miércoles, 9 de julio de 2014

Unapproved device buys time for new lungs, rare mutations reduce heart disease risk, and more

In The News Template banner

Jon Sacker was near death, too sick for doctors to attempt the double lung transplant he so desperately needed. His only chance: An experimental machine that essentially works like dialysis for the lungs. Sacker's struggle highlights a critical void: There is no fully functioning artificial lung to buy time for someone awaiting a transplant, like patients who need a new heart can stay alive with an implanted heart pump or those with failing kidneys can turn to dialysis.
NIH Research Matters
Rare mutations reduce heart disease risk
Carol Torgan, Ph.D.
A large team of researchers led by Dr. Sekar Kathiresan of Massachusetts General Hospital and Broad Institute identified variations in a gene that are associated with lower triglyceride levels and a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. The findings may suggest new directions for development of therapeutics.The study was part of the Exome Sequencing Project of NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The overall goal of this project is to sequence protein-coding regions (exomes) to discover novel genes and mechanisms contributing to heart, lung, and blood disorders.
Scientists working to make gene therapy a reality have solved a major hurdle: how to bypass a blood stem cell's natural defenses and efficiently insert disease-fighting genes into the cell's genome. These findings based on NHLBI-funded work, published recently online ahead of print by the journal Blood, could lead to more effective and affordable long-term treatments for blood cell disorders in which mutations in the DNA cause abnormal cell functions, such as in leukemia and sickle cell anemia.
Risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) are present and identifiable 30 years before diagnosis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest avenues for future research to determine whether certain early interventions can prevent future kidney disease. Caroline S. Fox, MD MPH, Gearoid McMahon, MB, BCh (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study and the Center for Population Studies), and their colleagues investigated whether CKD risk factors might be present decades before the diagnosis of CKD.
Researchers in the University of Georgia College of Public Health received a five-year, $3.15 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health aimed at improving opportunities for individuals to better manage their chronic illness in the workplace.

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario