Tag Archives: story

Cells play ‘tag’ to determine direction of movement

Scientists from Barcelona and London, looked at cells in the neural crest, a very mobile embryonic structure in vertebrates that gives rise to most of the peripheral nervous system and to other cell types in the cardiovascular system, pigment cells in the skin, and some bones, cartilage, and connective tissue in the head. Researchers saw that, during development, these neural crest cells ‘chase’ other types of cells — so-called placodal cells that give rise to the sensory organs — which dash away when approached, thus propelling the cell sheet in a certain direction. "The effect can also be likened to a donkey and carrot effect, with the neural crest cells — the donkey — chasing but never quite reaching the carrot, the placodal cells," explains Xavier Trepat, ICREA Research Professor of the UB and leader of the Research Group on Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics of IBEC…

Medical assessment in the blink of an eye

There are many routes to making snap judgments (not all of them particularly useful). One of these is our ability to get the "gist" of an entire image by analyzing the whole scene at once, based on interpretation of global properties and image statistics, not focusing on specific details.That seems to be what medical experts can do. They are not perfect in a fraction of a second but they do far better than random guessing when classifying medical images as normal or abnormal even though, in that blink of an eye, they cannot tell you where the problem might be located. …

Chemotherapy: Greater potential benefit in overall survival for eribulin compared with capecitabine

The specific patient populations who appeared to benefit from eribulin, in comparison to capecitabine, are as follows: Patients with more than two organs involved with metastatic breast cancer Patients who had not received chemotherapy for six months or longer Patients who had received anthracycline and/or a taxane therapies in the metastatic setting Previous pre-specified exploratory analysis of overall survival and progression-free survival showed women with triple-negative, ER-negative, HER2-negative also had a greater relative benefit in overall survival with eribulin over capecitabine. …

Girl dying of cystic fibrosis to receive lung transplant

Sarah Murgnahan, the 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl dying of cystic fibrosis, is getting a brand new pair of lungs. According to a Facebook post from Sarah’s mother, Janet, the family received word this morning of new lungs that had been made available, and Sarah will be taken to the operating room within the next 30 minutes.  The operation will take many hours. Sarah has been in desperate need of a lung transplant for the past 18 months.  However, under the current guidelines for organ donation, children under the age of 12 must wait for pediatric lungs to become available.  Adult lungs cannot be offered to children under 12, until they are offered to adults and adolescents first. The Murnaghans retained a lawyer last week and filed a lawsuit to have the guidelines changed, arguing the rule keeping Sarah off the list is “discriminatory.” A federal court judge granted a temporary order on June 5 that allowed Sarah to join an adult organ transplant list. It is not clear whether Sarah’s donor is an adult or a child. This story is developing.  source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/12/girl-dying-cystic-fibrosis-to-receive-lung-transplant-today/

Screening fails to affect breast cancer mortality statistics, UK study finds

Researchers from the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford sought evidence of a decline in population-based breast cancer mortality that could be attributed to the implementation of mammographic screening programmes. They concluded that population-based mortality statistics for England do not show a past benefit of breast cancer screening…

Master regulator in cancer metastasis discovered

The transformation of sedentary, specialized cells into wandering, invasive, and unspecialized cells is called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is central to metastasis. EMT is a multistage process, which is accompanied by a fundamental change in cell morphology and number of genetic programs. The molecular processes that govern EMT, however, are still poorly understood. Main Switch Found The research groups of Prof. …

Paris Jackson has long road to recovery ahead

An unnamed source who was at the hospital where Paris Jackson is recovering from a reported suicide attempt was quoted as saying, “She’s going to be OK.” Well, she isn’t going to be just fine—not without the very best psychiatry has to offer.  And that may or may not be enough. How can I say that without having evaluated Paris Jackson in person?   I can say it because I know human beings are not only emotionally sensitive, but also self-searching.  We need to know our authentic life stories and to have a firm grasp on our truth.  This makes us able to survive the real challenges that any life inevitably includes—such as the loss of loved ones, transitions through adolescence to adulthood, relationships that veer into conflict, people who don’t like us and say so, setbacks and challenges and traumas of every conceivable variety. When you are born to a talented musician addicted to plastic surgery, who conceived you with a woman he hardly knew, who appeared in public in costume, behind dark glasses, you are not going to be OK.  When you are born to a man who was accused by multiple people of being a pedophile, who himself spoke and acted frequently like a little boy, who dangled a child out a window several stories off the ground, you are not going to be OK.  You are going to have a long journey in search of your truth, fraught with pain.  And overcoming all of it will be a significant triumph. It is perhaps telling that Paris Jackson, born into Neverland Ranch as a live product of the entertainment industry, would tweet lyrics from songs as a way of trying to express herself.  “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.  Now, it looks as though they’re here to stay.”  Tweeting them is part of the problem, of course.  Who tweets when having survived a reported suicide attempt?

