” Professor Boulton jokingly said. “They have been used since the Napoleonic Wars and in the American Civil War they found that those who survived were the ones with maggots in their wounds: they kept them clean. They remove the dead tissue and bacteria, leaving the healthy tissue to heal. “Still, we were very surprised to see such a good result for MRSA. There is no reason this cannot be applied to many other areas of the body, except perhaps a large abdominal wound.”
Honey Tested on Diabetic Wounds
UPI -EAU CLAIRE, Wis., May 4 (UPI) — Honey was used to treat wounds in antiquity, but the first randomized, double-blind trial of honey for diabetic ulcers is under way, says a U.S. researcher. Jennifer Eddy of the University of Wisconsin Health’s Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic says treating wounds with honey has tremendous potential for the approximately 200 million people in the world with diabetes, 15 percent of whom will develop an ulcer, usually because of impaired sensation in their feet.
Negative pressure used for child’s wounds
UPI -HOUSTON, May 4 (UPI) — Negative-pressure wound therapy is a way to treat severe and complex wounds in children that decreases stressful dressing changes, says a U.S. study.”This wound therapy is usually delivered via a vacuum system which applies negative suction pressure to the wound base through a sponge sealed to the wound by an adherent drape,” says study senior author Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye of Texas Center for Fetal Surgery.
New Weapons In The Fight Against Superbugs
Medical News Today- Today sees the launch of two powerful weapons in the fight against superbugs from Synergy Healthcare. AirCleanse™, is a new air-purifying system for healthcare services that achieves a massive 99.99% kill rate for all airborne infections . Assure™/AssurePlus™ is a new range of cleaning products specially designed to meet the stringent needs of today’s healthcare environment. Importantly both AirCleanse™ and AssurePlus™ are effective against the most resistant infections Clostridium difficile and tuberculosis (TB).Currently there are at least 100,000 cases of healthcare associated infections (HCAI) resulting directly in around 5,000 deaths in the UK each year and acting as a major contributor in a further 15,000 deaths. Particularly difficult to remove is C. difficile. HPA figures released only last week show that prevalence of C. difficile alone is up by 8% with 55,681 reported cases in 2006. This is an ever-increasing problem for the NHS, costing as much as £1bn and wasting around 3.6 million bed days every year.
Smart prosthesis of the future created
UPI– MESA, Ariz., May 3 (UPI) — U.S. researchers are creating a first-of-its-kind smart, next generation of powered prosthetic devices based on lightweight energy-storing springs.Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus and the Military Amputee Research Program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center have teamed up to produce the device, nicknamed SPARKy — for Spring Ankle with Regenerative Kinetics — which is expected to provide enhanced ankle motion and push-off power comparable to the gait of an able-bodied individual.
New Once A Year Osteoporosis Drug Shows Promise
Medical News Today– Recently completed international phase III trials on Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s new drug Reclast (zoledronic acid) suggest that a once yearly infusion over three years significantly reduces the risk of all types osteoporosis bone fractures in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The findings are published in the The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) . A Novartis statement said this finding:”Marks the first time that an osteoporosis treatment significantly reduced all types of fractures in a single study.”
The Economic Impact Of Arthritis On The US
Medical News Today– “Arthritis and other rheumatic conditions exact a large and growing economic toll on the nation as a result of the increase in numbers of persons affected, rather than an increase in mean expenditures and earnings losses,” attests Charles G. Helmick, M.D., at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He bases his conclusion on a nationwide assessment of medical expenditures and earnings losses associated with arthritis in 2003, compared with figures six years before. The findings and their implications are featured in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritis).
Banned: Crocs
Medgadget– Blekinge Hospital in Sweden has banned Crocs plastic clogs because they allegedly generate static electricity that interferes with hospital equipment: Blekinge hospital in southern Sweden suspects the slip-on shoes, made by US firm Crocs Inc, are to blame for at least three incidents in which respirators and other machines malfunctioned. The mishaps caused no injuries. Hospital spokesman Bjorn Lofqvist said staff wearing the clogs could turn into “a cloud of lighting” because of the static electricity.
Scientist Warns Marathon Runners: Water Won’t Help You Keep Your Cool
Medical News Today– Runners in today’s London Marathon may be tempted to down several litres of water to keep their cool and achieve their best time, but large fluid intake does not achieve either, according to a sports scientist from the University of Exeter.With today’s temperatures expected to reach 19 degrees, the average runner will potentially lose almost a litre of sweat every hour and reach a body temperature of over 39 degrees, two degrees above normal. The sporting community has long assumed that drinking large amounts of water helps to keep the body’s temperature down, which improves performance. A recent study led by Dr Chris Byrne of the University of Exeter shows that the level of fluid intake has absolutely no effect on body temperature or performance.
