The Health TechZone saw a strong focus on disease treatment this week. Let's take a look at some new developments that occurred this week in the fight against disease.
Before Massachusetts General became a site for treating Boston's bombing victims, researchers grew new kidneys for lab rats. They removed kidneys from 68 rats and eliminated interior cells using detergent, which left a "scaffolding" of sorts for all of the kidney's functional plumbing. They then lined the scaffolding with baby rat renal cells and human blood vessel lining cells.
Within three to five days, researchers had newly bioengineered kidneys that functioned reasonably well when transplanted back into rats. The technique, which may be tried next in pigs, created transplantable kidneys with much lower rejection possibilities. The treatment could provide hope for more than 20 million American adults who have chronic kidney disease.
At the University of Washington, researchers engineered an artificial bridge between a paralyzed monkey's spinal cord and its brain. In earlier experiments, researchers had tried to restore movement to paralyzed patients by creating electrical connections between the brain and the muscles.
By wiring the brain directly to the spinal cord, doctors were able to help the monkey to partially recover its ability to grasp and to move one arm. The research isn't ready for humans quite yet, but it could eventually help approximately 200,000 Americans who live with spinal cord injuries.
Vaccinations prevent many kinds of infectious diseases in countries throughout the world. A recent study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics has found that social networking has a major impact on whether first-time parents choose to vaccinate their children.
Unfortunately, misinformation about the link between vaccination and autism has frightened many parents into avoiding or delaying crucial vaccinations for their children. Old diseases like measles and whooping cough have begun to re-emerge in children because parents have made these decisions. Many first-time parents find incorrect information on the Internet, and social media disseminates much of that misinformation.
While the study didn't propose a solution, it reinforces the idea that you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. Unless it's in the Health TechZone,of course. With that, we leave you to your weekend with the hope that the world will become less newsworthy for a while.
