New way to 'stop' premature birth

A drug used to treat cancer can stop contractions and may prevent premature labour, researchers say. The Newcastle University team tested the drug Trichostatin A on tissue taken from 36 women undergoing a caesarean. The researchers said the therapy worked by increasing the levels of a protein that controls muscle relaxation. One expert said with rates of premature births rising - there are 50,000 a year in the UK - a new treatment was badly needed.

Preterm labour and birth continue to be the single biggest cause of death in infants in the developed world and around 1,500 babies die in the UK every year. A number of drugs are used to try to stop early labour, but most have serious side effects. Trichostatin A (TSA) is known to promote the death of cancer cells. The researchers got permission to take samples of the muscles of women undergoing caesarean sections at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, the Cellular and Molecular Medicine journal reported.

Patients in vegetative state can still learn

An international team of researchers have found that brains of patients in vegetative and minimally conscious state still appear to have the ability to learn. The team hopes that the finding will lead to a simple test will enable practitioners to assess the patient’s consciousness without the need of imaging. Researchers from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the University of Cambridge, UK, and the Institute of Cognitive Neurology, Argentina used the classical Pavlonian conditioning to test the responsiveness of patients in vegetative state. The researchers played a tone immediately prior to blowing air into a patient’s eye. After some time training, they found that the patient’s would start blinking when the tone played but before the air puff to the eye.

Stem cell therapy for blindness under lens

Hundreds of desperate British patients have spent up to 30,000 pounds on unproven stem cell treatments in china and elsewhere, an investigation by the Sunday times found. One treatment, popular among the parents of blind babies, has been branded “child abuse by a British stem cell researcher because of its possible risks. The Chinese company selling the stem cell therapy admitted this weekend that it had not yet conducted clinical trials of the treatment. The firm, Beike Biotech, also admitted that it could not say how many children had experience improvements. A number of British parents have resorted to launching fundraising appeals around the country to pay for the therapy abroad. The stem cell treatment offered by the Chinese company has not yet won regulatory approval in the UK. Pete Coffey of the university college London said that there is no evidence that the method offered by Beike Biotech works and added that the babies’ health could be put at risk.

Aspirin may harm healthy people

Taking aspirin to prevent heart attack can do more harm than good for healthy individuals without any history of heart attack, revealed a study. Many people take a daily dose of the drug in the belief it will keep them healthy. However, at a conference for leading doctors, British scientists claimed that they have found that for healthy people, taking aspirin does not significantly reduce the risk of a heart attack. The study carried out in Scotland also found that it almost doubles the risk of being admitted to hospital due to internal bleeding. The findings show that for otherwise healthy people, the risks of taking aspirin outweigh the benefits.

Fingerprints friction theory rejected

Scientists say they have disproved the theory that fingerprints improve grip by increasing friction between people's hands and the surface they are holding. Nobody is sure of the exact function of fingerprints, but improved grip has long been a favoured theory. However, in a series of tests to measure friction between a finger and a piece of acrylic glass, it was debunked by a University of Manchester team. The study appears in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Dr Roland Ennos designed a machine which enabled him to measure the amount of friction generated by a fingerprint when it was in contact with the acrylic glass. The machine was then strapped to the index finger of one of his students. Dr Ennos expected the amount of friction to increase in proportion to the strength at which the acrylic glass was pushed against the finger. This would have supported the theory that the fingerprint was helping to improve grip by ramping up friction levels. However, the results showed that friction levels increased by a much smaller amount than had been anticipated.