moonbuggy

`A woman who is 3 feet tall and weighed 37 pounds before she got pregnant has given birth to her first child — a healthy boy.

Eloysa Vasquez, who uses a wheelchair and had two miscarriages, suffers from Type 3 osteogenesis imperfecta, a disorder that makes bones soft and brittle.

Vasquez gained 20 pounds during pregnancy and delivered the 3 pound, 7 ounce baby on Jan. 24 at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.’

`The British Red Cross has told GamesIndustry.biz that it hopes to work with developers to prevent the “illegal and detrimental” misuse of the red cross emblem in videogames.

“It is important for videogame manufacturers not to use the emblem in their games, including for matters related to its humanitarian purpose, such as first aid or general medical care,” said Michael Meyer, head of international law for the British Red Cross.

“The use of the emblem in videogames is both illegal and detrimental to the special protective value of the emblem.”‘

`A teenager who was repeatedly given a potentially fatal overdose of radiation at a leading cancer unit spoke yesterday of her fears after the hospital where she was given the treatment said the mistake was the result of human error.

Lisa Norris, 15, was undergoing radiation therapy for a brain tumour at Beatson Oncology Centre, Glasgow, when she was given the potentially deadly doses 17 times. Doctors have told her they do not know what the long-term effects on her health will be. “I could be brain damaged, I could be paralysed. We don’t know what’s in the future. I could not be here,” she said yesterday.’

`Australian scientists say they have developed a drug that may help prevent and reverse debilitating inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.

The new drug, developed by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, also could help sufferers of multiple sclerosis (MS), asthma, sepsis, heart attack and psoriasis as well as transplant patients. [..]

Scientists have identified the mechanism by which a white blood cell enters a tissue, releasing toxic substances and causing damage in the joints.

The drug, once injected, works within hours to completely return a diseased tissue back to a normal tissue.’

`GFPixel is a “painting” made of genetically transformed bacteria. The organisms are cultivated in about 4000 Petri-dishes that are arranged as a portrait. Like on digital screens part of the bacteria produce the green light – the Green Fluorescent Protein-gene is switched ON and in the other part the GFP-gene is switched OFF.

The works plays with the border between living world and the digital world, the portrait seems to be digital but it lives and dies during the exhibition.’

`The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected on a large commercial chicken farm in Nigeria — the first reported outbreak in Africa, the World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday.

The outbreak appears to be restricted to birds, and no human infections have been reported, the Paris-based organization said. [..]

“The significance is that it’s a completely new continent that we need to be looking at,” said Alex Thiermann, an expert for the World Organization for Animal Health, known as the OIE, said of the virus’ arrival on the world’s poorest continent.’

`Toxoplasma gondii may be the most prevalent human parasite. As many as 50% of humans worldwide, and up to 80% in urban areas, have been infected with it at some time in their lives. An estimated 60 million people in the US have active cases at any given time. It’s a single celled parasite whose favored host is cats. However it can infect and live in a host of other creatures including rats and humans. Most infected people, and most infected rats, show no particular signs of illness when infected. They continue on with their daily life and work completely unaware they’ve been parasitized. But they may not be as unaffected as they seem.’

`Researchers, including a BYU scientist, believe they have found a new compound that could finally kill the HIV/AIDS virus, not just slow it down as current treatments do.

And, unlike the expensive, drug cocktails 25 years of research have produced for those with the deadly virus, the compound invented by Paul D. Savage of Brigham Young University appears to hunt down and kill HIV.

Although so far limited to early test tube studies, CSA-54, one of a family of compounds called Ceragenins (or CSAs), mimics the disease-fighting characteristics of anti-microbial and anti-viral agents produced naturally by a healthy human immune system.’

`The Frenchwoman who received the world’s first partial face transplant showed off her new features to the public today, saying in a heavily slurred voice that she now looks “like everyone else” and hopes to resume a normal life. [..]

She said she was passed out when the dog bit her, and she did not immediately realize the extent of her disfigurement when she awoke.

“When I woke up, I tried to light a cigarette, and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t hold it between my lips,” she said. “That’s when I saw the pool of blood and the dog next to me. I looked at myself in the mirror, and there, horrified, I couldn’t believe what I saw — especially because it didn’t hurt. Ever since this day, my life has changed.”

The dog was euthanized.’

with video.

follow-up to My strange life with someone else’s face.

`A team of British scientists investigating whether a tiny tropical hookworm could provide a cure for asthma and hay fever have committed the ultimate act of bravery by infecting themselves with the parasite to observe the effects.

The experts wanted to see if there would be any unpleasant or dangerous side effects from the worm, Ancylostoma duodenale, so they made the bold decision to allow their own bodies to be infected. Each scientist had to stick some of the tiny hookworm larvae on to their skin with a plaster and wait for the larvae to wriggle through the skin into the lungs, through the bloodstream and into the intestine, where they would produce eggs. [..]’

