Tag Archives: chronic

Islet cell transplantation after pancreas removal may help preserve normal blood sugar

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is an inflammatory disease that over time leads to loss of function of the pancreas and manifests with intractable pain, malabsorption and diabetes. While medical management and pain control are the initial approaches to CP, some patients need to undergo more invasive procedures to relieve ductal pressure in the pancreas. If those measures fail, surgical options can include total removal of the pancreas (total pancreatectomy, TP) or the Whipple procedure to remove part of the pancreas. Total pancreas removal produces diabetes because insulin-secreting cells are removed…

Lung cancer diagnosed before it is detected by imaging

The team of researchers led by Paul Hofman used a blood test developed during French research, which isolates all types of tumour cells from the bloodstream, without any loss, leaving them intact. The team studied a group of 245 people without cancer, including 168 patients at risk of later developing lung cancer because they had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Participants systematically underwent the blood test and standard diagnostic imaging tests…

New solution in detecting breast-cancer related lymphedema

Now, a team of researchers led by Mei R. Fu, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, associate professor of Chronic Disease Management at the New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN), offers supporting evidence for using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) ratios to assess Lymphedema. The study, "L-DEX Ratio in Detecting Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: Reliability, Sensitivity, and Specificity," published in Lymphology, argues because the low frequency electronic current cannot travel through cell membranes, it provides a direct measure of lymph fluid outside the cells. This allows for a more accurate assessment of lymphedema using a Lymphedema Index named L-Dex ratio. …