Bone News and Research

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Shorter course of 8 gray radiotherapy effective for palliation of painful bone metastases

A single treatment of 8 gray (Gy--a unit of measure of absorbed radiation dose) of radiation appears to be as effective in palliating painful bone metastases as the current U.S. standard treatment course of 30 Gy delivered in 10 daily treatments, according to a new study in the June 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

31 May 2005

Shock wave therapy shows remarkable results in wound healing and curing myocardial diseases

Effective, non-invasive and practically without side effects - extracorporeal shock wave therapy has demonstrated impressive results not only in orthopedics and traumatology, but also in treating fresh and chronic wounds as well as circulatory disorders of the myocardial muscle.

31 May 2005

Little mermaid Milagros to have major surgery

Little Peruvian baby girl Milagros who celebrated her first birthday a month ago has been nicknamed the "little mermaid" because her legs resemble the tail of a fish.

31 May 2005

New type of inhalation chemotherapy

Pediatric cancer specialists at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) are investigating a new type of inhalation chemotherapy with the potential to treat children with a deadly bone cancer that has spread to their lungs.

26 May 2005

Stimulating innate immunity helps ease Crohn's disease symptoms

Like throwing oil on a fire or prescribing a high cholesterol diet for heart patients, gastroenterologists traditionally have believed that it would not be a good idea to stoke up the body's immune system to treat Crohn's disease.

26 May 2005

Moderate program of physical exercise helps maintain bone mass in elderly

Debunking the myth that exercising to lose excess body fat, unlike dieting alone, comes at a cost to bone health, researchers at Johns Hopkins have determined that for those age 55 to 75, a moderate program of physical exercise generally maintains bone mass and, in some cases, offers modest improvements.

25 May 2005

Patients disfigured in traumatic incidents may experience significant social and behavioral problems

Patients disfigured in traumatic incidents are much more likely to suffer post traumatic stress disorder, unemployment, marital problems, binge drinking and depression, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

25 May 2005

Fetal programming and childhood factors can't be blamed for poor bone health in mid life

This study collected comprehensive information on birth and childhood factors, and has regularly tracked the health of 1000 babies born in May and June 1947 in Newcastle upon Tyne, north eastern England.

24 May 2005

Australian-New Zealand hormone therapy trial good news for prostate cancer patients

Results of a major trial of hormone therapy on men with locally advanced prostate cancer announced today were a significant development and would be welcomed by patients and oncologists world-wide, according to The Cancer Council Australia.

23 May 2005

Bone loss reduced by blocking body's cannabis-like substances

British scientists have discovered that blocking the action of cannabis-like substances produced naturally by the body can reduce bone loss and they hope this finding will lead to new drugs to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases.

23 May 2005

Gene keeps neural cells on correct developmental path

23 May 2005

Long-term outcomes studied for stem cell transplant recipients

Improved techniques and supportive care have resulted in a growing number of long-term survivors of stem cell transplants, though little is known about the impact transplants have on patients’ lives long after treatment.

23 May 2005

Novel way of administering an anti-cancer drug to bone-marrow transplant patients using continuous infusion

The new method achieves more predictable, stable drug levels in patients than the current method and could eventually allow doctors to more accurately adjust doses to accommodate individual differences in metabolism, thus increasing treatment effectiveness while avoiding side effects, said University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers.

20 May 2005

Gene keeps neural cells on correct developmental path

Embryonic stem cells with identical genomes grow into distinctive tissues, such as heart, bone, and brain. At one time, scientists believed the differences among cell types arose from various sets of genes switched on inside developing cells. Then, studies showed that adult neurons uniquely lack a protein that permanently turns off neuronal genes in the rest of the body's cells.

20 May 2005

Researchers generate patient-specific stem cells

Researchers have isolated the first human embryonic stem cell lines specifically tailored to match the nuclear DNA of patients, both males and females of various ages, suffering from disease or spinal cord injury.

20 May 2005

Infants with Krabbe disease saved by cord blood stem cells

Children with a fatal genetic disorder called Krabbe Disease can be saved and their brain development preserved if they receive stem cells from umbilical cord blood before symptoms of the disease develop, according to a study published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

20 May 2005

Deadly baby disease can be arrested with early treatment

U.S. scientists have found that transplanting umbilical cord blood to seemingly healthy infants before they develop signs of Krabbe's disease can dramatically prolong the lives of children with the deadly genetic condition.

19 May 2005

Artificial disc offers new option for back pain

Until recently San Diego residents with severe back pain from degenerative disc disease have had few options. But Oceanside resident Joan Steggell decided the traditional treatment, spinal fusion, was not the right choice for her. Instead she opted for an innovative new surgery at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital.

18 May 2005

Lower doses of chemo just as effective in childhood cancers

In the latest research into treating a common childhood cancer, paediatric oncologist Allen Chauvenet, is optimistic that the long-term side effects that survivors experience as they grow into adulthood can be reduced.

17 May 2005

Whole-body MRI takes less than twenty minutes to accurately scan a patient’s entire body for cancer spread to the bone

Whole-body MRI with an automatic moving table is effective for evaluating the entire skeleton in patients with suspected bone metastasis (cancer that has spread to the bone from other parts of the body) in a single imaging scan-and it only takes between 15 and 18 minutes, say two different European studies.

17 May 2005