Ultrasound 'may stop kidney injury'

1 August 2013 Last updated at 19:58 ET

Ultrasound treatments could be used to prevent a common kidney complication than can arise after major surgery, researchers suggest.

The work, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, was carried out on mice.

But the researchers said there could be a "rapid translation" to human studies because the treatment for acute kidney injury (AKI) was simple and routine.

Experts said the study suggested potential for new therapies.

AKI is the sudden loss of kidney function, which can easily develop in any sick person through infection such as pneumonia, diarrhoea or a heart attack.

AKI can develop after major surgery, such as some kinds of heart surgery, because the kidneys can be deprived of normal blood flow during the procedure.

Once it has developed, there are few treatment options.

'Protection'

The University of Virginia team exposed anesthetised mice to ultrasound using a routine clinical imaging system 24 hours before disrupting the blood supply to the kidneys.

They then found the mice still had healthy kidneys after blood flow was restored.

Continue reading the main story

It suggests that there are protective strategies over and above good basic fluid and medicines management care that are the cornerstones of prevention. "

End Quote Prof Donal O' Donoghue Former National Clinical Director for Kidney Care

But in other mice, who were given a "sham" ultrasound, the same disruption led to significant kidney injury.

The researchers suggest the ultrasound treatment stimulated an anti-inflammatory response from the spleen that then protected the kidneys.

Dr Mark Okusa, who led the study, said: "Our studies using non-invasive ultrasound now provide us with an active treatment that appears to be simple, effective, and nontoxic for the prevention of acute kidney injury.

"To our knowledge this has never been described for the prevention of tissue or organ injury.

"Interestingly, we suspect that similar mechanisms that lead to kidney injury may also lead to lung, heart, and liver damage and that this form of therapy might be effective for prevention of injury in other organs as well."

Prof Donal O'Donoghue, the former national clinical director for kidney care, who has called for action over the level of AKI, said the paper was interesting.

He added: "It suggests that there are protective strategies over and above good basic fluid and medicines management care that are the cornerstones of prevention.

"Studying the animal model further is the next step . But we also need to invest in AKI research in the UK."

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Breast cancer gene tests may treble

2 August 2013 Last updated at 01:47 ET By Gemma Ryall BBC News

The number of people being offered a breast cancer genetic test on the Welsh NHS could treble within the next few years, a leading expert says.

The Welsh government is investing in improved technology which would make it quicker and cheaper to test more patients who may have the BRCA genes.

This was the test which Angelina Jolie took before having a double mastectomy.

Genetics consultant Rachel Butler said there had been a surge in women wanting the test since the actress went public.

Around 120 people deemed to be at high risk of having breast or ovarian cancer are currently tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes each year in Wales on the NHS.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

If you have someone in your family who's had cancer you do worry about having it and if you have a negative test it allays that anxiety and that's a really big thing"

End Quote Dr Rachel Butler Consultant clinical scientist

About 20% of them will have a mutation linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, the Welsh government said.

They can then decide which options are best for them to manage their risk of developing cancer.

Dr Butler, consultant clinical scientist at the All Wales Genetic Laboratory, based at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, said the new technology - which the Welsh government is helping to fund - would help boost the number of patients tested.

Although it would be rolled out gradually across Wales over the next year or two, she estimated that some 300 to 400 people could eventually be offered the test.

"It's a really positive step as this test is important for two main reasons," she said.

"Firstly, I think it really manages anxiety. If you have someone in your family who's had cancer you do worry about having it and if you have a negative test it allays that anxiety and that's a really big thing.

"Secondly, there are now drugs that are particularly effective for people who have breast cancer and have the BRCA1 or 2 mutation.

"This type of personalised medicine, as we call it, does make a difference."

'Angelina Jolie effect'

Dr Butler, who runs the genetic testing laboratory, said demand was "huge" for the test and that the laboratory had seen a "surge" in women coming to them wanting it following the publicity surrounding Angelina Jolie's surgery.

