Health Care Blog

In a dramatic display of stem cells’ potential for healing, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists reports that they’ve engineered new, completed, fully-working motor neuron circuits — neurons stretching from spinal cord to target muscles — in paralyzed adult animals.
The research, in which mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were injected into rats whose virus-damaged spinal [...]

Despite their celebrated “immortality,” the capacity of embryonic stem (ES) cells for endless division has its limits. After a very extended childhood spent dividing in a culture dish, even stem cells tend to grow up and assume adult roles as workaday nerve, muscle, or blood cells, never to return to their youthful state.
How some ES [...]

BioEden (registered with the FDA), is the first fully operational processing laboratory and storage bank for primary teeth stem cells to open in the U.S. Their state-of-the-art facilities are located in Austin, Texas, and will serve children and their families nationwide. BioEden is also the only cell storage facility willing to guarantee their services.
The stem [...]

A state-of-the-art, soft, foldable lens (approved by the Food and Drug Administration) is inserted behind the iris during a quick, outpatient procedure now being done by three eye surgeons in Indianapolis and several others throughout the state.
The procedure costs $5,900 for both eyes. Insurance does not cover the cost. It’s designed for patients who aren’t [...]

A total of 6 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean will receive free eye treatment thanks to Venezuela’s Mision Milagro (Miracle Mission), President Hugo Chavez said Thursday.
Mision Milagros, a joint Cuban-Venezuelan organization offering free eye treatment to needy patients, began by serving only Venezuelans but is now available to all Latin Americans.
In [...]

Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTK) announced today an agreement with Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop a nasal spray formulation of exenatide, a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Preclinical studies of the formulation have been completed in preparation for initiating studies to determine feasibility in human subjects.
Nastech would receive milestone payments of up to $89 million [...]

Karim Nayernia, who is relocating from Germany to take up the post of Professor of Stem Cell Biology at Newcastle University, is carrying out pioneering work that has the potential to lead to future therapies for a range of medical conditions such as heart disease, Parkinson’s Disease and male infertility.
He will be based at the [...]

Brandyn Orr, 12, of Mesa was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2 years old and relapsed when he was 6. He was treated with an umbilical cord blood transplant using the blood collected during the birth of his brother Devyn, 7.
Also known as “placental blood,” cord blood is what remains in the umbilical [...]

A World Health Organization probe revealed that the bird flu virus mutated within an Indonesian family. An Indonesian man who died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu almost certainly caught the disease from his 10-year-old son. He is the first laboratory-confirmed case of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 strain.

It is important to not have extremely high expectations about laser eye surgery, This treatment may not be suitable for some people.
Pregnant women, people who suffer from diabetes, patients who have problems with binocular visions, thin corneas, dry eyes or large pupils may not be good candidates for this type of treatment.
In most cases laser [...]