BLOOD TEST - During Health
Friday, April 23, 2010
Blood test to let transplant
patients skip biopsies
A gene-based blood test worked as well as a surgical procedure used to check for signs of rejection in patients with heart transplants, US researchers said on Thursday. They said the simple blood test called AlloMap, made by molecular diagnostics company XDx Inc. will allow heart transplant patients to forego frequent biopsies of the heart, a procedure dreaded by many transplant patients because it is uncomfortable and can damage heart valves in a few patients. "This represents a major step forward in the way we manage a patient after hart transplants because we can now said Dr Hannah Valantine of Stanford University, who designed the study to determine whether it was safe to reduce the number of necessary biopsies by using the blood test.
Bottled up anger can kill heart patients:
People with heart disease might want to take a careful look at how they handle their feelings of anger. Researchers at Tilburg University in the Netherlands found that heart disease patients who suppressed their anger had nearly triple the risk of having a heart attack or dying over the next 5 to 10 years. The researchers investigated the interplay among "Type D" personality, anger, anger suppression, and outcomes in heart disease patients. People with Type D personalities are prone to suffer from anger and other negative emotions, and find it difficult to express themselves in social situations.
Preemies face lifetime lung trouble:
Children born extremely early -- at 25 weeks or before -- may risk a lifetime of lung problems, including asthma, British researchers reported on Thursday. They found that extremely pre-term babies who lived to age 11 aften had abnormal lung function and were twice as likely as children born at a full 39 or 40 weeks to be diagnosed with asthma. "Many ofthese children may not be receiving appropriate treatment," said Janet Stocks of University College London, who led the study.
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