http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Bioengineered rat kidneys developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators successfully produced urine both in a laboratory apparatus and after being transplanted into living animals. In their report, receiving advance online publication in Nature Medicine, the research team describes building functional replacement kidneys on the structure of donor organs from which living cells had been stripped, an approach previously used to create bioartificial hearts, lungs and livers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-implantable-bioengineered-rat-kidney-video.html Medical research Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:00:17 EST news285140804 The first woman ever to receive a uterus from a deceased donor, is two-weeks pregnant following a successful embryo transplant, her doctors said on Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-worlds-womb-transplant-woman-pregnant.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:39:28 EST news284974758 Bone marrow transplant is a key treatment for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other blood disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-bone-marrow-transplant-graft-versus-host-disease.html Medical research Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:35:38 EST news281363715 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified specific cellular events that appear key to lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that afflicts tens of millions of people worldwide. The findings suggest that blocking this pathway in lupus-triggering cells could be a potent weapon against the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-key-element-lupus-drug.html Medical research Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:43:05 EST news279222177 People who take immunosuppressive drugs to treat lupus do not necessarily increase their cancer risk according to new research led by scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). This landmark study, which was published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases this month, addresses long-standing fears of a link between lupus medication and cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-lupus-drugs-significant-cancer-patients.html Medications Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:58:39 EST news278254710 The results of a pioneering UK-wide clinical trial that compared treatments for patients with a common type of kidney disease has found one to be significantly more effective. The results of the study, published online in The Lancet today, will be recommended to clinicians worldwide as the most effective approach to treating the condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-reveal-effective-treatment-common-kidney.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 09 Jan 2013 09:44:22 EST news276947047 Each year the flu puts more than 200,000 Americans in the hospital and causes anywhere from 3,000 to 49,000 deaths. With the exception of the H1N1 flu (also called swine flu) in 2009, most of these deaths occur in people over 65. But even for healthy younger people, the flu—characterized by high fever, body aches, headaches, and coughing—can be rough. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-ready-flu-season.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:03:37 EST news273225802 A single genetic variant in kidney donors' cells may help determine whether their transplanted organs will survive long term, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings provide new information that might be used to improve transplant longevity by revealing that the genetic make-up of kidney transplant donors affects the survival of transplanted organs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-gene-variant-donors-affect-survival.html Other Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:00:01 EST news269192994 A drug commonly used to treat immune disorders such as lymphoma and arthritis also benefits patients with an immune disorder of the kidneys that can lead to kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of new study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings could help people who are living with the condition, called idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN), avoid taking the potentially toxic medications that are currently prescribed to treat it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-immune-drug-patients-kidney-disorder.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:00:01 EST news261932296 The first biologically tissue-engineered vein grown from a patient's own stem cells has been successfully transplanted into a 10-year-old girl with portal vein obstruction, dramatically enhancing her quality of life. These pioneering results, published online first in the Lancet, could offer a potential new way for patients lacking healthy veins to undergo dialysis or heart bypass surgery without the problems of synthetic grafts (that are prone to clots and blockages) or the need for lifelong immunosuppressive drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-successful-transplantation-tissue-engineered-vein-child.html Immunology Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:30:01 EST news258811550 (HealthDay) -- Following a conditioning regimen of lymphoid irradiation (TLI) and antithymocyte globulin (ATG), the majority of HLA-matched kidney and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients can be withdrawn from immunosuppressive drugs, according to a small study published online March 8 in the American Journal of Transplantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-conditioning-regimen-beneficial-kidney-recipients.html Surgery Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:08:10 EST news252176882 A new technique involving the use of an artificial scaffold into which a patient's own stem cells are inserted, turning it into a fully functional organ, could offer a potential solution to the donor shortage crisis, according to the second paper in this week's Lancet Series on stem cells. This pioneering approach to regenerating and transplanting organs requires no human donors, has no problems with rejection, and has no need for immunosuppressive drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-potential-solution-donor-shortage.html Medical research Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:30:04 EST news250445974 New ongoing research published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine suggests organ transplant recipients may not require anti-rejection medication in the future thanks to the power of stem cells, which may prove to be able to be manipulated in mismatched kidney donor and recipient pairs to allow for successful transplantation without immunosuppressive drugs. Northwestern Medicine® and University of Louisville researchers are partnering on a clinical trial to study the use of donor stem cell infusions that have been specially engineered to "trick" the recipients' immune system into thinking the donated organ is part of the patient's natural self, thus gradually eliminating or reducing the need for anti-rejection medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-transplant-method-kidney-recipients-life.html Medical research Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:00:02 EST news250347854 Cochlear implants may be a safe, effective option for some organ transplant patients who've lost their hearing as an unfortunate consequence of their transplant-related drug regime, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cochlear-implants-safe-effective-transplant.html Other Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:57:52 EST news248101048 Rapid discontinuation of the immunosuppressive steroid prednisone after a kidney transplant can help prevent serious side effects, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Also, doing so does not appear to jeopardize the long-term survival of transplant patients and their new organs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-steroids-kidney-transplant-recipients-long-term.html Other Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:00:05 EST news246806737 Transplant surgeons live in the hope that one day they will be able to wean at least some of their patients off the immunosuppressive drugs that must be taken to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ. A team of researchers led by Alberto Sánchez-Fueyo, at the University of Barcelona, Spain, has now identified markers that might make this possible for liver transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-weaning-transplant-recipients-immunosuppressive-drugs.html Other Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:02 EST news242905934 Patients who receive kidney transplants must take lifelong medications that, while preventing organ rejection, can also compromise other aspects of health. Immunosuppresive drugs called calcineurin inhibitors protect transplanted organs from being rejected, but they can be toxic to the kidneys over the long term and can make patients susceptible to infection, cancer, and other threats. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-toxic-drugs-kidney-transplant-patients.html Other Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:32:54 EST news235935148 A new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation reveals that substitution of a brand name immunosuppressive drug with a generic (manufactured by Sandoz) for preventing rejection of transplanted organs appears to be safe for transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-substitution-brand-drug-safe-transplant.html Medications Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:28:01 EST news235132066 A 36-year-old man who had tracheal cancer has received a new lab-made windpipe seeded with his own stem cells in a procedure in Sweden they call the first successful attempt of its kind, officials said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-landmark-transplant-stemcell-coated-artificial-windpipe.html Medical research Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:10:36 EST news229270132 Surgeon and Professor Michael Olausson was able to create a new connection with the aid of this blood vessel between the liver and the intestines, necessary to cure the girl. The girl is now in good health, and her prognosis is very good. The girl developed during her first year of life a blood clot in the blood vessel that leads blood from the intestines to the liver. This introduced the risk that she would experience life-threatening internal bleeding. The condition can be cured if it is possible to direct the blood along the correct path, back into the liver. In optimal cases, the surgery can be performed using blood vessels from other parts of the patient's body, but a liver transplant may be necessary if the surgery is unsuccessful due to a lack of sufficient blood vessels. A liver transplant will involve subsequent lifelong treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-stem-cell-technology-unique-surgery.html Medical research Mon, 09 May 2011 11:38:56 EST news224159917