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Health News Results - 31

Science Has Created a Cow That Produces Insulin in Its Milk

There may be an unexpected fix for ongoing shortages of insulin: A brown bovine in Brazil recently made history as the first transgenic cow able to produce human insulin in her milk.

"Mother Nature designed the mammary gland as a factory to make protein really, really efficiently," explained study leader Matt Wheeler, a professor ...

New Prosthetic Hand Can Sense Objects' Temperature

Fabrizio wasn't sure what to expect of his newly outfitted prosthetic hand, until he touched one of the researchers who'd given it to him.

“When one of the researchers placed the sensor on his own body, I could feel the warmth of another person with my phantom hand,” said Fabrizio, a 57-year-old man from Pistoia, Italy. “It was a very strong emotion for me, it was like reactivating ...

Pill-sized Device Tracks Breathing, Heart Rate From Inside the Body

A new 'technopill' can safely monitor a person's vital signs from inside their bodies, researchers report.

The vitals-monitoring (VM) Pill works by tracking the small vibrations in the body associated with lungs breathing and the heart beating.

It can detect if a person stops breathing, which gives it the potential to provide real-time information about patients at risk of opioid ov...

Someday, Your Shopping Cart Might Gauge Your Heart Health

Could a grocery cart save lives by preventing possible strokes? It just might.

The notion stems from a new British study in which grocery cart handles were embedded with electrocardiogram (EKG) sensors.

The goal: to screen shoppers for undiagnosed cases of atrial fibrillation (a-fib), the most common heart rhythm disorder.

“Atrial fibrillation is a leading cause of stroke,�...

Implant Delivers Chemo Directly to Brain in Patients Battling Brain Tumors

Researchers have found a way to safely deliver a steady supply of chemotherapy directly to brain tumors -- in what they hope will be an important advance for patients with currently incurable cancers.

The treatment involves an implantable pump system that supplies a steady drip of chemo straight to the brain tumor. Researchers have tested it in five patients who had recurrent glioblastoma...

Mind-Controlled Wheelchair Brings New Freedom to People With Paralysis

A severely paralyzed person no longer needs to go through brain surgery to try and steer a motorized wheelchair with their mind, researchers report.

Through an electrode-studded cap placed on their head, several people with quadriplegia -- no function in all four limbs -- were able to produce brain waves that guided their wheelchair through a kind of hospital "obstacle course."

The ...

Doctors Use CRISPR Technology to Boost Cancer Immunotherapy

Gene editing has for the first time produced modified immune cells finely honed to target and attack cancer cells, researchers say.

A team used the gene editing tool CRISPR to alter immune cells drawn from 16 patients who had a variety of solid cancers, including colon, breast and lung.

According to a report in the journal Nature, the genes of these immune cells were edited...

'Bionic Pancreas' Could Make Life Easier for People With Type 1 Diabetes

A new technology dubbed the "bionic pancreas" may beat standard treatment in helping people with type 1 diabetes control their blood sugar levels, a clinical trial has found.

Among adults and children with type 1 diabetes, those who used the bionic pancreas for three months saw their average blo...

FDA Warns of Cybersecurity Risk With Certain Medtronic Insulin Pumps

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning patients who use a particular insulin pump system that unauthorized people could access it and change how much insulin a patient receives.

The pump at the center of the FDA alert is the Medtronic MiniMed 600 Series Insulin Pump S...

8/12 -- Bioengineered Pig Skin Is Turned Into Corneas, Restoring Patients' Sight

Farmyard pigs could be the key to restoring sight in people who have lost their vision due to a damaged cornea, a new study reports.

Collagen drawn from pig's skin is being used to create an experimental implant that mimics the human cornea, the outermost transparent layer of the eye.

In a

Wearable Trackers Could Spot COVID Early

Could your smartwatch know you have a COVID infection before you do? It might be possible one day.

New research suggests that wearable activity trackers that monitor the changes in ...

Woman Receives 3-D Printed Ear Transplant Made of Human Cells

A 3-D printed ear made with the patient's own cells has been transplanted onto a 20-year-old woman, the company that made the ear says.

The achievement announced June 2 by 3DBio Therapeutics of New York City is believed to be the first known example of a 3-D printed implant made of living tissues. Experts hailed it as a major advance in...

Smartwatch Heart Data May Be Less Accurate for Black Users

Millions of Americans use smartwatches or fitness trackers to check on their heart rate, but the accuracy may fall short for people of color, a new research review finds.

The analysis, of 10 published studies, found that in four of them, wearable devices were clea...

Brain Implant Helps Completely 'Locked-In' Man Communicate

Unable to move a single muscle, even to open your eyes. Completely locked into your own body, yet fully conscious and aware.

Lou Gehrig's disease - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - is a nightmare in its advanced form, leaving patients ...

Wearable Vibration Device May Ease Parkinson's Tremor

Physiotherapist David Putrino was working on a vibrating glove to help deaf people experience live music when a friend mentioned that the same technology might stop tremors in people with Parkinson's disease.

Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation for Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, was intrigued. The friend's father had Parkinson's, so they placed the new device on hi...

New Device Might Spot 'Lazy Eye' in Kids Earlier

The answer to helping kids with "lazy eye" before it's too late could be a hand-held screening device, a new study suggests.

Amblyopia can't be treated with glasses or contact lenses after a child's vision reaches maturity, and without treatment, it can lead to poor school performance and impairments in depth perception and fine motor skills, doctors say.

"The findings suggest that ...

