Surgeons Perform World's First Pediatric Robotic Bladder Reconstruction
November 21, 2008

A 10-year-old Chicago girl born with an abnormally small bladder that made her incontinent has become the first patient to benefit from a new robotic-assisted bladder-reconstruction method developed by surgeons at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The surgeons describe their innovative technique in the December 2008 issue of the journal Urology. Read more...

A new study from Georgia Tech shows that when patients with macular degeneration focus on using another part of their retina to compensate for their loss of central vision, their brain seems to compensate by reorganizing its neural connections. Age related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Read more...

Although life expectancy is constantly increasing in the countries of the European Union, living longer is not always synonymous with ageing well and knowing to what age a person will live in good health remains a very different question. Jean-Marie Robine, Inserm research director, conducted research within the scope of the European Health Expectancy Monitoring Unit to answer this question. Read more...

One of the most reliable indicators to predict that a person will develop type 2 diabetes is the presence of insulin resistance. Insulin is produced in the pancreas and is the hormone responsible for ensuring that glucose reaches several tissues and organs in the body, such as muscles. Read more...

A virus that causes cold-like symptoms in humans originated in birds and may have crossed the species barrier around 200 years ago, according to an article published in the December issue of the Journal of General Virology. Scientists hope their findings will help us understand how potentially deadly viruses emerge in humans. Read more...

Overweight teens who weigh themselves at least once a week are more likely to engage in other healthy weight control measures than teens who step on the scale less frequently, according to a new small study. Self-weighing can be a successful tool for adults, but some concern exists that recommending the behavior could backfire with teens who struggle with obesity. Read more...

The earlier cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of effecting a cure. A revolutionary new hybrid technology offers the possibility of detecting this and other diseases right at inception. Read more...

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a therapy programme to treat depression in women in developing countries. Although depression is a major health problem world-wide, experts say its impact is greatest in developing countries where 80% of the population live. Often there are no resources available to treat sufferers. Read more...

Scientists in Leeds have devised a new way to create the next generation of man made molecules in a breakthrough that could revolutionise drug development. Creating new drugs to combat disease and illness requires the completion of a complex 3D jigsaw. Read more...

Researchers in one of the external groups of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have discovered a novel mechanism which regulates the process whereby new blood vessels are formed and wounds heal, including chronic wounds, such as those found in diabetic patients and those suffering from morbid obesity. Read more...