28 November, 2013

Painful pinpricks may soon be history for diabetics

A new nanotechnology-based technique for regulating blood sugar in diabetics may give patients the ability to release insulin painlessly using a small ultrasound device, allowing them to go days between injections - rather than using needles to give themselves multiple insulin injections each day.

The technique involves injecting biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles into a patient's skin. The nanoparticles are made out of poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) and are filled with insulin.

Each of the PLGA nanoparticles is given either a positively charged coating made of chitosan (a biocompatible material normally found in shrimp shells), or a negatively charged coating made of alginate (a biocompatible material normally found in seaweed).

When the solution of coated nanoparticles is mixed together, the positively and negatively charged coatings are attracted to each other by electrostatic force to form a "nano-network."

Once injected into the subcutaneous layer of the skin, that nano-network holds the nanoparticles together and prevents them from dispersing throughout the body.

The coated PLGA nanoparticles are also porous. Once in the body, the insulin begins to diffuse from the nanoparticles. But the bulk of the insulin doesn't stray far - it is suspended in a de facto reservoir in the subcutaneous layer of the skin by the electrostatic force of the nano-network. This essentially creates a dose of insulin that is simply waiting to be delivered into the bloodstream.

Using the new technology developed by Dr. Zhen Gu, senior author of a paper on the research and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill, and his team, a diabetes patient doesn't have to inject a dose of insulin - it's already there. Instead, patients can use a small, hand-held device to apply focused ultrasound waves to the site of the nano-network, painlessly releasing the insulin from its de facto reservoir into the bloodstream.

The study has been published online in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

28.11.2013

Lifestyle factors linked to healthy pregnancy identified

Researchers have identified certain lifestyle factors that make it more likely for a woman to have a normal pregnancy.

They include increasing fruit intake before pregnancy, being a healthy weight, reducing blood pressure, stopping drug and alcoholmisuse, and being in paid employment during pregnancy.

Although further work is needed to determine whether these associations have causal importance, this study implies that targeted interventions that encourage women to make healthy choices before and during pregnancy "may increase the likelihood of normal pregnancy outcomes," the researchers said.

Researchers from the UK, Ireland and New Zealand carried out a study to identify factors at 15-20 weeks' gestation associated with a subsequent uncomplicated pregnancy. Their aim was to highlight those factors amenable to change before pregnancy, thereby informing decisions about interventions that could increase the likelihood of a normal outcome.

A total of 5,628 healthy women with singleton births (and no previous pregnancies) were recruited to the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints study between November 2004 and August 2008.

The primary outcome was uncomplicated pregnancy defined as a "normotensive pregnancy, delivered at more than 37 weeks resulting in a live born baby who was not small for gestational age and did not have any other significant pregnancy complications."

Factors amenable to improvement that reduced the likelihood of an uncomplicated pregnancy (that is, were detrimental) were increasing body mass index and blood pressure and misuse of drugs (including binge drinking) in the first trimester.

Factors amenable to improvement that increased the likelihood of an uncomplicated pregnancy (that is, were beneficial) were high fruit intake in the month before pregnancy and being in paid employment 15 weeks into pregnancy.

Detrimental factors that could not be altered were being in a lower socio-economic group, high blood pressure before pregnancy while taking oral contraceptive pills, family history of high blood pressure in pregnancy and bleeding during pregnancy.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

28.11.2013

We can't do great things in this life, We can only do small things with great love

Mother Theresa