A heart patient’s own skin cells soon could be used to repair damaged cardiac tissue thanks to pioneering stem cell research.

This new technique for reprogramming human skin cells puts could one day lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and many other diseases.

The skin cells are turned into cells similar to embryonic stem cells, and they ultimately can be made into early-stage heart cells. These then could be implanted and grown into fully developed beating heart cells, reversing the damage caused by previous heart attacks. These new cells would replace the damaged cardiac tissue that weakens the heart’s ability to pump, develops into scar tissue and causes arrhythmias.

Full Post Feed | Summary Feed | Comments Feed

Other Related Health Posts:

• Penis tissue replaced in the lab
• Primary teacher in cancer appeal
• Nano device ‘times drug release’
• Asthma airway-morphing step found
• 60 Minutes Investigates Growing Body Parts

Applications

Save 25-50% off on custom printed products at VistaPrint. Order today!

Article Source: Health And Fitness Journal
If you like all this stuff here then you can buy me a pack of cigarettes.

A five per cent rise in tobacco tax would lead to a substantial drop in the number of smokers and save millions in health costs, a charity suggests.

Such an increase would discourage children from buying cigarettes and help adults quit, a report by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) says.

Its chief executive, Deborah Arnott, said: "Smoking is a childhood addiction and not an adult choice."

Support for the idea comes from such charities as Cancer Research UK.

The British Heart Foundation and the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) have also backed the proposal.

The report also says that raising tobacco prices through taxation by five per cent above inflation would lead to a reduction in the number of smokers by 190,000 and save the NHS more than £20m a year by cutting the cost of treating smoking-related diseases.

Health benefits

It also claims a tax rise would also reduce smoking-related absenteeism in the workplace, saving more than £10m a year, increase government tax revenues by more than £500m a year and result in wider economic benefits in the first five years of more than £270m a year.

Ash outlines its call on tobacco prices in a pre-Budget submission to the Treasury.

Its chief executive, Deborah Arnott, said: "By increasing tobacco taxation, we help to discourage children from buying cigarettes. An above-inflation rise would also help adults stop smoking."

FSID director Joyce Epstein said: "Scientific evidence shows that every year the lives of over 100 UK infants could be saved if no pregnant woman smoked.

"Smoking by fathers increases the risk of infant death as well. Our organisation supports increasing the price of tobacco because it will encourage smokers to consider quitting and so protect their children." </p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Full Post Feed | Summary Feed | Comments Feed

Other Related Health Posts:

• Hazards of Obesity Now Rival Smoking in U.S.
• Social workers ‘to be licensed’
• Green Tea Extracts May Protect You From Oral Cancer
• ‘Love handles’ may restrict lungs
• GPs ‘poor at spotting depression’

Applications

Save 25-50% off on custom printed products at VistaPrint. Order today!

Article Source: Health And Fitness Journal
If you like all this stuff here then you can buy me a pack of cigarettes.