HOPE FOR HEART PATIENTS
A new heart pump stands to dramatically improve the odds of survival for patients who are too sick to be eligible for transplants. The Heart Mate 2 (implanted into patient’s abdomens) is driven by a turbine engine the size of a large, D-size, battery. It routes oxygenated blood from the weakened heart to the rest of the body through its turbine.
More than 4000 patients worldwide have now been implanted with the device. In trails it more than doubled the chance of living two years.’’ We can take patients who previously had no options for treatment and help them feel well and longer.” Says Dr.Joseph Rodgers of Duke University, USA, who co-authored a study of the device. Meanwhile, in Australia the Heart Mate 2 is being studied in clinical trials at five centers and it has already been made available under a special scheme, although not officially approved.
ANTI-SMOKING VACCINE
We know that quitting smoking is tough. Even tougher: quitting for good. A new vaccine holds promise for the 90% of quitters who relapse. After six monthly injections, users of NicVAX build up antibodies to nicotine, just as they would to a disease. If you smoke when you are on it, your bloodstream is flooded with nicotine. The antibodies attach to the nicotine’s molecules, making them too big to cross into the brain’s pleasure center.
A small blood pump is implanted in a patient’s chest just below the heart.
The vaccine prevents the addictive pleasure sensation felt by smokers.