The 37-year-old film star revealed in May that she was told by doctors that she had an 87% risk of developing breast cancer without the radical treatment because of genes she inherited from her mother.

"The Angelina Jolie effect is definitely a good thing as people are now talking about it," said Dr Butler.

"But there are patients who come in to see us and for the counselling we offer and even if we work out that they do not meet the current strict criteria, they still want the test and will pay for it privately instead."

In June, new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines were published which loosened the eligibility criteria for genetic testing of the BRCA cancer gene in England and Wales.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The Angelina Jolie effect is definitely a good thing as people are now talking about it"

End Quote Rachel Butler

It means somebody who has a family member diagnosed before the age of 50 could be eligible for the test. Previously, they had to have two relatives diagnosed before the age of 50.

The Welsh government said it was working to make the tests available for more patients on the NHS.

"Advances in technology (such as next generation sequencing) and new treatment options mean that potentially there is benefit in wider testing for some breast cancer patients," a spokesperson said.

"Testing is becoming cheaper and quicker, and there could be advantages in lowering the threshold for testing.

"This will result in a reduction in the percentage of BRCA-positive women identified, but this would be outweighed by the benefits to those additional women identified who could be eligible to access personalised treatment options.

"This type of stratified medicine approach is being discussed in Wales and in England."

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Fallopian op 'may cut cancer risk'

2 August 2013 Last updated at 19:51 ET

A doctor has raised the idea of women at high risk of ovarian cancer having their Fallopian tubes removed as a precaution.

Cancer Research UK said there was no evidence how effective it would be.

The Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer after finding out she had a faulty BRCA gene.

The same mutation can also cause ovarian cancer. Prof Sean Kehoe said removing fallopian tubes might help.

Some people with the mutation do have their ovaries and the connecting fallopian tubes removed to prevent ovarian cancer.

'Avoiding earlier menopause'

Prof Kehoe, of the charity Wellbeing of Women and the University of Birmingham, argues that just removing the tubes could help many women.

He said: "The main advantage of this approach would be hopefully giving some protection but avoiding earlier menopause, as normally the ovaries would be removed.

"Recent studies suggest that the fallopian tubes may be the source of up to 50 per cent of so-called ovarian cancers, though research is ongoing."

However, patients would still need to have a second operation later to remove the ovaries and Prof Kehoe admitted there was a "need to research this in much more detail".

About 7,000 women develop ovarian cancer annually, making it the fifth most common cancer in women in the UK.

Taking contraceptive pill

Dr James Brenton, an ovarian cancer expert at Cancer Research UK, said: "Removing the fallopian tube from women with a BRCA fault could reduce their risk of developing ovarian cancer without the side-effects that removing the ovaries would have.

"But there have been no studies to show how effective this could be.

"Any woman who carries a BRCA fault should speak to her doctor to discuss the possibilities for them.

He said there were other things women could do to reduce their risk, such as taking the contraceptive pill for three years before the age of 30.

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Ultrasound 'may stop kidney injury'

1 August 2013 Last updated at 19:58 ET

Ultrasound treatments could be used to prevent a common kidney complication than can arise after major surgery, researchers suggest.

The work, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, was carried out on mice.

But the researchers said there could be a "rapid translation" to human studies because the treatment for acute kidney injury (AKI) was simple and routine.

Experts said the study suggested potential for new therapies.

AKI is the sudden loss of kidney function, which can easily develop in any sick person through infection such as pneumonia, diarrhoea or a heart attack.

AKI can develop after major surgery, such as some kinds of heart surgery, because the kidneys can be deprived of normal blood flow during the procedure.

Once it has developed, there are few treatment options.

'Protection'

The University of Virginia team exposed anesthetised mice to ultrasound using a routine clinical imaging system 24 hours before disrupting the blood supply to the kidneys.

They then found the mice still had healthy kidneys after blood flow was restored.

