Tag Archives: texas

States Saying No to ‘Obamacare’ Could See Downside

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For Gov. Rick Perry, saying “no” to the federal health care law could also mean turning away up to 1.3 million Texans, nearly half the uninsured people who could be newly eligible for coverage in his state.

Gov. Chris Christie not only would be saying “no” to President Barack Obama, but to as many as 245,000 uninsured New Jersey residents as well. Continue reading →

New Procedure Repairs Severed Nerves in Minutes, Restoring Limb Use in Days or Weeks

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Team apply new procedure to rapidly induce nerve regeneration in mammals

American scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons. Their results are published today in the Journal of Neuroscience Research.

“We have developed a procedure which can repair severed nerves within minutes so that the behavior they control can be partially restored within days and often largely restored within two to four weeks,” said Professor George Bittner Continue reading →

Extreme Heat Related Injuries Can Be Prevented

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Dr. Pat Crocker knows better than most that it’s dangerously hot in Central Texas these days.

“We are in an exceptionally hot period — a 100-year drought with 106-, 107-degree days. So we’re at a higher risk for heat injuries, and it just makes sense for people to be extra careful,” said Crocker, chief of emergency medicine at Dell Children’s Medical Center.

That includes the high school football players and coaches found on sweltering, sun-baked fields.

In protecting young athletes from heat-related illnesses, Crocker said, “there are a number of things that have clear value because most, if not all, exertion-related heat injuries are preventable. Continue reading →

Leprosy in the US Linked to Armadillos

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Armadillos, with their sharp claws and body armor, don’t have a reputation for being cuddly. New research should make them even less so. They turn out to be a potential source of leprosy in genetically-susceptible humans.

Researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine that a strain of leprosy found in humans in the southern United States is identical to the one common in nine-banded armadillos in the region.

The findings mean people should be discouraged from frequent contact with the animals, or cooking and consuming armadillo meat.

The results also suggest that species  Continue reading →