Health News: Nanoparticle therapy promotes wound healing ♦ Preserving milk using pulsed electric field processing ♦ Laparoscopic hysterectomy may be safer

Nanoparticle therapy promotes wound healing  An experimental therapy successfully tested in mice cut in half the time it takes to heal wounds compared to no treatment at all. "We envision that our nanoparticle therapy could be used to speed the healing of all sorts of wounds,  Continue Reading

Preserving milk using energy efficient pulsed electric field processing  High voltage, short pulsed electric fields selectively damage cell membrane directly killing the contaminating bacteria by a process known as electroporation. Continue Reading

Laparoscopic hysterectomy may be safer than abdominal procedure  A study has compared the relative risks of laparoscopic hysterectomy (with morcellation) with abdominal surgery for hysterectomy in premenopausal women for presumed uterine fibroids. Examining short- and long-term complications,they found that abdominal surgery carries a higher risk of complications Continue Reading

Malaria-infected cells produce odors attractive to mosquitoes   The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum produces chemical compounds called terpenes that give off odors that attract mosquitoes, according to new research. The study might explain why the insects are more likely to bite humans or animals infected with the organism. Continue Reading

Soils retain radioactivity in Fukushima  The soil's physical and chemical properties in rice fields around the Fukushima site have been the focus of recent study. Researchers examined factors affecting soil-to-plant transfer of radioactive cesium in the Fukushima area. Continue Reading

11/26/13 Health News: Monsanto Signs Pesticide Deal, Biggest Mistake Doctors Make, Vitamin D Helps Kidney Transplants, Childrens Wound Healing Geans

Maui signs pesticide disclosure deal with Monsanto

WAILUKU, Hawaii -- Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa has signed a pesticide disclosure agreement with agricultural giant Monsanto. The county said Wednesday the deal requires Monsanto to disclose what types of restricted-use pesticides it's using and how much.continue reading

Two Genes May Accelerate Wound Healing in the Young

The mystery of why wounds heal more quickly in the young compared to the elderly may soon be solved following the discovery of two of the genes involved in tissue regeneration. The scientists believe that the genes, called Lin28a and IMP1, are designed to be especially active during the foetal stages of development and are gradually turned off as an animal ages - which could explain why wounds take longer to heal in the elderly and how ageing occurs.continue reading

Vitamin D for Healthy Kidney Transplants

A new study suggests that getting enough of a crucial vitamin may be essential for maintaining kidney health after a transplant. The study showed that vitamin D levels were directly related to how well patients' kidneys filtered waste out of the blood in the years after transplant surgery. Patients with lower levels of vitamin D were more likely to have an organ rejection.continue reading

The Biggest Mistake Doctors Make

Misdiagnoses are harmful and costly. But they're often preventable.

A patient with abdominal pain dies from a ruptured appendix after a doctor fails to do a complete physical exam. A biopsy comes back positive for prostate cancer, but no one follows up when the lab result gets misplaced. A child's fever and rash are diagnosed as a viral illness, but they turn out to be a much more serious case of bacterial meningitis. Such devastating errors lead to permanent damage or death for as many as 160,000 patients each year, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Not only are diagnostic problems more common than other medical mistakes—and more likely to harm patients—but they're also the leading cause of malpractice claims, accounting for 35% of nearly $39 billion in payouts in the U.S. from 1986 to 2010, measured in 2011 dollars, according to Johns Hopkins. The good news is that diagnostic errors are more likely to be preventable continue reading