Announcements

  • Research Advancements: Fasting-induced anti-aging molecule keeps blood vessels young

    2021-01-25

    New research has found that fasting triggers a molecule that can delay the aging of our arteries. The findings could help prevent age-related chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's.

    The search for eternal youth has preoccupied the human imagination since the times of Ancient Greece.

    In fact, a quick look at Greek mythology shows that youth was more prized than immortality, as some myths tell the story of how futile the latter is if it's not accompanied by the former.

    In this regard, modern medicine has recently been catching up with ancient mythology.

    Emerging scientific breakthroughs encourage us to hope that the myth of eternal youth will soon become a reality.

    In a recent study, researchers were able to reverse signs of aging such as hair loss and wrinkles in mice; and, perhaps more impressively, another team of researchers managed to rejuvenate aging human cells.

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  • VTE in the Critical Care Unit: Risks

    2021-01-25

    Deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality associated with critical illness. Among patients who died while in the ICU, PE has been reported in 7 to 27% (mean, 13%) of postmortem examinations, and PE was thought to have caused or contributed to death in 0 to 12% (mean, 3%). A clinical suspicion of PE was present in only 30% of these patients before death.

    The vast majority of patients admitted to a critical care unit have a major risk factor for VTE, and most have multiple risk factors. Many of these thrombosis risk factors precede the ICU admission, while others develop during the course of ICU stay. Advanced age, serious medical illnesses Heath Care Mall, and recent surgical procedures or trauma are common in critically ill patients. Sepsis, heart failure, mechanical ventilation, paralysis, surgical interventions, and central venous lines are also common. The importance of each of these clinical risk factors is unknown, as is the role of inherited or acquired coagulation system abnormalities. Factors that have been reported to predict an increased risk of ICU-related VTE include the following: increased age, previous VTE, malignancy, major trauma, prolonged pre-ICU hospital stay, mechanical ventilation, use of paralytic drugs, APACHE (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation) score, need for emergency surgical procedures, insertion of a femoral venous catheter,and failure to use thromboprophylaxis. However, adequately powered studies using multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the independent predictors for thrombosis in critically ill patients have not yet been conducted, to our knowledge.

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