Gangrene News and Research

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Gangrene is a type of tissue death which occurs due to loss of blood supply. This may affect any part of the body but usually affects the peripheral extremities like feet, toes, fingers, hands, penis etc.

Cold weather can trigger Raynaud's disease

Cold weather triggers a painful and sometimes debilitating disorder for millions of Americans who suffer from Raynaud's disease (also known as Raynaud's syndrome or phenomenon). Raynaud's is an autoimmune disorder in which spasms in the blood vessels can interrupt blood flow to the fingers, toes, nose and ears. Exposure to cold triggers the spasms, typically causing the affected area to turn white, then blue, then bright red. Emotional stress can also cause an attack.

17 Nov 2009

Report on the epidemiology of PAD, TAO and CLI in India

A new analysis published by THE SAGE GROUP concludes that atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) afflicts over 20 million in India. Both PAD and CLI represent major and significantly underestimated problems for the Indian economy and healthcare system.

13 Nov 2009

Peripheral arterial disease linked to lifestyle changes

Modifying the risk of peripheral arterial disease (or PAD)-with healthy lifestyle changes-remains vital to one's health, note researchers in a recent issue of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. And while PAD can progress and worsen over time, there is not enough evidence yet to advocate minimally invasive treatment in patients who have had a narrowing or blockage of a leg artery but showing no signs or symptoms of the disease, say Irish researchers in a retrospective study of more than 900 individuals.

22 Oct 2009

Amputation prevention tips for diabetic patients

While "One Foot, Two Foot, Red Foot, Blue Foot" may be the opening line of a humorous children's book by Dr. Seuss, foot complications are no laughing matter to the 20 million Americans with diabetes. According to the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS), ulceration, infection, and gangrene are the most common foot and ankle problems of the diabetic patient.

21 Oct 2009

FDA: Manufacturers to include warning of promethazine hydrochloride injection on labels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is telling manufacturers of the drug promethazine to include a boxed warning regarding the injectable form of the drug.

17 Sep 2009

Significant drop in prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis between 2000 and 2001

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health examined records of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system to determine the prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis (RV) in this population. The study found a downward trend in the number of RA patients who go on to develop RV, with a significant drop of 53% among inpatients and 31% among outpatients between 2000 and 2001.

27 Aug 2009

For doctors in Congress, little harmony on health care

"In the struggle to overhaul the nation's health care system, 16 physicians have ended up in ringside seats - as members of the House and Senate. But they have taken different lessons from their experiences in medicine, and they do not agree on what a bill should look like," The New York Times reports.

14 Jul 2009

New York Times examines challenges faced by a Minneapolis hospital that treats many Somali, Hispanic patients

The New York Times on Sunday profiled the Hennepin County Medical Center, a Minneapolis-based hospital that "offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the American medical establishment."

30 Mar 2009

Saving limbs with drug-eluting stents

Attempts to treat critical limb ischemia in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients with below-the-knee angioplasty are still thwarted by restenosis (the re-narrowing of the artery at the site of angioplasty or stenting), the need for repeat treatments and the continued progression of atherosclerotic disease, leading to tissue death (gangrene) and amputation.

11 Mar 2009

Supreme Court rules against Wyeth in pre-emption case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 6-3 that consumers harmed by an FDA-approved pharmaceutical product can sue the drugmaker for liability in state courts, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/5).

5 Mar 2009

Universal vaccination associated with decreased Canadian cases of most deadly strain of meningitis

Universal childhood vaccination against meningococcal C appears to reduce Canadian incidence of the most deadly strain of bacterial meningitis, reports new research published in the March issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

2 Mar 2009

Invatec launches drug-eluting balloon to treat atherosclerosis below the knee

Invatec, a comprehensive innovator of interventional products, today announced the European launch of a new peripheral balloon, the IN.PACT Amphirion paclitaxel-eluting PTA balloon catheter.

15 Jan 2009

Supreme Court prepares to hear pre-emption case that could give pharmaceutical companies protection against liability

The case of a Vermont women who won a $6 million award from Wyeth for failure to adequately warn her of the risk of one of its products is the "latest in a brisk parade of similar ones" in which the U.S. Supreme Court will examine the principle of pre-emption, which states that FDA approval of drugs or medical devices pre-empts the ability for individuals to sue manufacturers for liability in state courts, the New York Times reports.

22 Sep 2008

Supreme Court to consider whether to bar liability lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies

The U.S. Supreme Court in November will consider whether to shield the makers of prescription and over-the-counter drugs from liability lawsuits, the Los Angeles Times reports.

9 Sep 2008

Living sensor can warn of arsenic pollution

Scientists studying arsenic pollution have discovered a living sensor that can spot contamination. They have also discovered new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously untreatable cold areas, microbiologists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

7 Sep 2008

Gene doping in sport

Professor John Rasko, head of the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program at the Centenary Institute, University of Sydney, talks about gene doping and other methods of performance enhancement on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

8 Aug 2008

New ultrasound imaging system spots early evidence of peripheral arterial disease

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have devised an ultrasound imaging technique that picks up subtle early evidence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) that current conventional tests miss.

17 Jul 2008

New therapies revealed for diabetes-induced microvascular disease

New findings from Bristol scientists could lead to future treatments to prevent lower limb amputations in diabetes - which currently affect 100 people a week in the UK (source Diabetes UK). The research from the University of Bristol is published online in Circulation Research and was funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the European Vascular Genomic Network of Excellence (EVGN).

17 Jul 2008

African Americans have five times higher rate of lower limb amputations

The overall amputation rate in northern Illinois is declining due to improved care for diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, new research shows.

28 Apr 2008

New treatment for severe frostbite

Using imaging to visualize areas lacking blood flow and deliver drugs via catheter, interventional radiologists are reopening recently frozen, clotted arteries with clot-busting and anti-spasmodic drugs.

18 Mar 2008