`Tissue engineers like Vladimir Mironov of the Medical University of South Carolina, and Thomas Boland of Clemson University, have been printing biomaterials with modified ink-jet printers.

The cartridges are washed out and refilled with suspensions of living cells; the software that controls the characteristics of the ink is reprogrammed and you’re good to go. Boland and Mironov use layers of “thermo-reversable” gel to build up three-dimensional structures like tubes—capillaries, to use the medical term. When the tiny droplets, or clumps, of cells came together closely, they fused; the gel can be easily removed, leaving a tube of tissue.’

`I’m happy to say that silicone was not responsible for my recent stay in the hospital. I had a severe case of pneumonia. I’m not sure how or why the hospital doctors were so focused on the silicone; I can only guess that because of the controversy surrounding silicone usage, they immediately wanted to focus on that.

Early on, the hospital doctors said I may have pneumonia, but then they seemed to rule it out. The diagnosis on my discharge paperwork says, “Probable Silicone Embolism Syndrome”. It’s amazing that after 2 weeks in the hospital, they couldn’t be a little more sure about it.’

Be wared, this forum post it brought to you by the ExtremeCock Community and there are pictures posted. Bet you can’t guess why “silicone” keeps getting mentioned. 🙂

`A frustrated doctor has closed his medical practice in a small northern New Zealand seaside settlement and plans to reopen his surgery as a brothel next month.

Neil Benson closed his Cooper’s Beach practice last year, complaining of a lack of support from health authorities, other doctors and the community. [..]

“It’s about providing a private service and maintaining confidentiality, which is what my medical practice was about – so it’s not a big leap, really,” said Benson.’

`When you first meet 4-year-old Roberto Salazar, you can’t help but notice his unwavering smile and constant laughter. By all accounts, he’s a very happy boy.

It is only when he rams his head violently into walls or plays a little too roughly with a schoolmate, all the while smiling, that you are reminded that he suffers from an incredibly rare genetic disorder.

Roberto is one of 17 people in the United States with “congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis,” referred to as CIPA by the few people who know about it.’

‘Barely two months ago, the 38-year-old French divorcee received the world’s first face transplant and this exclusive photograph reveals the full extent of her remarkable transformation.

Last May, she had a wide, tilted nose, a prominent chin and thin lips. Today, the donated face of suicide Maryline Saint-Aubert has given her a straight and narrow nose, a neater chin and a fuller mouth.

Despite the prominent surgical scars, Miss Dinoire and her doctors say they are delighted by the results.’

followup to Face Transplant Patient Smokes Again.

`Joshua Philip Martin was in his fourth day on the job as a rescue-squad worker in Russell County when, in a playful mood, he decided to reach into the front seat of the ambulance and zap one of his co-workers with the defibrillator paddles. The rookie’s mistake was fatal.

Yesterday, in Russell Circuit Court, a judge convicted Martin, 25, of involuntary manslaughter, warning the burly but pink-faced young man that when he returns to court in March, he likely will be sent to prison. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The target of Martin’s prank was Courtney Hilton Rhoton, a 23-year-old mother of two small children who had worked her way through school to become an emergency medical technician. She went into cardiac arrest seconds after Martin placed the paddles on her chest and shoulder. Three days later, on June 4, she died.’

`Health authorities are clamping down on the Thai teenage fashion fad of wearing fake orthodontic braces by targeting those who sell and make the pseudo-dental gear with steep fines and prison time.

Girls flashing multicoloured metallic grins are regularly featured in teen magazines as braces have become more common in Thailand, transforming the dental gear detested by Western youths into a fashion statement.’

`University of Pittsburgh scientists say they’ve genetically engineered an avian flu vaccine that has proven 100 percent effective in mice and chickens.

The vaccine was produced from the critical components of the deadly H5N1 virus that has devastated bird populations in Southeast Asia and Europe and has killed more than 80 people.

Since the newly developed vaccine contains a live virus, researchers say it may be more immune-activating than avian flu vaccines prepared by traditional methods. Furthermore, because it is grown in cells, it can be produced much more quickly than traditional vaccines, thereby making it an extremely attractive candidate for preventing the spread of the virus in domestic livestock populations and, potentially, in humans.’

`The operator of a group home for the mentally ill was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for enslaving its residents, forcing them to work naked and perform sex acts, and his wife was sentenced to seven years.

Arlan Kaufman, 69, was convicted in November of 31 federal charges and Linda Kaufman of 30 counts, including health care fraud, Medicare fraud, forced labor and holding clients in involuntary servitude at their Kaufman House Residential Treatment Center.’

followup to Kansas couple on trial for enslaving mentally ill.

`An Oregon man hurled both of his prosthetic legs at a police officer, striking him with one, after his son was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, police said today.

The incident began when the policeman stopped a vehicle going the wrong way on a highway in southern Oregon.

The officer at first detained only the driver, Adam Kackstetter, 26, after he became aggressive. But then his father, Joel Kackstetter, 53, a passenger in the vehicle, grew hostile, a police spokesman said.’