Continue reading the main story

It suggests that there are protective strategies over and above good basic fluid and medicines management care that are the cornerstones of prevention. "

End Quote Prof Donal O' Donoghue Former National Clinical Director for Kidney Care

But in other mice, who were given a "sham" ultrasound, the same disruption led to significant kidney injury.

The researchers suggest the ultrasound treatment stimulated an anti-inflammatory response from the spleen that then protected the kidneys.

Dr Mark Okusa, who led the study, said: "Our studies using non-invasive ultrasound now provide us with an active treatment that appears to be simple, effective, and nontoxic for the prevention of acute kidney injury.

"To our knowledge this has never been described for the prevention of tissue or organ injury.

"Interestingly, we suspect that similar mechanisms that lead to kidney injury may also lead to lung, heart, and liver damage and that this form of therapy might be effective for prevention of injury in other organs as well."

Prof Donal O'Donoghue, the former national clinical director for kidney care, who has called for action over the level of AKI, said the paper was interesting.

He added: "It suggests that there are protective strategies over and above good basic fluid and medicines management care that are the cornerstones of prevention.

"Studying the animal model further is the next step . But we also need to invest in AKI research in the UK."

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Breast cancer gene tests may treble

2 August 2013 Last updated at 01:47 ET By Gemma Ryall BBC News

The number of people being offered a breast cancer genetic test on the Welsh NHS could treble within the next few years, a leading expert says.

The Welsh government is investing in improved technology which would make it quicker and cheaper to test more patients who may have the BRCA genes.

This was the test which Angelina Jolie took before having a double mastectomy.

Genetics consultant Rachel Butler said there had been a surge in women wanting the test since the actress went public.

Around 120 people deemed to be at high risk of having breast or ovarian cancer are currently tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes each year in Wales on the NHS.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

If you have someone in your family who's had cancer you do worry about having it and if you have a negative test it allays that anxiety and that's a really big thing"

End Quote Dr Rachel Butler Consultant clinical scientist

About 20% of them will have a mutation linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, the Welsh government said.

They can then decide which options are best for them to manage their risk of developing cancer.

Dr Butler, consultant clinical scientist at the All Wales Genetic Laboratory, based at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, said the new technology - which the Welsh government is helping to fund - would help boost the number of patients tested.

Although it would be rolled out gradually across Wales over the next year or two, she estimated that some 300 to 400 people could eventually be offered the test.

"It's a really positive step as this test is important for two main reasons," she said.

"Firstly, I think it really manages anxiety. If you have someone in your family who's had cancer you do worry about having it and if you have a negative test it allays that anxiety and that's a really big thing.

"Secondly, there are now drugs that are particularly effective for people who have breast cancer and have the BRCA1 or 2 mutation.

"This type of personalised medicine, as we call it, does make a difference."

'Angelina Jolie effect'

Dr Butler, who runs the genetic testing laboratory, said demand was "huge" for the test and that the laboratory had seen a "surge" in women coming to them wanting it following the publicity surrounding Angelina Jolie's surgery.

The 37-year-old film star revealed in May that she was told by doctors that she had an 87% risk of developing breast cancer without the radical treatment because of genes she inherited from her mother.

"The Angelina Jolie effect is definitely a good thing as people are now talking about it," said Dr Butler.

"But there are patients who come in to see us and for the counselling we offer and even if we work out that they do not meet the current strict criteria, they still want the test and will pay for it privately instead."

In June, new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines were published which loosened the eligibility criteria for genetic testing of the BRCA cancer gene in England and Wales.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The Angelina Jolie effect is definitely a good thing as people are now talking about it"

End Quote Rachel Butler

It means somebody who has a family member diagnosed before the age of 50 could be eligible for the test. Previously, they had to have two relatives diagnosed before the age of 50.

The Welsh government said it was working to make the tests available for more patients on the NHS.

"Advances in technology (such as next generation sequencing) and new treatment options mean that potentially there is benefit in wider testing for some breast cancer patients," a spokesperson said.

