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Blacks urged to donate blood, stem cells

A shortage of blood and stem cells in the black community is costing lives, Canada’s blood bureau warns. Canadian Blood Services is calling on people of African and Caribbean heritage to register as blood and stem donors through its OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease of red blood cells, predominantly affecting people of African descent. In people with sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are abnormally shaped and starve tissues of oxygen.

Girl has 6 organs replaced at once

A 9-year-old Maine girl is home from a Boston hospital healthy, active and with high hopes and a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus to replace the ones that were being choked by a massive tumour. It’s believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England. Spunky and bright-eyed as she scampered around her family’s farmhouse outside Portland, Alannah Shevenell stated ...

Whole exome sequencing identifies cause of metabolic disease

ScienceDaily (Feb. 3, 2012) — Sequencing a patient’s entire genome to discover the source of his or her disease is not routine — yet. But geneticists are getting close. A case report, published this week in the American Journal of Human Genetics, shows how researchers can combine a easy blood test with an “executive summary” scan of the genome to diagnose a type of severe metabolic disease. Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute used ...

AstraZeneca cuts 132 jobs, shuts Montreal facility

Montreal’s pharmaceutical research cluster is under further threat as global giants adjust to the loss of patent protection for blockbuster drugs and challenges in developing replacements. British drug maker AstraZeneca announced Thursday plans to cut costs by closing its Quebec research and development facility, eliminating 132 jobs. It’s just the latest to make such a move. French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis laid off 100 workers last month at its R&D centre in Laval.

New ‘biopsy in a blood test’ to detect cancer

ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2012) — Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Health, and collaborating cancer doctors have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of an advanced blood test for detecting and examining circulating tumor cells (CTCs) — breakaway cells from patients’ solid tumors — from cancer patients. The findings, reported in five new papers, show that the highly sensitive blood analysis provides information that may soon be comparable to that from some types of surgical biopsies.

Tax ‘toxic’ sugar, physicians urge

Sugar is so toxic that it should be taxed and slapped with regulations like alcohol, some U.S. researchers argue. In a commentary published in Wednesday’s issue of the journal Nature, physicians from the University of California, San Francisco, state that rising global rates of major killers such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes aren’t caused by obesity as commonly thought. It has been suggested that sales of sugary foods and drinks be limited during the school day.

Here is what real commitment to your marriage means

ScienceDaily (Feb. 1, 2012) — What does being committed to your marriage really mean? UCLA psychologists answer this question in a new study based on their analysis of 172 married couples over the first 11 years of marriage. “When people say, ‘I’m committed to my relationship,’ they can mean two things,” stated study co-author Benjamin Karney, a professor of psychology and co-director of the Relationship Institute at UCLA. “One thing they can mean is, ‘I really like this relationship and ...

8 Alberta deaths linked to ecstasy-like drug

An eighth death in southern Alberta has been linked to an ecstasy-like drug. On the street, MDMA is often called ecstasy, usually referring to branded pills and sometimes thought to be a “dirtier” version of MDMA, containing other unknown substances. RCMP released details Tuesday of a 38-year-old Red Deer man who died Dec. 10. The “dominant” drug in the man’s system was PMMA. The death is the latest attributed to the drug in a six-month period. PMMA is five times ...

Honey could be effective at treating and preventing wound infections

ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2012) — Manuka honey could help clear chronic wound infections and even prevent them from developing in the first place, according to a new study published in Microbiology. The findings provide further evidence for the clinical use of manuka honey to treat bacterial infections in the face of growing antibiotic resistance. Streptococcus pyogenes is a normal skin bacterium that is frequently associated with chronic (non-healing) wounds. Bacteria that infect wounds can clump together forming ‘biofilms’, which form ...

Liberals outline Ontario health reforms

Ontario’s Liberal government wants more routine medical procedures performed in not-for-profit clinics instead of in more costly hospitals, Health Minister Deb Matthews announced Monday. It would be more cost effective and result in better patient outcomes if some procedures were done in a non-hospital setting, Matthews stated in a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade. “If we can get faster access for patients, if we can get high quality at a lower cost, (and) take pressure off hospitals so ...