BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: Surgery

Sleep In for Heart Surgery!

Now if you’re on the operating table, likely passed out and opened up, its a fair bet that what time of day it is will have absolutely no importance to you. But maybe it should.

Recently, a study spanning over 6 years and conducted on over 600 patients, was based on recovering from heart surgery had noticed a strong correlation with time of day and rate/outcome of recovery.

These patients who underwent a heart valve replacement had shown an interesting relationship with a humans circadian rhythm. Those who underwent surgery in the afternoon had much better results and recovery than those in the morning. Additionally, in the following 500 days after the surgery, patients who were operated on during the afternoon were half as likely to have a major cardiac event such as myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack) or acute heart failure.

The team conducted a second study in which a total of 88 random patients were put into two groups, morning and afternoon. The results showed that those in the afternoon had lower levels of myocardial ischemia.

In a further examination of these findings in an attempt to find a cause, an article from Scientific American states, “The researchers isolated heart tissue samples from a subgroup of 30 patients from the randomized controlled trial. In laboratory tests, tissue from afternoon surgeries more quickly regained its ability to contract when researchers imitated the process of the heart refilling with blood as surgery concludes.”

While operating in the afternoon may have its benefits, doctors say that altogether abandoning surgery in the morning is simply out of the question. However, other practical applications of this are being studied, such as how it may affect cancer treatment in patients and whether or not circadian rhythm affects a variety of medical procedures. But until then, let the anesthesia kick in and enjoy the operation.

What do you think will be the next application of circadian rhythm or other anatomical and biological features?

Want to find out more? Sources below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/10/26/surgery-safer-afternoon-bodys-circadian-rhythm-study-suggests/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-heart-surgery-may-be-better-in-the-afternoon/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/heart-surgery-afternoon-morning-safety-post-illness-recovery-circadian-rhythm-body-clock-a8023736.html

Australian and PNG doctors and nurses performing surgery in Operation Open Heart. Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea. Picture by Rocky Roe/AusAID

The First Ever Human Head Transplant

Exactly 200 years after Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein, neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero has announced that he will be performing the first ever human head transplant in 2017, until recent reports say that it will not take place until early 2018. However, this is not the first head transplant, as nearly 50 years ago a rhesus monkey was the first recipient of such an operation. Additionally, Canavero has found a partner for the operation, Xiaoping Ren, who states that he has practiced this on over 1,000 mice.

Until April 28th of 2017, our human guinea pig was 31 year old Russian man, Valery Spiridonov. He suffers from Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a form of muscular atrophy. However, the Italian neurosurgeon announced that Spiridonov will not be the head donor, but in his place a volunteer from China. Canavero stated the reason for this is due to the surgery taking place in China, and getting a Chinese donor is much more convenient/practical.

As for the procedure, the operation is said to take 36 hours. During these hours, the donor head and body will have to be cooled down to a temperature of -15˚C so the cells last more than a few minutes without oxygen. They will cut the tissue around the neck, having the major blood vessels linked by tiny tubes. Then, the spiral cord on both the head and body will be severed cleanly with an extremely sharp blade to minimize damage to the spinal cord. Finally, the head is ready to be connected. The two ends of the spinal cord will be fused with a chemical known as polyethylene glycol, a chemical used in certain medicines such as laxatives, but has been shown to act as a catalyst to the growth of spinal cord nerves. Following the connection of the muscles and blood vessels, the patient will be put into a coma for a month to decrease and limit any movement so that the electrodes can stimulate the spinal cord to grow and strengthen connections.

Sergio Canavero, Photo taken by 诗凯 陆 (@flickr)

As for the reaction to this so called “taboo-medicine”, the scientific community is not only skeptical but horrified as well. Many argue that the procedure is simply unethical and a twisted, gruesome form of medicine. However, Canavero states that it is simply giving a chance for paralyzed people to hopefully be able to walk and function on their own. What do you think of this? Is it unethical and taboo? Or is it an opportunity for progress?

