Sex good for your heart, even if you have an ICD: Cardiologist blogger Dr. Wes wrote about a study in Circulation that looked into issues related to wearing implantable cardioverter defibrillators during coitus. According to the study, “sexual activity was a likely contributor in fewer than 1 percent of cases. In fact, regular physical exertion, such as that associated with sexual activity, was associated with a decreased risk of cardiac events in patients!”
“My rule of thumb," Dr. Wes wrote, is "if you have a defibrillator and can walk up two flights of stairs without getting a shock, you’ll probably be okay having sex. (Be sure to check with your doctor, these are just my ballpark recommendations. Also, this rule of thumb may not apply to those involved in extramarital affairs. As we’ve heard, heart rates accelerate much more when a naughty, clandestine element is involved).”
Haute couture collection — blood collection, that is: Designer Jihye Lee proposes a different look for blood collection bags featuring a more solid construction and a look as though it’s meant for sale on 5th Avenue. The "Sweet Donation Bag" also stylishly sports blood type labels as part of the packaging, and though the haute design may be a distraction from the needle prick, it won’t reduce the ouch.
Multiple chemo drug delivery through a nanoparticle: Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital used specially designed nanoparticles to deliver two very different chemo drugs, cisplatin and docetaxel, to prostate cancer cells. Docetaxel is hydrophobic and cisplatin is hydrophilic, so encapsulating them in one nanoparticle is a difficult task. “With the researchers’ new technique, called ‘drug-polymer blending.’ drug molecules are hung like pendants from individual units of the polymer, before the units assemble into a polymer nanoparticle. That allows the researchers to precisely control the ratio of drugs loaded into the particle,” according to MIT News.
Doctors tour the Army’s BAMC: Last week, MedGadget got a chance to visit the Brooke Army Medical Center. BAMC (pronounced “bam see”) is one of the U.S. military’s primary hospitals and a major medical research facility. The 450-bed hospital features a level-one trauma center, graduate medical education and the military’s only American Burn Association-verified Burn Center. The ABA verification means that all burn victims from Iraq and Afghanistan arrive at BAMC — after a stopover in Landstuhl, Germany — about two days after the injury on the battlefield. The hospital-based U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Flight Team has transported hundreds of casualties to the San Antonio, Texas hospital using specially modified C-17 transport planes. Once on site, patients receive full-time physical and mental therapy, while clinical researchers have a lab-to-animal-to-clinical-trial facility to improve the care provided. Although it is a Dept. of Defense facility, the hospital accepts civilian patients from the surrounding region, and the research scientists publish in clinical journals and share their knowledge with the world. Read more at MedGadget.
A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.