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    Category Health/Medical

    Breathing in a Cure: Inhalable Ibuprofen on the Horizon for CF

    July 3, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Researchers working on inhalable ibuprofen to treat cystic fibrosis

    Researchers working on inhalable ibuprofen to treat cystic fibrosis

    In cystic fibrosis, high dose ibuprofen helps slow decline of lung function, a disease caused by having two ‘bad’ copies of a gene that codes for a protein important in fluid secretion. Improved lung function is important, given that most people diagnosed die by their early 50s, usually due to chronic lung infections caused by their inability to move particles, including bacteria, up and out of the lungs. The downside is that ibuprofen doses that high, when taken routinely, can result in gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and – when combined with the antibiotics that these patients often have to take for their recurring lung infections – acute kidney injury...

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    A Little Spark for Sharper Sight

    July 3, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Highlights •Twenty minutes of direct-current stimulation improved visual acuity by ∼15% •Stimulation changed the amplitude of visually evoked potentials •Subjects with the lowest acuity benefited the most from stimulation

    Highlights •Twenty minutes of direct-current stimulation improved visual acuity by ∼15% •Stimulation changed the amplitude of visually evoked potentials •Subjects with the lowest acuity benefited the most from stimulation

    Stimulating the visual cortex of the brain for 20 minutes with a mild electrical current can improve vision for about 2 hours, and those with worse vision see the most improvement, according to a Vanderbilt University study published this week in Current Biology. A/prof Geoff Woodman said...

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    Artificial Pancreas likely to be available by 2018

    July 2, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A prototype closed-loop system. (a) A prototype closed-loop system comprises a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) sensor and receiver, an insulin pump, and a mobile phone running a control algorithm (potentially the algorithm may be located on the insulin pump obviating the need for a hand-held controller/mobile phone device). (b) A photo of a participant (obtained with consent) using the closed-loop system during a home study [8]

    A prototype closed-loop system. (a) A prototype closed-loop system comprises a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) sensor and receiver, an insulin pump, and a mobile phone running a control algorithm (potentially the algorithm may be located on the insulin pump obviating the need for a hand-held controller/mobile phone device). (b) A photo of a participant (obtained with consent) using the closed-loop system during a home study [8]

    The artificial pancreas – a device which monitors blood glucose in patients with type 1 diabetes and then automatically adjusts levels of insulin entering the body – is likely to be available by 2018...

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    Current Stimulation to the Brain Partially Restores Vision in patients with Glaucoma and Optic Nerve Damage

    June 29, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Glaucoma slowly and silently clouds vision, without any pain. Credit: Photo courtesy of NEI

    Glaucoma slowly and silently clouds vision, without any pain. Credit: Photo courtesy of NEI

    Vision loss due to glaucoma or optic nerve damage is generally considered irreversible. Now a new prospective, randomized, multi-center clinical trial demonstrates significant vision improvement in partially blind patients after 10 days of noninvasive,transorbital alternating current stimulation (ACS). In addition to activation of their residual vision, patients also experienced improvement in vision-related quality of life eg acuity, reading, mobility or orientation.

    “ACS treatment is a safe and effective means to partially restore vision after optic nerve damage probably by modulating brain plasticity, re-synchronizing brain networks, which were desynchronized by vision loss...

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