For more information visit these sources:

http://www.alphr.com/science/1001145/human-head-transplant
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/human-head-transplant
http://www.newsweek.com/head-transplant-sergio-canavero-valery-spiridonov-china-2017-591772

New Breast Cancer Gene Discovered

 

 

 

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Today, one of the most talked about cancers is breast cancer. Breast cancer is defined as cancer that forms in the tissues of the breast. There are two types of breast cancer: ductal carcinoma, which is most common and begins in the lining of the milk ducts (thin tubes that carry milk from the lobules of the breast to the nipple) and lobular carcinoma, which begins in the lobules (milk glands) of the breast.

According to a new study done by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, a gene has been identified to have a major association in aggressive subtypes of breast cancer. The research suggests that an overactive BCL11A gene causes the development of tripe-negative breast cancer.

The study was conducted in human cells and in mice. The study was important because one in five patients are affected by triple-negative breast cancer. From the conducted research, Dr. Walid Khaled discovered that by adding an active human BCL11A gene to a human or a mouse’s breast cells (in the lab) caused them to behave as cancer cells. Increasingly, Dr. Khaled concluded that “by increasing BCL11A activity we increase cancer-like behaviour; by reducing it, we reduce cancer-like behavior.”

This research and study is extremely important because from the results, the team was able to propose that BCL11A is a strong candidate for development of a possible targeted treatment. Typical treatments of breast cancer include radiation and chemotherapy as well as surgery. The most known surgeries are Lumpectomy/partial mastectomy (large portion of the breast is removed) and a full mastectomy (full removal of breasts)

I chose this article because I know many dear friends that have faced and survived the battle of breast cancer. I believe that spreading awareness and screening early is extremely important. In addition, I am very hopeful that new advances will be made so that others need not endure the excruciating fight of breast cancer.

 

The New Way to Diet

The New Way to Diet 

Today, obesity is a global epidemic effecting millions if not billions of people world wide. Whether it be a few pounds or even a couple hundred pounds, there are countless people out there looking for a way to drop excess weight. Some they try dieting and altering what they eat and others revert to more serious methods, such as surgery. Recently a new procedure has been created that can help those suffering from obesity. Called  GECA or (gastric artery chemical embolization), this surgery can change the lives of millions of individuals.

* Click on image for link to flickr page

GECA is a surgery much safer than a liposuction that can literally make you less hungry  This relatively simple surgery is carried out by blocking off an artery that leads to the stomach. Doing this cuts off the blood supply to a certain section of the stomach that can produce the hormone called gherlin. This hormone controls our cravings to eat food and the sensation we call ‘hunger.’ Removing this hormone from our bloodstream would take away the desire to constantly eat. We would still be hungry, but just for less. With the desire to eat dissipating  one’s intake would go down and, with some exercise, the pounds would drop easily.

What do you think of this new procedure?

Source Article: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=168362

 

 

 

Conjoined Twins Separated!!!

Angelina and Aneglica Sabuco were so close that they were connected at the hip, literally! (Well, actually, they were connected at the chest and abdomen). On tuesday at Stanford University Children’s Hospital, the girls underwent 9 hours and over 20 doctors assisting in the surgery.

The twins had been preparing for this surgery ever since July, getting weekly sterile saltwater shots into balloons beneath their skin. This was done in order to stretch their skin and produce more skin. “Dr. Gary Hartman, lead surgeon on the case, had said keeping the girls connected carried bigger risks for their health than the separation procedure.” If the twins were to have remained connected there would have been serious risks. “If one conjoined twin dies, the other will die within hours. Muscular and skeletal deformities can also worsen with time.”  However, the surgery is also risky. Since 1950, when siamese twins are surgically separated, one twin survived at least 75% of the time.

As if the first surgery was not enough, the girls had entered the next phase, reconstruction. The second surgery involved concealing holes created by the separation. After the reconstruction the girls  “were moved to the intensive care unit, each with a scar stretching from her chest to her belly.” The mother of the girls, Ginady Sabuco, was overjoyed. She wants her twins to be able to live a normal life.

 

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