ScienceCache
Vol. 222
Feb. 28, 2006
‘NORMAL’ CT SCAN DOESN’T RULE OUT BRAIN DAMAGE
FROM CONCUSSIONS
Concussion patients with a normal head CT scan may believe they are
free of brain injury, but CT scans often miss damage at the molecular
level,
warns a new study. In fact, when doctors examine the nerve cells of concussion
patients, the pattern of brain injury is identical for mild and severe
concussions, says lead author Jeffrey J. Bazarian, a brain injury expert
and an attending physician in the emergency department at Strong Memorial
Hospital. In an article in the February Academic Emergency Medicine journal,
Bazarian and colleagues say that a more accurate and rapid diagnostic
test for concussion could lead to better treatment in the short term
and might also prevent long-term neurological problems. “Unfortunately,
the widespread use of the CT scan as the primary tool for diagnosing
head injuries has biased the way we think about concussions,” he
says. “For many people, a more significant axonal injury has occurred,
and this underlies the problems they have with motor skills and memory,
and may also be a risk factor for later development of Alzheimer’s
and Parkinson’s diseases.” Of more than 1.2 million Americans
who seek emergency room care annually for mild head injuries, one of
four patients continues to suffer from symptoms such as forgetfulness,
headaches, and other cognitive defects that persist beyond one year.
Full story
FAST-WORKING BIOSENSOR DETECTS DANGEROUS E. COLI BACTERIA
Scientists have demonstrated a new technology that accurately and rapidly
detects the meat-spoiling and sometimes dangerous E. coli bacteria. The
unique technology uses a protein from the suspect bacteria as part of
the sensing system that also includes a silicon chip and a digital camera.
The research team calls the technology “arrayed imaging reflectometry.” The
system utilizes a silicon chip that is made so that laser light reflected
off the chip is invisible unless the target bacteria are present. While
traditional methods of detection of bacteria can take days, the new test
is nearly instant, says Benjamin Miller, associate professor of dermatology
and part of the Center for Future Health. “We’ve developed
a very inexpensive technology that can detect an infectious agent. It’s
clearly faster and cheaper than any competing technology. This is another
step on the way to point-of-care diagnostics.” The work was published
earlier this month in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Full story
A NEW WRINKLE FOR BOTOX TREATMENTS
Prior to October, Julia Smith suffered daily from an embarrassing and
inconvenient medical condition, urinary incontinence due to an overactive
bladder. But her life changed after she entered a clinical trial testing
Botox as a treatment. “You’d just never know when you were
going to get the urge, and then you would have to move fast,” says
Smith, a 67-year-old grandmother. “It’s very difficult and
people don’t want to talk about it.” Smith tried medications
and other therapy, but nothing worked, she says, until she received Botox
injections directly into her bladder muscle. “It took a week to
begin working and then it just stopped,” Smith says of her incontinence. “I
found out that you don’t have to grin and bear it.” Michael
K. Flynn, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and urology,
is leading the Botox research. “When Ms. Smith entered our study,
she had exhausted nearly all of her options to control her overactive
bladder. The dramatic change in the severity of her leakage after the
injection was remarkable,” Flynn says of the effects he observed
in Smith. “We are optimistic that this medication will be as effective
and safe as our preliminary studies suggest.” In general, Botox
works by preventing nerves from sending signals to other nerves and muscles,
therefore preventing the muscles from contracting. Women with severe
incontinence have bladder muscles that contract uncontrollably.
Full story
HEART FAILURE RATES RISE SINCE 1970s
The incidence of heart failure has risen among the elderly, possibly
due to improved survival of coronary disease from better surgical and
medical treatments, according to a study in this month’s Circulation:
Journal of the American Heart Association. In a retrospective study of
medical records of thousands of patients between the 1970s and 1990s,
the researchers also observed that survival time with heart failure improved
more in men than in women. “The recent death of well-known author
and feminist Betty Friedan, at age 85 of congestive heart failure, reminds
us that as people reach their outer limits, this is a prevailing reason
why people die,” says lead author William H. Barker, professor
emeritus of community and preventive medicine and of gerontology. “Heart
failure has become the most common hospital discharge diagnosis for men
and women over age 65. This disabling and costly condition deserves to
be the highest research priority so that we can learn more about precipitating
factors and its management.” The incidence of heart failure jumped
14 percent during the study period. And while the incidence rates increased
for both sexes at about the same rate, the death rates fell between the
two periods by 33 percent for men and 24 percent for women, the study
showed.
Full story
GRIN EXPERT HONORED WITH OPTICAL ENGINEERING'S TOP HONOR
Duncan Moore, the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering,
has won the International Society for Optical Engineering's (SPIE) Gold
Medal award. The medal is the highest honor SPIE bestows. It is presented
annually in recognition of outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments
that have proven pivotal to the progress of optics. Moore won the honor
for his innovative research in gradient-index, or GRIN, lenses. GRIN
systems use a special type of lens that mimics the way insect eyes work
and allows light to travel in curved paths. Tiny GRIN lenses often take
the place of much bigger conventional lenses and have made possible desk-top
copiers and fax machines. An optical engineer and businessman who is
an internationally recognized expert on lens design, Moore has held several
highly prominent national administrative posts. He has served as science
and technology advisor to U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller; associate director
for technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy;
president and chief executive officer of the Infotonics Technology Center,
Inc., an industry, academia, and government partnership to foster research;
dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and president
of the Optical Society of America.
Full story
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