From The Neck To The Lips

There are different ways to make your lips look fuller. One of the recent discoveries in lip augmentation makes use of muscles and connective tissues grafted from the neck.

Many aging women opt for lip augmentation when the groove of their upper lip starts to flatten and lesser amount of pink tissue remains visible. To create fuller lips, the procedure requires injection with collagen or with fat from another site of the patient's body. When the collagen or fat is absorbed, maintenance requires repeat treatments. Implants, however, provide longer-lasting options compared to injections.

According to Anurag Agarwal, MD. of The Aesthetic Surgery Center in Naples, his team conducted a study involving 25 patients who underwent lip augmentation using sternocleidomastoid, the muscle and connective tissue at the side of the neck.

In two years time, results of the study are as follows:

• an average of 20% to 24% increase in the amount of pink tissue showing on both upper and lower lips
• an increase of 0.9 to 0.99 millimeters on the average projection of upper and lower lips
• no deformities in lip contour
• no limitations in head movement
• no neck pain
• no nerve injuries associated with the procedure

Contributed By: Monch Bravante

New System For Blood Sugar Control

There's a new diabetes management system from Medtronic that has been approved by the FDA. It's the MiniMed Paradigm REAL-time Revel System with predictive blood sugar level alerts and smaller insulin delivery rates to help patients and physicians come up with a customized therapy for individual needs.

This system makes use of a device to be plugged into a USB port of a computer and uploads information from the glucose monitor and insulin pump. The link reduces the risk of blood sugar crashes by improving blood sugar control. Tracking blood sugar control is done by the patient through a Wev software applications. According to Medtronic, the system simplifies the complexities of most daily diabetes regimen.

Based on the research study, there is a 36% improvement in the detection of low blood sugar condition, while detection of high blood sugar condition has only decreased by 4%. It is now available for $6,500 with reimbursement plan for those with medical indication.

Contributed By: Monch Bravante

Early Detection Of Tumors In Just One Scan

Technological advancement revolutionizes brain scanning method through the utilization of highly sensitive camera in detecting brain tumors with just a single scan.

The project, known as ProSPECTus, aims to improve the technology of next generation SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging devices. It is a collaboration of the Nuclear Physics Group from the University of Liverpool and the Technology Department of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) at Daresbury Laboratory.

This cutting-edge medical imaging will allow the early detection and effective diagnosis of tumors resulting in fewer patient-doctor appointments and a better probability of effective treatment. The new generation camera also has the advantage of lower radiation exposure due to shorter imaging time. This will benefit a lot of patients who normally need to be scanned frequently. With patients having fewer trips for scanning treatment, clinics will have more time to accommodate more patients who need medical imaging.

Contributed By: Monch Bravante

Predicting Prostate Cancer With 98% Accuracy

Most often, conventional methods of diagnosing cancer are inadequate because cancer usually spreads at a microscopic level. In a new study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, researchers found a new blood biomarker that can predict the spread of prostate cancer with 98% accuracy.

The new procedure could help medical practitioners in predicting the spread of prostate cancer from the solid tumor site into the regional lymph nodes by measuring endoglin levels in a patient's blood. The same endoglin is the plasma biomarker that has previously helped predict the spread of colon and breast cancer.

Methods currently used to predict spread of prostate cancer are Gleason grade, prostate specific antigen, and rectal exam. However, these procedures are not adequate enough to predict which cancer will spread when lymph nodes metastases are small, but clinically significant.

While pelvic lymphadenectomy is a procedure that can provide significant staging and prognostic details, it is not universally practiced on all patients. This procedure may take so much time with potential morbidity. That is why it is important to have an accurate blood marker to identify patients who will be qualified to undergo lymphadenectomy, thus sparing patients who are at low risk.

Contributed By: Monch Bravante

Detecting Alzheimer's Disease With High Accuracy

It's sad to think that as we get older, there is a chance that we may get afflicted with Alzheimer's disease – the loss of memory and mental abilities. While the condition is not a regular component of normal aging, the risk of acquiring it increases with old age.

There is no known cure yet for Alzheimer's disease, only treatments that can help improve the quality of life for those with the disease. In 2009, major advances were made in the area of accurate diagnosis of the condition. Experts from UCLA have come up with a reliable blood test for detecting Alzheimer's. Over at Mayo Clinic, MRI imaging of changes in brain activity has been analyzed with an accuracy of almost 80%.

The most accurate method, however, is developed at West Virginia University where defective memory enzymes are detected with 98% accuracy by just pricking a finger. Also, they discovered that low doses of bryostatin, a drug used in chemotherapy, can help reactivate the defective enzymes. The stage is now being set for human clinical trials to start this 2010.

Contributed By: Monch Bravante

Heart Surgery Procedures

When serious heart conditions occur,surgeons require heart surgery to correct the problem before it becomes too late. Some of the reasons for heart surgery are:

1. Repair or replacement of heart valves that control blood flow

2. Repair of abnormal or damaged structures in the heart

3. Implant of medical devices to regulate heart rhythms or support blood flow and heart function

4. Replacement of a damaged heart with a healthy heart from a donor

One of the most commonly performed heart procedures is open heart surgery, whereby the chest wall is opened to expose the heart and the patient is connected to a heart-lung bypass machine.

Some heart surgery procedures don't require cutting open through the breastbone. Instead, only smaller incisions are made on the chest directly on top of the heart area. Other procedures don't use heart-lung bypass machine. Recently, surgeons perform heart surgery outside of the patient's body.

Experts are comparing these non-traditional procedures with the traditional method of open heart surgery to know which is better in reducing risks and faster recovery time.

Contributed By: Monch Bravante

Tips To Ease Computer Vision Syndrome

In this advanced age of information highway, computer eye strain is fast becoming a major health concern among office workers. Based on studies, computer-related visual problems comprised 50% to 90% of ailments complained about by computer workers such as decreased productivity, physical fatigue, and increased numbers of work mistakes.

To reduce chances of experiencing computer vision syndrome (CVS) and other symptoms of computer eye strain, here are some practicals:

1. For upstart, have an eye exam before starting on the job and do it in an annual basis.

2. Proper lighting means reducing interior and exterior light sources. Use blinds or drapes to eliminate exterior lights. Minimize bulbs and fluorescent tubes and use low-intensity lighting fixtures.

3. Installing anti-glare screen on your monitor can reduce, if not eliminate, reflections on walls and surfaces with glossy finished. Better yet, repaint these surfaces with dark hues and a matte finish.

4. Upgrade your monitor to a flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD) with at least 19-inch (diagonal) screen size.

5. Adjust the brightness and contrast of your computer screen in relation to the lighting of the work surroundings. Optimize text size and color for eye comfort.



Contributed By: Monch Bravante