A US based Indian-origin researcher has created the world's first artificial implantable kidney. If this passes human trials, it could eliminate the need for kidney dialysis and even a transplant.
The world's first artificial kidney that can mimic almost all vital kindey functions has been created. Indian origin researcher who is making the headlines - Shuvo Roy and his team at the University of California in the US have made what could be the first bio-implantable device, to replace dialysis and even kidney transplantation.
The new kidney device protoype is made up two parts. First is made up of silicon chips that can filter toxins out of the bloodstream. The filtered material is pumped into the second half of the system which is also made up of silicon chips but coated with human kidney cells. These human kidney cells help reabsorb some of the useful substances like sugars and salts back into the body. It also produces vitamin D and helps regulate blood pressure.

"Better over dialysis, even transplants as well. Patients may not require anti-rejection drugs - as is required after transplants because there would be no exposed natural tissues for the immune system to attack," said Dr Alka Bhasin, Nephrologist, Max.

Animal trails have shown good results so far, while human trials are awaited over the next five years.

For the sake of more than a lakh new kidney disease patients every year in India alone and a far larger number on lifelong dialysis - both patients and the medical fraternity the world over, are no doubt, hoping that Dr Roy's invention is successful and to be made available.

Fertility treatment such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) may not be tied to an increased risk of cancer despite the hormones used, said a study from Sweden.

Some previous studies had suggested that fertility drugs might be linked with breast, uterine and ovarian cancers.

In research reported in "Human Reproduction," Bengt Kallen of the University of Lund in Sweden and his colleagues analysed registry data from 1982-2006 on 24,000 women who gave birth after IVF, comparing rates of cancer in these women and in 1.4 million women in the general Swedish population who also gave birth in those years.

Fewer than 2% of women in the IVF group developed one or more cancers during an average follow-up period of 8 years, compared to close to 5% of the other group.

After accounting for maternal age, the number of previous pregnancies and smoking status, the overall risk of cancer was about 25% lower for women who had IVF.

"A couple who needs IVF does not have to be afraid that the hormone treatment used -- at least those used in Sweden -- will carry a risk for the woman to develop cancer," Kallen told Reuters Health.

While the risk of ovarian cancer was more than twice as high in the women who had IVF as those who didn't, Kallen suggested that this may be due to abnormalities in ovarian function that could both increase the risk for cancer and the risk for infertility, thus the need for IVF.

"The risk for two common cancers, breast and cervical, was significantly lower than expected," he said.

He addd that this might be due to women who get IVF being healthier than average or, more likely, that IVF-treated women may undergo more cervical and mammography exams.

A Berkshire HIV and Aids charity has experienced a "significant rise" in referrals from women in their 30s and 40s in Slough and Reading.

Thames Valley Positive Support (TVPS) works in both towns, designated HIV hotspots by the Department of Health.

TVPS was set up 25 years ago, and supports over 500 people with HIV and or Aids, taking on average two new referrals a week.

The TVPS director said single women in their 30s and 40s were at risk.

Lacking confidence

Sarah Macadam, director at the HIV charity, said newly divorced or separated older women were not thinking about safe sex or using protection when meeting new partners.

"These are women who are perhaps lacking in confidence anyway and have just come out of a difficult relationship, and just aren't comfortable asking anybody they meet to use protection," she said.

"We had a woman quite recently who was diagnosed positive and has just found out she's going to be a grandmother.

"She just can't get her head round how she's going to tell her granddaughter or her daughter."

A woman who uses the centre, told BBC Radio Berkshire reporter Maggie Philbin how she felt when she learned she was HIV-positive.

"I didn't believe it. I said: "Oh God, why me?" I was crying and crying and crying," she said.

The TVPS charity started in 1985 as a support group organised by HIV-positive people in the area.

The group would meet and talk about their experience at each other's houses.

Referrals to the charity have grown in the past five years, an increase TVPS puts down to two factors: the charity's higher profile, but also the population increase and migration in the area from areas such as Poland and Africa.

Safe haven

About 50% of clients using the charity are from overseas, a consequence of Slough's proximity to Heathrow according to TVPS director Sarah Macadam.

HIV infections in the UK are still on the rise, but the charity reports that the virus continues to be surrounded by stigma.

Ms Macadam said: "Our centre is a safe haven for people to be able to come and talk openly and honestly about HIV without fear of being discriminated against.

"We also work hard raising awareness and try to educate the community, as to combat stigma, we feel knowledge is the key."

Numb feeling

A user of the centre, who asked to remain anonymous, told presenter Maggie Philbin how it felt to be diagnosed HIV-positive.

"It was three years ago in November that I was diagnosed," he said. "I was at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

"It's a numb feeling. You feel "no I can't be, they must be wrong".

"I was sort of expecting it but it still comes as a shock. It's like hitting a brick wall, that's the only way I can describe what it is and it's not a nice feeling at all.

"As much as people told me "you're not going to die", there's always that feeling, you are going to die, what does my future hold, how long have I got to live, what are my prospects?

"You read up on the internet, the internet is very frightening. It was like, where do I go from here?

"At the same time I was diagnosed I was suspended from work about my sexuality.

"I didn't come to the centre straight away because I didn't know about the centre when I was first diagnosed.

"It was lovely finding out about the drop in centres and being able to talk.

"If you want to talk about your HIV you can, but the team is great, the door is always open, even if you just want to come in for a cup of coffee."

To mark World Aids Day on 1 December, TVPS is organising a number of events to promote safe sex.

A World Aids Day walk from Slough town hall will take place at 1130 GMT on Wednesday 1 December, arriving at Windsor Leisure Centre at 1330 GMT.

In Reading, TVPS will hand out information at the Civic Centre to raise awareness surrounding HIV.

On Friday 3 December the charity will be offering free condoms and sexual health advice at Bar Soko from 2100 GMT to 0100GMT.

cientists have discovered for the first time a new mechanism through which our body controls the levels of sugar in our blood after a meal.

They have found the part played by a particular protein in helping to maintain correct blood sugar levels.

The breakthrough was made in the University of Leicester by a team led by Professor Andrew Tobin, Professor of Cell Biology, who is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow.

"The work, which was done wholly at the University of Leicester, is focused on the mechanisms by which our bodies control the level of sugar in our blood following a meal," Professor Tobin said.

"We found that in order to maintain the correct levels of sugar, a protein present on the cells that release insulin in the pancreas has to be active. This protein, called the M3-muscarinic receptor, is not only active but also needs to undergo a specific change. This change triggers insulin release and the control of blood sugar levels."

Professor Tobin added: "Without the change in the M3-muscarinic receptor protein sugar levels go up in the same way that we see in diabetes. We are of course testing if the mechanism of controlling sugar levels we have discovered is one of the mechanisms disrupted in diabetes. If this were the case then our studies would have important implications in diabetes."

The research is published online ahead of print in the prestigious international scientific journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.