Doctors Ill-equiped to Address Smoking
UPI– PHILADELPHIA, May 1 (UPI) — Pediatricians believe secondhand smoke is a serious health concern for children, but they are not equipped to help reduce exposure, says a U.S. study. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, surveyed physician training needs and attitudes towards improving secondhand smoke reduction efforts at a Philadelphia hospital.
One Stage Regeneration System For Articular Cartilage Repair From Depuy Mitek Shows Promise In Pilot Study
Medical News Today – DePuy Mitek, Inc. announced a critical milestone in its multi-center randomized pilot study evaluating the safety and performance of its Cartilage Autograft Implantation System (CAIS), with 29 patients enrolled in the study in the United States since March 2006.
This investigational device and method is designed as a primary surgical treatment of damaged knee cartilage using the patient’s own healthy cartilage in a single operation. This study, comparing CAIS to microfracture in patients with lesions of the articular knee cartilage, is the first prospective, randomized multi-center clinical trial for a cell-based therapy product intended for cartilage repair in the United States.
Researchers Develop Economic System For Expanding Stem Cells To Form Cartilage Tissue
Medical News Today – Knee osteoarthritis affects 30 million people worldwide, causing pain and joint stiffness and in severe cases restricted mobility. The limited ability of this tissue to repair itself means that surgical intervention is usually required and over 600,000 surgical procedures are performed each year in the US.
Professor Mohamed Al-Rubeai, currently a UCD Professor of Biochemical Engineering and principal investigator with the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology and UCD Conway Institute has developed an economical tissue engineering approach which could offer new possibilities for restoring damaged or lost knee cartilage tissue.
“Black Box Warning”: Unnecessary Scare About Common Painkillers Caused By FDA
Medical News Today – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has caused an unnecessary scare about some pain relievers by adding a warning to drugs that are safe, says Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. At the same time, he says the agency has failed to recognize the harm of a pain reliever that should be taken off the market.
“The FDA is adding ‘black box’ warnings to all prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers – even to naproxen – which the evidence shows is safe,” said Furberg, who serves on the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. “This is based on the false assumption that all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increase the risk of heart attacks. In fact, there are major differences between these agents.”
Factors Causing Cartilage, Bone Destruction In Arthritis Suppressed By Green Tea Compound
Medical News Today – In rheumatoid arthritis, a person’s own immune system attacks the joints by activating the synovial tissue that lines the body’s movable joints, causing inflammation, swelling, pain and eventually erosion of the bone and cartilage and deformation of the joint. It is among the most debilitating forms of arthritis, often making difficult even the simplest of daily activities.
In a study presented at Experimental Biology 2007, University of Michigan Medical School scientist Dr. Salah-uddin Ahmed reported that a compound derived from green tea was able to inhibit production of several immune system molecules involved in inflammation and joint damage. The compound, named epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), an active principal of green tea extract, is a potent anti-inflammatory molecule, and also was able to inhibit production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and prostaglandin E2, the inflammatory products found in the connective tissue of people with rheumatoid arthritis.
Diabetes News
- Diabetes drugs may lower risk of lung cancer
- Diabetes may be damaging men’s sperm: study
- Diabetes treatment said no threat to mental skills
- A Cherry On Top: Tart Cherries May Alter Heart/Diabetes Factors
- American College Of Physicians And American College Of Physicians Foundation Launch Tools To Improve Diabetes Care
- Depression May Trigger Diabetes In Older Adults
- Taking Pills To Prevent Diabetes Cannot Be Justified, Say Experts
- MayoClinic Highlights Possible Diabetes And Alzheimer’s Connection
- Eating Pistachios May Reduce The Impact Of Carbohydrates On Blood Sugar Levels
- Abbott Announces FDA Clearance And Launch Of New FreeStyle Lite™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System
- FDA Approves Lantus SoloStar(R) – A New Prefilled Disposable Insulin Pen For Use With LANTUS(R) In People With Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes
- New Genetic Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes Identified By U Of M-Led Study
- Revolutionary Immunologic Data Explains Function Of Diamyd Diabetes Vaccine
- Sangamo BioSciences Initiates Additional Phase 2 Clinical Trial Of Novel Therapy For Moderate To Severe Diabetic Neuropathy
- Significant Strides Being Made Against Diabetic Retinopathy
- Novo Nordisk Has Announced That Velosulin Insulin Will Be Withdrawn Earlier Than Expected, UK
- OCT1 Required For Therapeutic Effects Of Diabetes Drug Metformin
- Researchers Help Identify New Genetic Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes
- Effect Of Continuous Glucose Monitoring On Course Of Glucose In Type 1 Diabetes – Clinical Trial Recruiting Patients
- Insulin As A Murder Weapon – A New Book From Royal Society Of Medicine Press
