A new technique for implanting automatic defibrillators to save patients at risk of heart failure apparently is cheaper and more effective than standard technology, researchers report.
As first developed, automatic defibrillators were implanted by surgeons who opened their patients` chests to install electronic devices with wires attached directly to the heart muscle. If the patient`s heart started to beat out of control, the device applied an electric shock to restore normal rhythm. Using the new technique, doctors avoid full surgery by threading lead wires through blood vessels leading to the heart. The device itself is implanted under the skin of the abdomen.
In a worldwide comparison of 434 patients receiving standard open chest implantation with 317 patients undergoing the new technique, ”the results were very striking,” Dr. Sanjeev Saksena of the New Jersey Medical School reported to the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology.
”With the traditional technique, 5.5 percent of patients died within 30 days of surgery. Deaths related to surgery were reduced to 0.3 percent with the new technique,” Saksena said.
”Equally significant, at one year after surgery, 96.4 percent of patients implanted with the new technique were still alive, compared to 85.4 percent of patients implanted during open heart surgery.”
GENE THERAPY COULD BE WEIGHT WATCHER`S DREAM Investigators at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism may have stumbled upon a ”magic bullet” against obesity.
Led by Claire Fraser, the researchers located a receptor on rat cells that appears to determine how efficiently the cells remove or store fat. Rats that are genetically obese have few of these receptors.
If the gene for this receptor can be found, it may be possible to use gene therapy to add more receptors that would flush fat out of cells, allowing people to loose weight without much effort.
ROCKING BED HELPS TRAUMA PATIENTS A bed that gently rocks serious trauma patients from side to side has dramatically reduced the risk of lung complications, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study has found.
The bed takes seven minutes to complete one 124-degree swing, so slow that patients cannot even feel the movement, said Dr. Loren D. Nelson.
While the movement is imperceptible, it does have an effect on preventing liquids from pooling in the lungs and it also loosens secretions, thereby keeping the lungs in better health, Nelson reported in the Journal of Critical Care.
A review of 400 patients treated with kinetic therapy, as the gentle motion is called, showed that they had a significant reduction in lung collapse, pneumonia, the number of hours spent on artificial breathing devices and days spent in intensive care, Nelson said.
UNDILUTED PESTICIDE WON`T WASH OUT If a person spills undiluted pesticide on his clothing, he or she should shower immediately and burn or bury the garment, because no amount of laundering will clean it, a University of Illinois researcher advises.
It is extremely difficult to remove pesticides from clothing, even if they are in the diluted form.
Mastura Raheel, a researcher from the College of Agriculture, conducted a four-year study using sophisticated technology to examine the amounts of pesticide remaining in natural and synthetic fabrics laundered in hot water with detergent.
Raheel presented her findings at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society, found that it takes three complete cycles of washing to reduce harmful chemical residues to acceptable levels.
She also determined that though pre-laundering agents remove visible soil, they made no difference in lowering chemical residue.
LESS HOSPITAL CARE OF PREMATURE BABIES URGED Premature babies may not need intensive and expensive hospital care for as long as they commonly get it, a study from Georgetown University suggests. The study, reported at the recent meeting of the American Pediatric Society, focused on 107 infants who were discharged from the hospital at weights of 4 to 4.5 pounds and at about 35 weeks after conception. Common practice is to keep such babies hospitalized for another five weeks, after which they typically weigh another pound.
Parents of infants in the study were given training in using home monitors and were followed closely through telephone calls and office visits. Only one of the 107 infants required rehospitalization, and none suffered life-threatening events or death.
The estimated costs for keeping babies in the hospital during the five-week period were almost $20,000, while home monitoring costs were less than $2,000.
KIDS TOSS AND TURN MORE THAN THEIR ELDERS Children are more active than old-timers not only during their waking hours, but also when they sleep, a new study has found.
Researchers at the University of Ottawa used a camera that photographed people snoozing in the research sleep lab every 8 seconds, then tabulated slumbering movements for people ranging in age from 3 years to 75.
They found 116 possible postural configurations and noted that the younger a sleeper is, the more he will move around.
The youngest sleepers changed positions twice as much as the oldsters, but even elderly snoozers averaged two changes an hour.
TESTOSTERONE LEVEL LINKED TO WINNING Testosterone, the male hormone associated with assertiveness, may be linked to winning competitive contests, some researchers suggest.
”In many competitive activities, ranging from tennis to chess, testosterone levels rise with victory and fall with defeat,” said Alan Booth, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University.
”Our studies of tennis players revealed consistently large increases in testosterone before matches, as if players` bodies anticipated the coming contest and adopted a competitive stance,” Booth said.
”Heightened testosterone reinforces the will to dominate, which facilitates winning. After the matches, testosterone levels rose even higher for winners, especially when they were in an excellent mood and felt pleased with their performances.”
On the other hand, losers experienced a drop in testosterone, Booth said. He suggested that such trends may shed light on how competitors get locked into winning or losing streaks.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOOSTS PRODUCTIVITY Giving workers individual control of their lighting, temperature, sound and other office environment factors may be a surer way to boost productivity than buying the latest computer technology.
In what may be the first solid evidence, Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York report a 2 percent increase in office productivity tied directly to giving employees control of their environment. The studies were conducted at West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. of West Bend, Wis.
The insurance company provided an unusual opportunity for study, said Walter Kroner, director of Rensselaer`s center for architectural research, because the firm had years ago developed clear measures of employee productivity and was moving to new quarters equipped with environmentally responsive work stations.
Researchers focused on 118 employees, studying their productivity in the old facility, then in the new one. They found productivity jumped an average of 15 percent, said Walter Kroner, director of Rensselaer`s center for architectural research.
