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nehaha00

Cooled Organs Stretch Transplant Time - 0 views

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    In the article "Super Cooled Organs Could Stretch Time To Transplant" the author discusses how scientists have started an experiment to stretch out the shelf life of a harvested organ. The experiment was performed on rats, and in order to perform the experiment the scientists first harvested organs and essentially froze them, then the organs were sprayed with a variety of chemicals to keep the organ from developing ice crystals as well as to keep the organ functional. Then, after 3-4 days the organs were "defrosted" and transplanted to rats. The result was that that rats that received 3 day old organs (livers) lived for about 3 months and rats who received 4 day old livers had a 60% survival rate; whereas, rats who were given 3/4 day old livers preserved by modern day techniques all died. Which shows that the organ freezing method could potentially advance the duration for which an organ can be kept functional after being removed from a body which could drastically change the field of organ transplants.
sami99

Face Off | Popular Science - 0 views

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    When Connie Culp was shot in the face by her husband she was given the opportunity to undergo a face transplant. The chairman of the surgery Jeffery Mathews states that the is the most dramatic technological advances ever. To complete the surgery they have to attach the small muscles veins and nerves between the patient and the donors face. To make sure the patient doesn't reject the transplant they have to infuse special marrow cells and immune suppressing drugs.
Nicholas Scholz

Treatments and Medications Used for Patients with MS - 0 views

  • Corticosteroids are mainly used to reduce the inflammation that spikes during a relapse
  • Beta interferons. These types of drugs — such as Avonex, Betaseron, Extavia and Rebif — appear to slow the progress of multiple sclerosis, reduce the number of attacks and lessen the severity of attacks
  • (Copaxone). This medication may reduce the number of MS attacks
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  • (Tysabri). This medication may reduce the number of MS attacks by interfering with the movement of potentially damaging immune cells from your bloodstream to your brain and spinal cord.
  • Teriflunomide (Aubagio). This oral medication reduces attacks and lesions in people with MS.
  • Medications such as amantadine may help reduce fatigue due to multiple sclerosis.
  • Dalfampridine (Ampyra). This oral medication may improve walking speed in some people. The major side effect is seizures.
  • Muscle relaxants. If you have multiple sclerosis, you may experience painful or uncontrollable muscle stiffness or spasms, particularly in your legs. Muscle relaxants such as baclofen (Lioresal) and tizanidine (Zanaflex) may improve muscle spasticity
  • A physical or occupational therapist can teach you stretching and strengthening exercises and show you how to use devices that can make it easier to perform daily tasks.
  • For example, stem cell transplantation is being studied. In a stem cell transplant, doctors inject healthy stem cells into your body to replace diseased stem cells.
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    Though MS obviously has no cure there are plenty of procedures and medications that can be used to lessen the effects of the disease. Treating specific attacks reduces the damage to the myelin sheath. Two methods for controlling the attacks are plasma exchanges and corticosteroids. Another way to control the effects of MS is by slowing the progression of the disease. There are many different drugs that slow the rate of relapses some of which include Beta Interferons, Copaxone, Gilenya, and Tysabri. In addition to these medications, other strategies can be used to treat the symptoms, which include physical therapy and muscle relaxants. 
Melissa Menghini

Retina stem cell transplants restore sight to blind mice: study - NY Daily News - 0 views

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    British scientists have recently restored sight to blind mice by the use of stem cells from mice embryos. These stem cells were put into a lab dish; there, they separated into immature photo-receptors. These were then injected into the mice's retinas, and actually brought sight back into some of the blind. This successful experiment makes scientists hopeful that they can restore sight to blind humans in the future. Although these cells can become very beneficial, they can also turn cancerous. New scientific advancements have bettered the stem cell procedure, but problems with the process are still arising. 
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