Army’s Northern Command hospital performs marrow transplant

November 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists are reporting a new breakthrough in the ongoing battle against a fatal brain disease called adrenoleukodystrophy using gene therapy. The brain condition is hereditary and is characterized by the slow wearing down of fatty acids, which are meant to protect nerves in the brain.

November 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre have come up with a novel treatment that would improve survival rates of leukemia and pre-leukemia patients. They used a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat a group of leukemia and pre-leukemia patients, The study showed that patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome - a pre-leukemic condition - experienced a remission with the help of combination of low-intensity chemotherapy, targeted radiation delivery by an antibody and a stem-cell transplant.

November 5th, 2009 more images more imagesNew gene therapy halts 2 boys' rare brain diseaseWASHINGTON — French scientists mixed gene therapy and bone marrow transplants in two boys to seemingly halt a brain disease that can kill by adolescence. The surprise ingredient: They disabled the HIV virus so it couldn't cause AIDS, and then used it to carry in the healthy new gene.

November 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A study by doctors at Henry Ford Hospital has shown that extending hepatitis C treatment for liver transplant patients results in high rates of clearance of the hepatitis C virus from the blood, as well as a low rate of relapse. "We found that patients who achieved a sustained virological response were more likely to have had extended treatment.

November 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Lupus patients undergoing kidney transplant rarely develop serious inflammatory condition lupus nephritis in their new organ, reveals a new study. The findings indicate that having lupus should not keep individuals from seeking a kidney transplant if they need one.

October 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Racial discrimination exists even when it comes to kidney transplant-survival rates of transplant recipients is jeopardised if the donor belongs to a different race, a study by an Indian-origin researcher has found. Dr. Anita Patel, transplant nephrologist at Henry Ford Hospital Transplant Institute and lead author of the study, said that people who receive kidney from a donor of a different race are more at risk than those receiving the organ within the same race.

October 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pre-dialysis transplant patients with high level of kidney function are unlikely to benefit from the transplantation as compared to those with low-level kidney function, say researchers. Kidney disease patients with pre-dialysis transplants ("preemptive" transplantation) tend to live longer and have higher functioning transplants than post-dialysis transplant recipients.

October 24th, 2009 JAMMU - Soldiers of the Indian Army are more vulnerable to tropical diseases because of their frequent movement from one place to another, medical experts said Saturday. New medicines have to be developed to stem the rise in the deaths due to diseases, especially tropical diseases like malaria, TB and others, the experts said at a Continuing Medical Education programme at the Army's Northern Command Headquarters in Udhampur, 66 km from Jammu.

October 21st, 2009 BEIJING - Xiao Qinglian can do handstands with both legs over his shoulder while picking up a coin with his mouth. The feat is remarkable as Xiao is 91-years-old.

October 19th, 2009 LONDON - A test that screens whether a patient's heart is healthy enough for a kidney transplant is not as dangerous as once thought, a new study reveals. It indicates that the test, called coronary angiography, does not cause a decline in kidney function for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) and can help determine when to schedule a patient for a transplant.

September 30th, 2009 Double hand transplant patient out of hospitalLANCASTER, Pa. — The mother of the nation's first double hand transplant patient says he's out of the hospital and looking forward to returning to his wife and daughter in Georgia.

September 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) have identified a gene that helps in progression of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a bone marrow disease. They believe that the new gene called RhoB could prove to be a therapeutic target for late-stage MDS.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scripps Research Institute scientists have offered new hope for parents whose children suffer from the rare genetic disorder 'cystinosis' by showing through an experiment on mice that stem cell transplantation can successfully correct the defect. "After meeting the children who suffer from this disease, like an 18-year-old who has already had three kidney transplants, and the families who are desperately searching for help, our team is committed to moving toward a cure for cystinosis, a lysosomal storage disorder.

September 17th, 2009 CHENNAI - In Tamil his name means carrier of fame. But what Pugazhendi, a one and a half year old boy actually carried to this world was a second life for his elder sister who suffered from thalassaemia, and in the process achieved fame.

September 9th, 2009 BANGALORE - With three new swine flu deaths being reported in Karnataka, the death toll due to the H1N1 virus in the state reached 47, a health official said here Thursday. A five-year-old admitted on Sep 1 died on the same day at a private hospital in Bijapur.