"Testing is becoming cheaper and quicker, and there could be advantages in lowering the threshold for testing.

"This will result in a reduction in the percentage of BRCA-positive women identified, but this would be outweighed by the benefits to those additional women identified who could be eligible to access personalised treatment options.

"This type of stratified medicine approach is being discussed in Wales and in England."

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fallopian op 'may cut cancer risk'

2 August 2013 Last updated at 19:51 ET

A doctor has raised the idea of women at high risk of ovarian cancer having their Fallopian tubes removed as a precaution.

Cancer Research UK said there was no evidence how effective it would be.

The Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer after finding out she had a faulty BRCA gene.

The same mutation can also cause ovarian cancer. Prof Sean Kehoe said removing fallopian tubes might help.

Some people with the mutation do have their ovaries and the connecting fallopian tubes removed to prevent ovarian cancer.

'Avoiding earlier menopause'

Prof Kehoe, of the charity Wellbeing of Women and the University of Birmingham, argues that just removing the tubes could help many women.

He said: "The main advantage of this approach would be hopefully giving some protection but avoiding earlier menopause, as normally the ovaries would be removed.

"Recent studies suggest that the fallopian tubes may be the source of up to 50 per cent of so-called ovarian cancers, though research is ongoing."

However, patients would still need to have a second operation later to remove the ovaries and Prof Kehoe admitted there was a "need to research this in much more detail".

About 7,000 women develop ovarian cancer annually, making it the fifth most common cancer in women in the UK.

Taking contraceptive pill

Dr James Brenton, an ovarian cancer expert at Cancer Research UK, said: "Removing the fallopian tube from women with a BRCA fault could reduce their risk of developing ovarian cancer without the side-effects that removing the ovaries would have.

"But there have been no studies to show how effective this could be.

"Any woman who carries a BRCA fault should speak to her doctor to discuss the possibilities for them.

He said there were other things women could do to reduce their risk, such as taking the contraceptive pill for three years before the age of 30.

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Most adults 'don't exercise enough'

31 July 2013 Last updated at 20:09 ET

Most adults in England are risking their health by failing to get enough exercise, research suggests.

A University of Bristol-led study found 80% failed to meet the government target of taking moderate exercise at least 12 times in a four-week period.

Better-off and better-educated adults were most likely to exercise, while the poorer and least educated were most likely to be inactive.

The study analysed exercise data for more than a million adults in England.

It found about 8% of adults who were physically able to walk had not walked for even five minutes continuously during a four-week period, while 46% had not walked for leisure for more than 30 minutes continuously.

Researchers said 88% had not been swimming, 90% had not used a gym and around 20% of people over the age of 16 had done only minimal amounts of physical activity.

Warm weather

They say the findings provide evidence of a direct correlation between an individual's education, household income and local area deprivation and their level of physical activity.

Continue reading the main story

Physical inactivity is the most important modifiable health behaviour for chronic disease"

End Quote Prof Carol Propper

Those with higher socioeconomic status were more physically active and people with a degree only had a 12% chance of being inactive. However, those with no qualifications were three times as likely to not exercise.

Those living in areas with more sports facilities and higher local authority spending on new facilities were also less likely to be inactive.

The study also found warm weather made people more likely to exercise, while rain reduced levels of physical activity.

Carol Propper, professor of economics at the university's Centre for Market and Public Organisation, said: "Physical inactivity is the most important modifiable health behaviour for chronic disease, so knowing who is physically inactive is important for designing cost-effective policy interventions."

She said the findings suggested that "financial as well as cultural barriers need to be overcome to reduce the prevalence of physical inactivity".

The NHS recommends people exercise at moderate intensity for at least two and a half hours every week. This can include cycling, fast walking, hiking and basketball. Experts also recommend muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week to work major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).

Olympic legacy

Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum and honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, said: "No-one should be at all surprised by these woeful statistics."