`When twenty-seven year old Henry M. entered the hospital in 1953 for radical brain surgery that was supposed to cure his epilepsy, he was hopeful that the procedure would change his life for the better. Instead, it trapped him in a mental time warp where TV is always a new invention and Truman is forever president. The removal of large sections of his temporal lobes left Henry unable to form any new personal memories, but his tragic loss revolutionized the field of psychology and made “H.M.” the most-studied individual in the history of brain research.’

`A Sanford mother says she will never be able to hold her newborn because an Orlando hospital performed a life-altering surgery and, she claims, the hospital refuses to explain why they left her as a multiple amputee.

The woman filed a complaint against Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems, she said, because they won’t tell her exactly what happened. The hospital maintains the woman wants to know information that would violate other patients’ rights. [..]

“I want to know what happened. I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this,” Mejia said.’

`A woman who had been blind for 25 years awoke in hospital after suffering a heart attack and found that she could see again.

Since 1979, Joyce Urch had lived in a world of shadows and near-darkness, but was astonished to find her sight restored when she came round after being resuscitated. [..]

She said: “When I first came round I just opened my eyes and shouted, ‘I can see, I can see.’ When I looked in the mirror I said, ‘Oh.’ I said to [her husband] Eric, ‘You’ve got older haven’t you?’ But I thought, ‘I’m old myself, my husband must be too.”

`Advocacy groups and parents are suing the Nickelodeon TV network and cereal maker Kellogg Co. in an effort to stop junk food marketing to kids.

The plaintiffs are citing a recent report documenting the influence of marketing on what children eat. Ads aimed at kids are mostly for high-calorie, low-nutrition food and drinks, according to the government-chartered Institute of Medicine.’

`A well-liked Chicago family dentist let pimps rent out his Marina Towers condos so hookers could turn tricks there and stayed after hours at his downtown dental office to fix the teeth of battered prostitutes for free, the feds charged Wednesday. [..]

The pimps Kimmel is charged with aiding allegedly used violence to draw in underage girls in some cases and in others to force girls to continue the work. On tape recordings, the pimps refer to Kimmel as “Doc.” Various wiretaps outlined in an FBI complaint indicate Kimmel knew who he was dealing with.

When a prostitute fails to return one of Kimmel’s cars, a pimp vows he’ll set her straight.

“When it comes to me and you, and take care of real business, I’ll cut all them legs off for you,” the pimp said.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Kimmel allegedly said on the wiretap.’

`Constant darkness throws a molecular switch in mammals that shifts the body’s fuel consumption from glucose to fat and induces a state of torpor in mice, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston reports in the Jan. 19 edition of Nature.

[..] A series of experiments pinpointed 5-prime adenosine monophosphate (5′-AMP) as the key molecular mediator of the constant darkness effect, switching mice from a glucose-burning, fat-storing state to a fat-burning, glucose-conserving lethargy.’

`A British dentist has been banned from working after allowing her unqualified boyfriend to carry out dental work on patients in her surgery, the profession’s U.K. regulatory body said on Tuesday. [..]

The boyfriend worked on more than 600 people, drilling out cavities without local anaesthetic and installing expensive fillings that crumbled within days, often leaving patients in agony, the BBC said.’

`Bacteria in yogurt have been modified to deliver a drug that blocks HIV infection.

In their natural state, the bacteria (Lactococcus lactis) produce lactic acid and are used to make cheese and yogurt. It is not harmful to humans.

Research based at Brown Medical School in Rhode Island altered the genetics of the bacteria so they generate cyanovirin, a drug that has prevented HIV infection in monkeys and human cells, according to a report at news@nature.com.

Cyanovirin binds to sugar molecules that are attached to the HIV virus, blocking a receptor used by HIV to infect cells.’

`James Zadroga spent 16 hours a day toiling in the World Trade Center ruins for a month, breathing in debris-choked air. Timothy Keller said he coughed up bits of gravel from his lungs after the towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001. Felix Hernandez spent days at the site helping to search for victims.

All three men died in the past seven months of what their families and colleagues say were persistent respiratory illnesses directly caused by their work at ground zero. [..]

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” [an attorney] said. “Many, many more people are going to die from the aftermath of the toxicity.”‘

`The world’s first face transplant recipient is using her new lips to take up smoking again, which doctors fear could interfere with her healing and raise the risk of tissue rejection.

“It is a problem,” Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, who led the team that performed the pioneering transplant in France on Nov. 27, acknowledged on Wednesday. [..]

The 38-year-old Frenchwoman received a new nose, chin and lips from a brain-dead donor after being mauled by her dog last spring. The woman has been identified only as Isabelle because of French privacy laws.

The woman suffered a tissue-rejection episode last month but is now doing well, her doctors said. However, they said she has resumed smoking, which besides being bad in general for health is especially a problem after surgery because it impairs circulation to tissues and could raise the risk of rejection.’