Radiation before surgery cuts cancer recurrence
...suggest that the radiation treatments given before surgery may help improve the patient's quality of life by ...ut 15% to 45% of patients who undergo conventional surgery to remove rectal tumors, they return. To prevent recurrence, surgeons have developed a technique cal...Voice may be improved by surgery
... as others do. Friends and relatives thought that surgery had significantly improved the subjects' voices. A similar effect was seen in patients having surgery to treat sinus and tonsil problems....... briefly as part of preoperative testing for brain surgery to treat epilepsy. Each patient was shown and asked to remember a morphed computer image blending the patient's own face with the face of a famous person. After the anesthesia wore off, patients were asked to choose which face they remembered seeing...Sleep apnoea increases post-operative risks
...naesthetics, sedatives and painkillers used around surgery aggravate sleep apnoea, as does the need to lie on...hould, if possible, be treated before this kind of surgery to improve the outcome.......ep an artery open, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery to improve blood flow through arteries. The patients were assessed after six months. In both groups, patients said both the severity of their angina symptoms, and their quality of life had improved. But far greater improvements were seen in the gro...Treatment for Meniere's disease
According to Italian scientists, Both drugs and surgery may be effective in treating Meniere's disease.Meniere's disease is a condition of the middle ear, affecting the hearing apparatus. A build up of pressure causes vertigo and nausea which can be very disabling. Generally Meniere's disease leads to hea...New spray gel heals surgical wounds
...veloped to heal wounds made inside the body during surgery without scarring. The spray gel forms a bright blu...e surgery, which is now commonly preferred to open surgery techniques. // The spray, made from polyethylene glycol, is now undergoing clinical trials in Ger......borns and it is the most common cause of abdominal surgery in infants. Using the Regenstrief Medical Record System – a comprehensive database that stores information on diagnoses, operative reports, pharmacy records and physician observations –the investigators studied 13,576 babies born between January 19...Emphysema surgery - unbeneficial
Lung reduction surgery for emphysema does not help the sickest patients, ...90s, studies seemed to suggest that lung reduction surgery was beneficial for people with emphysema. It appeared to leave them with a smaller, but more efficie......ding to a new study. Non-invasive - or 'keyhole' - surgery is increasing in popularity for a number of operat...time in hospital after the operation. Non-invasive surgery involves a tiny incision through which miniature instruments are inserted. The surgeon uses a comput......reduces the vibrations. // This has been done by surgery that creates scarring in the palate - but it's a very painful treatment. Surgeons at the University of California are trying a different approach - making the lesions with a needle electrode which feeds radiofrequency energy into the tissue. This is ...Heat therapy relieves back pain
...inful tissue and is less invasive than traditional surgery for lower back pain, taking just 45 minutes to perform. In the current study, patients said their pain was reduced by around 75 per cent. They also reported a dramatic improvement in their quality of life....Radiotherapy helps in colon cancer
...sis, it is better to give radiation therapy before surgery rather than afterwards. Hitting colon cancer with radiation as well as surgery can reduce the risk of recurrence. Generally the timing of radiotherapy varies when it comes to prac......e, but cosmetic creams have their limitations, and surgery is expensive so you might feel like resigning yourself to the inevitable. But, according to Dr Robert Weiss of Cleavland University//, there are now a number of new technologies that can reverse the signs of skin ageing. Why not give non-ablative s...Breast Cancer Surgery Causes Psychological problems
About one third of women who undergo surgery for breast cancer will experience psychological pr...rs asked 266 women who had undergone breast cancer surgery to fill out a questionnaire that evaluated their psychological health. The team also collected data ...Levels Of Blood Proteins May Help Heart Disease Care
...ely to die than those with lower levels. And while surgery reduced mortality by about 5% in the patients with high IL-6 levels, it had no effect on mortality among those with lower levels of the protein. In the second study, researchers report that another blood protein associated with immune response call...An effective way to treat angina
...o open up a blocked artery to the heart, or bypass surgery to short-circuit a vessel blockage.// Angina can relieved by another, less invasive, method by increasing blood flow to the heart. Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) involves delivering measured pulse waves to the circulation through specia...Protein signals need for heart surgery
...aggressively with surgery. Performing heart bypass surgery or angioplasty on patients with elevated levels of the protein troponin reduced mortality rates by an estimated 40 percent. // "Any sign of heart damage by troponin, whether a small amount or a large amount, was a sign that the patient was at high ...Erythromycin and infants’ intestinal disorde
...hydration. It is a common indication for abdominal surgery in infancy. “The finding will make a difference to the health of baies,” said the study’s principal investigator, Barbara E. Mahon a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics. Using clinical data extracted from the Regenstrief Medical Record System......ave a heart attack or stroke, need artery-clearing surgery or to die from causes related to their artery disease. These patients also showed a slight regression in their artery blockages, while on average all of the other groups showed worsening artery narrowing. Patients on the combination plus antioxidan...