Global Health News

In Haiti, thousands of new amputees are now learning to live with disabilities resulting from the earthquake of January 12th. According to Michel Péan, Haiti’s secretary of state for the integration of the disabled, “The situation for newly disabled persons is very delicate.” Reports from the Haitian government indicate that between 6,000 and 8,000 people underwent amputation of limbs or digits.

The sanitation in tent camps set up around Port-au-Prince is drawing some concern from public health officials. Accumulation of human waste could trigger major disease outbreaks, including cholera, which would further stress the Haitian healthcare system. Reports from doctors working incountry indicate a rise in typhoid and shigellosis, both of which arise from contaminated food or water. Aid groups are attempting to address sanitation concerns through the distribution of latrines.

Physicians who offered support in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina are now employing the skills they learned to provide relief in Haiti. A consortium of 41 organizations in New Orleans known as the Louisiana-Haiti Sustainable Village Project is among the groups seeking to provide assistance. Tent structures, food, medical supplies and equipment, and waste processing units are among the goods that these groups hope to distribute.

A prototype prosthetic foot which recycles kinetic energy to improve ambulation by amputees was developed by researchers at the University of Michigan. Typical prosthetic feet are not able to mimic the natural push-off of the ankle, making prosthetic limbs feel heavy. The prototype foot is able to replicate the strength of the ankle by storing energy, and does not require large batteries or motors.

Researchers at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia recently used modified pig lungs to successfully pump human blood. In order to ensure that the organs would not be rejected due to inter-species incompatibility, the DNA was removed from the lungs. Initial trials using artificial breathing machines indicate that the lungs, which are similar in size to human organs, could be used when faced with a severe organ shortage.

A new device developed by Israeli ultrasound technology company, InSightec, may allow for the destruction of stroke-causing clots in the brain without surgery or medication. By surrounding the head with an array of transducers, ultrasound beams can be focused on a specific spot in the brain without damaging the skull. The technology is currently being tested on patients to remove diseased brain tissue.

According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the use of high-tech medical tests has increased in the U.S. during the last decade. Debate continues as to whether the expanding presence of medical technology will have a positive effect. Use of CT scans, which can detect a number of ailments but also expose patients to high levels of radiation, tripled between 1996 and 2006.

Oxford University scientists have found a way of keeping vaccines stable without requiring refrigeration. Vaccines were mixed with two types of sugar before being dried slowly on a filter paper, preserving them and allowing for reactivation when needed. This breakthrough could bolster efforts to immunize more children in rural Africa and other areas worldwide where access to refrigeration needed to keep vaccines cool can be unreliable.

Blood pressure, cholesterol, and family history of heart disease may offer as accurate of a prediction of risk as genetic screens. Experts at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that markers of heart problems such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, smoking, and getting too little exercise provided comparable results as genetic tests to assess who was at highest risk of heart problems in a 12-year follow-up period.

Constructed from widely available and inexpensive components, the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) was recently developed by a group at MIT. The low-cost wheelchair allows users to commute through mud or rocky paths, and remain comfortable. This type of appropriate technology could benefit the estimated 20 million people in the developing world who require wheelchairs but may have limited or no access to them.

Researchers have developed a blood test based on the DNA of tumors that could allow for treatments specially tailored to a patient’s specific needs. The DNA from six patients with breast or colon cancer was scanned to locate “rearrangements” in large sections of the genome of cancer cells. Findings suggest that blood tests for these rearrangements will allow physicians to determine if patients with cancer require additional treatment.

A device is currently being tested in Belgium as a possible application to treat sleep apnea. ImThera has developed a small neurostimulator that is surgically implanted near the tongue and programmed to stimulate nerves. Targeted Hypoglossal Neurostimulation (THN) Sleep Therapy uses a motor or sensory nerve technique called targeted stimulation to stimulate certain muscles in the tongue to open the airway.

The future of electronic medical records may be a small smart-card containing patient data. Many European and Asian countries with nationalized heathcare systems utilize credit card-like smart cards to help identify and track patient’s care. The carte vitale has been used in France since 1998, and the nation’s healthcare system requires 67 percent fewer administrative personnel per building than a comparable American hospital.

New devices have been introduced that may help to remove germs from hands without washing them. Prototypes have been developed in several laboratories, each using plasma to kill off germs, including drug-resistant MRSA. Unlike hand washing with soap and water which requires a minute or more, hands can be inserted into these devices for just four seconds to inactivate not only bacteria, but also viruses and fungi.

The first set of reports providing comparative health data for all 3,000-plus counties in all 50 states was recently released. The reports aim at helping public health and community leaders, consumers, policymakers, and others understand the health of their counties compared to others in their state. More than 80 percent of the less healthy areas were located in rural regions, but two percent of the least healthy were in suburbs.