He blamed successive governments for failing to ensure that the London 2012 Olympics inspired people to participate in grassroots sport.

The Economic and Social Research Council-funded research analysed data from Sport England's annual Active People Surveys, which included details on an individual's gender, education, income and local area deprivation, physical activity levels and local geographical factors such as weather and access to sports facilities and green spaces.

The World Health Organisation estimates physical inactivity causes 1.9 million deaths a year worldwide, including 10% to 16% of breast cancer, colon cases and diabetes cases and about 22% of coronary heart disease cases.

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Ultrasound 'may stop kidney injury'

1 August 2013 Last updated at 19:58 ET

Ultrasound treatments could be used to prevent a common kidney complication than can arise after major surgery, researchers suggest.

The work, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, was carried out on mice.

But the researchers said there could be a "rapid translation" to human studies because the treatment for acute kidney injury (AKI) was simple and routine.

Experts said the study suggested potential for new therapies.

AKI is the sudden loss of kidney function, which can easily develop in any sick person through infection such as pneumonia, diarrhoea or a heart attack.

AKI can develop after major surgery, such as some kinds of heart surgery, because the kidneys can be deprived of normal blood flow during the procedure.

Once it has developed, there are few treatment options.

'Protection'

The University of Virginia team exposed anesthetised mice to ultrasound using a routine clinical imaging system 24 hours before disrupting the blood supply to the kidneys.

They then found the mice still had healthy kidneys after blood flow was restored.

Continue reading the main story

It suggests that there are protective strategies over and above good basic fluid and medicines management care that are the cornerstones of prevention. "

End Quote Prof Donal O' Donoghue Former National Clinical Director for Kidney Care

But in other mice, who were given a "sham" ultrasound, the same disruption led to significant kidney injury.

The researchers suggest the ultrasound treatment stimulated an anti-inflammatory response from the spleen that then protected the kidneys.

Dr Mark Okusa, who led the study, said: "Our studies using non-invasive ultrasound now provide us with an active treatment that appears to be simple, effective, and nontoxic for the prevention of acute kidney injury.

"To our knowledge this has never been described for the prevention of tissue or organ injury.

"Interestingly, we suspect that similar mechanisms that lead to kidney injury may also lead to lung, heart, and liver damage and that this form of therapy might be effective for prevention of injury in other organs as well."

Prof Donal O'Donoghue, the former national clinical director for kidney care, who has called for action over the level of AKI, said the paper was interesting.

He added: "It suggests that there are protective strategies over and above good basic fluid and medicines management care that are the cornerstones of prevention.

"Studying the animal model further is the next step . But we also need to invest in AKI research in the UK."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Breast cancer gene tests may treble

2 August 2013 Last updated at 01:47 ET By Gemma Ryall BBC News

The number of women being offered a breast cancer genetic test on the Welsh NHS could treble within the next few years, a leading expert says.

The Welsh government is investing in improved technology which would make it quicker and cheaper to test more women who may have the BRCA genes.

This was the test which Angelina Jolie took before having a double mastectomy.

Genetics consultant Rachel Butler said there had been a surge in women wanting the test since the actress went public.

Around 120 women deemed to be at high risk of having breast or ovarian cancer are currently tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes each year in Wales on the NHS.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

If you have someone in your family who's had cancer you do worry about having it and if you have a negative test it allays that anxiety and that's a really big thing"

End Quote Dr Rachel Butler Consultant clinical scientist

About 20% of them will have a mutation linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, the Welsh government said.

They can then decide which options are best for them to manage their risk of developing cancer.

Dr Butler, consultant clinical scientist at the All Wales Genetic Laboratory, based at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, said the new technology - which the Welsh government is helping to fund - would help boost the number of women tested.

Although it would be rolled out gradually across Wales over the next year or two, she estimated that some 300 to 400 women could eventually be offered the test.

"It's a really positive step as this test is important for two main reasons," she said.

"Firstly, I think it really manages anxiety. If you have someone in your family who's had cancer you do worry about having it and if you have a negative test it allays that anxiety and that's a really big thing.