A 'Bionic' Arm That Feels Like Her Very Own

Former Marine Cpl. Claudia Mitchell can hold a banana or a water bottle in her left hand without squishing it as she opens it.

She can use her left hand to help cut peaches for a pie. She can hold someone's hand without squeezing too hard, and she can grab her makeup bag with just her thumb and forefinger.

Years ago, Mitchell, 41, wouldn't have imagined any of these feats were possi...

High-Tech Exoskeletons Improve Bowel Function in People With Spinal Cord Injury

Digestive issues are common after spinal cord injury and can lead to chronic constipation and incontinence. But robotic exoskeleton-assisted walking can improve matters in people with such injuries, researchers say.

In an earlier survey, more than a third of men with spinal cord injury said bowel and bladder problems had the most significant effect on their lives after their injury.

'Nerve Zap' Pain Treatment Could Cut Need for Opioids After Surgeries

An emerging technology could zap your post-op pain away -- little or no opioids needed.

The technique is called percutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation. It involves inserting a small wire next to a nerve and using a stimulator to deliver a mild electrical current to the affected area, interrupting pain transmission.

A team led by Dr. Brian Ilfeld, of the University of California, ...

FDA Approves First AI Tool to Boost Colonoscopy Accuracy

The first device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help detect possible signs of colon cancer during colonoscopy has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The GI Genius uses AI-based machine learning to help identify lesions such as polyps or suspected tumors in real time during a colonoscopy, according to the agency.

"Artificial intelligence has the potent...

Pandemic Has Put Many Clinical Trials on Hold

Fewer clinical trials are being completed during the pandemic, which experts say could affect medical research for decades to come.

Previously, it was reported that more than 80% of clinical trials were suspended between March 1 and April 26, 2020, with the pandemic cited as the main reason.

In this study, researchers at Penn State College of Medicine examined more than 117,000 tria...

You've Got Tens of Thousands of Virus Species Living in Your Gut

Researchers have identified more than 140,000 viruses that live in the human gut, including half that were previously unknown.

The number and variety of viruses found in more than 28,000 gut microbiome samples gathered from different parts of the world are surprisingly high, according to the study authors.

The researchers added that their findings will lead to new research to learn ...

AHA News: Video Doctor Visits Gain Ground During Coronavirus Pandemic

Dr. David Wheeler started seeing patients via telehealth in his Wyoming neurology practice 10 years ago as a way to provide routine visits to patients living in remote areas. He'd see three to four patients by video or telephone chat each day, which only made up about a fifth of his regular practice.

Then the new coronavirus began to spread across the nation. Now, even though Wyoming...

AI Might Spot Which COVID-19 Patients Are at Risk of Severe Disease

An international team has designed a computer program that predicts with up to 80% accuracy which COVID-19 patients will develop serious respiratory disease.

Developed by U.S. and Chinese researchers, the artificial intelligence (AI) program has been tested at two hospitals in China with 53 patients who were diagnosed in January with COVID-19. The new tool is considered experiment...

For Tracking Steps, Patients Stick With Phones, Not Wearable Devices: Study

Smartphones appear to be more effective than wearable fitness devices in helping doctors track patients' physical activity, researchers say.

Their new study included 500 patients who joined activity tracking programs at two Philadelphia hospitals. Half used a smartphone app to track their daily steps after leaving the hospital. The other half used a wearable device.

Patient...

Wearable 'Brain Stimulator' May Boost Stroke Recovery

A noninvasive magnetic brain stimulation device worn less than an hour a day can increase activity near stroke-injured areas of the brain, a small, preliminary study suggests.

Those improvements in brain activity might then lead to increased motor function in people who have had a stroke, the researchers said.

"We were excited to see a strong hint of improved motor functio...

AHA News: Drone-Delivered AEDs Fly a Step Closer to Saving Lives

It was a race with life-or-death implications: Unmanned drones were pitted against traditional emergency responders to see which could get an automated external defibrillator to the rural site of a simulated cardiac arrest first.

The drones won handily. And the Canadian researcher behind the test said such a system might be ready for the real world in as little as a year.

...

3-D Printers Might Someday Make Replacement Hearts

Scientists say they have taken an important step forward in creating 3-D printed hearts -- with the ultimate goal of making replacement tissue for organs and body parts damaged by disease or injury.

The 3-D printing process builds three-dimensional objects based on a computer model. Unlike traditional printing onto a flat surface, the machines churn out various materials -- plastics, ...

AHA News: Chemical Widely Used in Medical Plastic Alters Heart Function in Lab Tests

Plastic medical devices abound in hospitals. IV bags, catheters and feeding tubes cram every corner.

But the chemicals that make these medical items so flexible may be changing transmission of the electrical impulses that help keep the heart pumping, according to new research.

Phthalates are a group of chemicals used as "plasticizers" in pliable medical devices and contain...

Israeli Team Announces First 3D-Printed Heart Using Human Cells

The world's first complete 3D printer-generated heart, made using the patient's own cells and materials, has been created in a lab.

Until now, success has been limited to printing only simple tissues without blood vessels.

"This is the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers...

Lab-Grown Blood Vessels Could Be Big Medical Advance

Blood vessels created in the lab can successfully turn into "living tissue" in patients on dialysis for advanced kidney disease, a new study suggests.

The results come from just 13 patients in an early-phase trial. But researchers said they are a sign that the engineered tissue might eventually offer new treatment options for patients with damaged blood vessels -- due to conditions rang...