Artificial Spleen Cleans up Blood

An interesting article sent to me by a reader: link. It describes a mechanical spleen that filters out dangerous pathogens from blood and could potentially go to human clinical trials in a couple of years. It doesn’t appear to me to be a replacement for a spleen, but rather a medical aid for people with severe infections.

Coccidioidomycosis: The danger hiding in dust

I read an article on the BBC website recently about the illness called coccidioidomycosis. (Try pronouncing that!) It is caused by inhaling the spores of a fungus that lives in the soil. The link to the article is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23166839 The reason I’m posting here is because the article mentions that people with compromised immunity are at risk for severe consequences from the fungus. It is found in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Considering the rate at which people travel the globe these days, a person could visit any of these areas and go back home not knowing what illness has been picked up during the journey.

I personally find it quite alarming that there is such a variety of microorganisms which can be dangerous to an asplenic patient. I’d never even heard of this disease, and surely there are other little known ones that can affect those who are immunocompromised. It makes me feel like daily life is more precarious than it appears to be. One has to learn to strike the right balance between risks that are worth taking, and those that are best avoided.

DNA Sequencing

An article was published on the BBC a while ago about how researchers used rapid DNA sequencing to stop the spread of deadly MSRA bacteria. The article is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20314024 . It describes how they kept track of the type of bacteria that was infecting patients and successfully treated patients. Hopefully, this technology will spread to other countries and remain low-cost. It could prove revolutionary in determining the specific antibiotic to which a bacteria is susceptible, and will be a boon to patients – especially those with weak immune systems.

The Spread of Superbugs

A dangerous ‘superbug’ that is on the rise in the US health care system. The article can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/29/bacteria-deadly-hospital-infection/1727667/ . As always with these infections, people with weak immune systems are at the greatest risk. The name of the bacteria is Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae or CRE for its resistance to Carbapenem, an antibiotic. Thanks to a reader of this blog – Gary – for informing me about this article.

It’s scary how a place where people go to find healing and be cured can turn out to be harboring dangerous pathogens. We can only hope that medical science will be one step ahead and win this battle.

Pipe Dreams

I have been reading for a while now about doctors who can grow patients’ organs in a lab. I read about how they are trying to grow replacement livers, hearts and kidneys among other organs. I wonder if they will ever consider patients who have lost a spleen. I haven’t read it anywhere but maybe somewhere it is being considered. Well if they ever need human guinea pigs to test it on, I’m available for sure! 🙂 I know stem cells are a controversial topic, with a lot of ethical questions raised about their usage, and also safety issues. The treatment hasn’t been around long enough and researchers don’t know if these cells have the potential to turn cancerous at some point of time. However, if all turns out well, I’ll definitely be in line to get a replacement spleen. It’s only a pipe dream at this point but one can always hope…

 

Salvaging the Spleen

I was told by a doctor that there is a technique by which surgeons can wrap an injured spleen in a ‘biomaterial’ to make it heal on its own, thus removing the need to take out the entire organ. I haven’t read up about this technique so I have no idea what the medical term is, but it can probably be researched through PubMed or any other reliable site. If it has a high success rate then it will indeed be a boon to injured patients, and provide them with a greater quality of life.

As has been mentioned many times in this blog, removing the spleen causes irreversible changes in the body and it should be avoided as far as possible.