Tag Archives: reserve

Cancer experience presents time for lifestyle changes in both survivors and family members

“A window of opportunity exists during the post-treatment transition period for oncology clinicians to reach out to patients and their caregivers who want to have a healthy start on life after cancer,” said Susan Mazanec, PhD, RN, AOCN, assistant professor at Case Western Reserve’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Mazanec, also a nurse scientist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Seidman Cancer Center, was lead investigator of the study, “Health Behaviors in Family Members of Patients Completing Cancer Treatment,” recently reported in Oncology Nursing Forum. Mazanec and colleagues surveyed and interviewed 50 patients diagnosed with breast, colorectal, head and neck, lung or prostate cancers and 38 caregivers within three week of a patient’s last treatment. The questions were designed to gauge family members’ intention, perceived benefit and confidence about eating a healthy diet, physical activity and smoking cessation…

Shape of things to come in platelet mimicry

For the first time, the researchers have been able to integratively mimic the shape, size, flexibility and surface chemistry of real blood platelets on albumin-based particle platforms. The researchers believe these four design factors together are important in inducing clots to form faster selectively at vascular injury sites while preventing harmful clots from forming indiscriminately elsewhere in the body…

Technique to promote nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury restores bladder function in rats

For decades, scientists have experimented with using nerve grafts as a way of bridging the spinal cord injury site in an attempt to recover lost function following spinal cord injury. However, coaxing these cells to grow and form connections capable of relaying nerve signals has been elusive. In the current study, Yu-Shang Lee, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic, together with Jerry Silver, PhD, of Case Western Reserve Medical School, and others, used a chemical that promotes cell growth along with a scar-busting enzyme to create a more hospitable environment for the nerve graft at the injury site. …