Blood Vessels News and Research

RSS

Blood vessels for heart bypass could be available ‘off-the-shelf’ soon: Study

Scientists from USA have developed a method to produce a ready made supply of blood vessels for use in heart bypass surgery. A study on baboons and dogs reported in journal Science Translational Medicine suggests vessels could be stored for up to a year and used by any patient. These vessels have been grown earlier from a patient’s own cells, but this takes several months.

6 Feb 2011

Super spinach really boosts power: Study

Scientists have found out the basis of what we already knew – spinach is good for us. They have found that it is the nitrates in spinach that are abundant in all green leafy vegetables that boosts the powerhouses in cells which provide energy. In fact a single helping of spinach is enough to increase the efficiency of mitochondria. These are small bean-shaped bodies which fuel cell activity and growth. This explains how Popeye the Sailor man – a famous cartoon character, who dates back to the 1930s, gets his power from a can of spinach.

6 Feb 2011

People can encounter common hazards like frostbite, frostnip during winter

Winter can be especially hazardous to human health with frostbite and frostnip being among the more common hazards people are likely to encounter. Frostbite and frostnip occur when the human body is exposed to extremely low temperatures for a period of time without the proper clothing for the conditions. Extreme cold causes the blood vessels of the body to begin to narrow and constrict, reducing blood flow to the extremities, such as ears, the nose, hands and feet.

5 Feb 2011

CVVS scientist receives top UK award for ground-breaking research on vascular stem cells, eye disease

One of Northern Ireland's leading scientists has received a top UK award, to support ground-breaking research into vascular stem cells and eye disease at Queen's University.

5 Feb 2011

Scientists discover how stressed cells boost thrombin production

In our not-so-distant evolutionary past, stress often meant imminent danger, and the risk of blood loss, so part of our body's stress response is to stock-pile blood-clotting factors. Scientists in the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, a collaboration between the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and the University of Heidelberg Medical Centre, have discovered how stressed cells boost the production of the key blood-clotting factor, thrombin.

4 Feb 2011

Scientists discover how stressed cells boost production of key blood-clotting factor, thrombin

Scientists in a collaboration between EMBL Heidelberg and the University of Heidelberg Medical Centre have discovered how stressed cells boost the production of the key blood-clotting factor, thrombin. Their work, published today in Molecular Cell, shows how cancer cells may be taking advantage of this process, and opens new possibilities for fighting back against cancer and septicaemia.

4 Feb 2011

Queen’s scientist awarded Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award

One of Northern Ireland's leading scientists has received a top UK award, to support ground-breaking research into vascular stem cells and eye disease at Queen's University.

4 Feb 2011

Sodium Thiosulfate Injections recalled

American Regent is conducting a nationwide voluntary recall.

4 Feb 2011

Cardiac team implants pulmonary valve in children without open-heart surgery

The pediatric cardiac team at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital is the first in the region and one of a handful in the nation to implant a pulmonary heart valve without open-heart surgery.

4 Feb 2011

Rare new disease identified – calcium accumulates in blood vessels

A new rare disease has been identified. Louise Benge’s started having difficulty in walking when she was 25. She developed hardening and pain over her calves and hands. She worsened over the next 20 years. Her family physician in Mount Vernon, Ky., was at a loss, as were a vascular specialist, a hand specialist and a kidney specialist. Her two sisters and two brothers had the problem too, but no doctor could understand why.

3 Feb 2011

Researchers to develop new diagnostics platform for early detection of lung cancer

The earlier cancers can be detected, the better the chances of a cure. Researchers are now working to develop a new diagnostics platform with which the illness can be diagnosed in its early stages, even during a visit to the general practitioner: protein biomarkers in exhaled air divulge the presence of pathological cells in the lung.

3 Feb 2011

International scientist team identifies gene mutation strongly linked to schizophrenia

In a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists, led by Jonathan Sebat, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a gene mutation strongly linked to the brain disorder - and a signaling pathway that may be treatable with existing compounds.

3 Feb 2011

New replacement valve can help patients to avoid multiple open-heart surgeries

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of major birth defects in the U.S., affecting about 34,000 babies each year. Twenty percent of these patients are born with a malformation of the pulmonary valve, which is a flap-like opening on the right side of the heart that is responsible for regulating the blood flow to the lungs. Now, a new replacement valve being used at Rush University Medical Center can help patients with damaged heart valves delay or avoid multiple open-heart surgeries.

3 Feb 2011

Targeted delivery combination crosses brain protecting barrier and homes in on tumors

A targeted delivery combination selectively crosses the tight barrier that protects the brain from the bloodstream to home in on and bind to brain tumors, a research team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

2 Feb 2011

Mother’s stroke history can help predict daughter’s risk of heart attack

If you're a woman and your mother had a stroke, you may have a risk of heart attack in addition to a higher risk of stroke, according to new research on family history and heart disease published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.

2 Feb 2011

Study finds treatment-related mortality with bevacizumab in cancer patients

Cancer patients treated with the chemotherapy agent bevacizumab may be at an increased risk of treatment-related death when the drug is used in combination with other therapies.

2 Feb 2011

Scientists discover breast cancer cells that dodge immune system, promote tumor growth

Scientists discovered a new way breast cancer cells dodge the immune system and promote tumor growth, providing a fresh treatment target in the fight against the disease. While comparable mechanisms to avoid the immune system have been identified in mice with breast and other cancers, the study tested human breast tumor cells, putting researchers closer to understanding how the disease progresses in real patients.

2 Feb 2011

New compound appears to prevent pain crises in sickle cell disease: GHSU

A new compound appears to prevent the traffic jam of cells that causes debilitating pain crises and associated mortality in sickle cell disease, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.

1 Feb 2011

Researchers grow arteries with elasticity of natural blood vessels outside the body

University of Pittsburgh researchers have grown arteries that exhibit the elasticity of natural blood vessels at the highest levels reported, a development that could overcome a major barrier to creating living-tissue replacements for damaged arteries, the team reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Feb 2011

Red wine polyphenols prevent ageing-induced endothelial dysfunction

The endothelium is the inner lining of our blood vessels and normal functions of endothelial cells include enabling coagulation, platelet adhesion and immune function. Endothelial dysfunction is associated with reduced anticoagulant properties and the inability of arteries and arterioles to dilate fully.

1 Feb 2011