"Secondly, there are now drugs that are particularly effective for people who have breast cancer and have the BRAC1 or 2 mutation.

"This type of personalised medicine, as we call it, does make a difference."

'Angelina Jolie effect'

Dr Butler, who runs the genetic testing laboratory, said demand was "huge" for the test and that the laboratory had seen a "surge" in women coming to them wanting it following the publicity surrounding Angelina Jolie's surgery.

The 37-year-old film star revealed in May that she was told by doctors that she had an 87% risk of developing breast cancer without the radical treatment because of genes she inherited from her mother.

"The Angelina Jolie effect is definitely a good thing as people are now talking about it," said Dr Butler.

"But there are patients who come in to see us and for the counselling we offer and even if we work out that they do not meet the current strict criteria, they still want the test and will pay for it privately instead."

In June, new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines were published which loosened the eligibility criteria for genetic testing of the BRCA cancer gene in England and Wales.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The Angelina Jolie effect is definitely a good thing as people are now talking about it"

End Quote Rachel Butler

It means women who have a family member diagnosed before she is 50 could be eligible for the test. Previously, they had to have two relatives diagnosed before the age of 50.

The Welsh government said it was working to make the tests available for more women on the NHS.

"Advances in technology (such as next generation sequencing) and new treatment options mean that potentially there is benefit in wider testing for some breast cancer patients," a spokesperson said.

"Testing is becoming cheaper and quicker, and there could be advantages in lowering the threshold for testing.

"This will result in a reduction in the percentage of BRCA-positive women identified, but this would be outweighed by the benefits to those additional women identified who could be eligible to access personalised treatment options.

"This type of stratified medicine approach is being discussed in Wales and in England."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Artificial human ear grown in lab

31 July 2013 Last updated at 05:48 ET By Helen Briggs BBC News

US scientists say they have moved a step closer to being able to grow a complete human ear from a patient's cells.

In a new development in tissue engineering, they have grown a human-like ear from animal tissue.

The ear has the flexibility of a real ear, say researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The technique may one day be used to help people with missing or deformed outer ears, they believe.

Tissue engineering is a growing field in medical science, where substitute organs are made in the laboratory in the hope of using them to replace damaged ones.

Continue reading the main story

This research is a significant step forward in preparing the tissue-engineered ear for human clinical trials"

End Quote Dr Thomas Cervantes Massachusetts General Hospital

The US research team is working on artificial living ears to help people born with malformed ears or who have lost them in accidents or trauma.

Previously the researchers had grown an artificial ear, the size of a baby's, on a mouse.

In the latest development, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, they took living tissues from cows and sheep and grew them on a flexible wire frame that has the 3D shape of a real human ear.

This was then implanted into a rat whose immune system they had suppressed enabling the ear to grow.

"We've demonstrated the first full-sized adult human ear on the rat model," Dr Thomas Cervantes, who led the study, told BBC News.

It was significant for several reasons, he said.

"One - we were able to keep the shape of the ear, after 12 weeks of growth in the rat. And then secondly we were also able to keep the natural flexibility of the cartilage."

Titanium scaffold

The cells were grown on a titanium wire scaffold that is modelled on the dimensions of a real human ear, taken from CT scans.

The new work shows that in theory it is possible to grow up enough cells - at least in animals - to make a full-size human ear.

"In a clinical model, what we would do is harvest a small sample of cartilage, that the patient has, and then expand that so we could go ahead and do the same process," said Dr Cervantes.

"This research is a significant step forward in preparing the tissue-engineered ear for human clinical trials."

He said he expected that the process could move into human clinical trials in about five years.

Other research into bioengineered organs is progressing fast.

About a dozen patients have received transplants of artificial wind pipes coated with stem cells taken from either the patient or a donor.

Meanwhile, a kidney grown in the laboratory has been transplanted into a rat, where it started to produce urine.

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