Woman undergoes quadruple amputation after black market silicone butt injections

Apryl Michelle Brown had black-market silicone injections which turned out to be bathroom sealant. It left her in agony and led to her losing her hands and feet, as well as her buttocks. The 46-year-old former hairdresser blames “vanity” and wants to warn others of the terrible dangers of such illegal treatments. Teased as a child about her “pancake” bum, Brown vowed to buy a shapelier one when she was older. The moment that changed her life came in 2004, when two women walked into her successful beauty salon to get their hair done. One of them ran “pumping parties” — where unqualified practitioners inject illegal silicone into “patients” at their home. Brown, from Los Angeles, Calif., said: “One of the women told me how she had given bottom injections to the friend who was with her. “I remember thinking it was a miracle she’d walked into my life. Her friend showed me the work she’d had done and it looked great. “In a split second I made the decision that I was going to go to this woman and let her inject silicone into my behind.” That decision nearly killed her. Brown paid the woman, who had no medical background for two lots of injections. Doctors later discovered the substance used was industrial-grade silicone. Brown admitted: “I didn’t do any research. A combination of naivety, misplaced trust and insecurity led me to take this disastrous decision. “I trusted her because she seemed so professional, and I had no reason to think anything awful was going to happen. “She carried out the procedure in her daughter’s bedroom. She assessed my bottom and said, ‘You’ll need three or four sessions to get the result you want’. “The first procedure took an hour. I remember asking, ‘Is it meant to be so painful?’ and she said, ‘Yes’. It felt like it was squeezing through my nerves.” Within weeks Brown returned for her second treatment. She said: “After going through it again I had an epiphany. As I left her house I thought, ‘What am I doing? I have no idea what she’s putting in my body’. “I never returned. But though I didn’t know it then, my life had already changed forever.” Over the next two years the area where she’d been injected became hard and the skin blackened. Brown, mother to daughters Danye, 22 and Courtney, 21, said:  “Within a few months of the second injection my buttocks began to harden. I knew something wasn’t right. But shame stopped me seeking medical help. As time went on it got worse as the skin blackened. I developed hard lumps. Then the searing pain started. I had to tell my doctor what I did. I was so ashamed.” Brown spent the next four years in constant pain. Two surgeons told her it was too dangerous to remove the silicone. She said: “I was in so much agony I became a regular at hospital asking for medication to ease what was like a combination of a migraine, childbirth and toothache localized in one area. “I suffered day and night, so I was willing to do anything — including remove my buttocks.” In February 2011 a surgeon operated unsuccessfully. Brown developed a hole in her buttocks — thought to be the trigger for an infection that in June was nearly fatal.  She said: “I was 24 hours from dying. I didn’t think of leaving my family. It was a relief I’d finally be free of pain.” Doctors put her in an induced coma for two months while performing 27 surgeries — starting with amputating her buttocks — and doing extensive skin grafts. She said: “They saved me but gangrene set into my hands and feet. I was brought out of sedation shortly before I became a quadruple amputee. “My hands looked like those of a dead person. I knew then I was going to lose them.” She added: “At first you try to register your new limbs. The real comprehension comes when you start to live this new life. “I had dark times. I cried a sea of tears. I had to face the fact I’d lost my hands, feet and buttocks because of complications from bottom injections. I was overwhelmed by shame and guilt... all because I wanted a bigger bottom. “I was six months in hospital. By the time I was discharged I was determined to turn this terrible thing into something positive. “I decided to do a triathlon. I told myself if I could achieve that I could do anything. “I took my first steps again by the end of 2011. I built up to training six days a week, learning to walk, cycle then swim again using my residual limbs. “I’d be crying in pain but I’d push through it. And six weeks ago I did it — completing a three-mile walk, ten-mile cycle and a 150-meter swim. “When I crossed that finishing line with my family cheering me on, I cried tears of joy.” She added: “I haven’t sued or sought compensation. I just want to move on. There are things I miss dearly — I’ll never be able to do my girls’ hair or feel sand between my toes. “But I believe I survived to share my story. “I want to warn others of the dangers of black-market surgery. We were born whole, perfect and complete. “My greatest message is we have to learn to love and accept ourselves for who we are.” Click for more from The Sun. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/29/woman-becomes-quadruple-amputee-after-black-market-silicone-injections/