Stem Cell Derived Pacemaker Cells Could Help Weak Hearts Keep the Beat – By Richa Verma
Do you know how many times our heart beats in an average lifetime? It beats over 2.5 billion times. Do you know which part of the organ is responsible for the heartbeats in unison? It’s the sinoatrial node or SAN, which acts like the captain of the ship and dictates other parts of the heart to follow the rhythm. SAN is the natural pacemaker of the heart, which is built of a set of specialized heart muscle cells. It sends signals to the other parts of the organ to beat in a certain rate through an electrical signal.
A number of factors such as aging or inherited mutations often lead to disturb the natural pacemaker function of the SAN, which results in slower heart rate and poor blood circulation. The optimum treatment to address these problems is installing an artificial electronic pacemaker into the heart. However, artificial pacemakers have a few disadvantages as well. They are mentioned below:
· They are unable to react to hormone signals in the heart.
· The implantation may also carry a risk of infection.
· There is no way to adjust the pacemaker in order to match a child’s natural growing heart.
· The artificial pacemaker’s battery life is 7 years. So after its due course, another surgery is needed to replace it with a new one.
Considering all the drawbacks of an artificial pacemaker, a Canadian research team at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto is trying the build a stem cell-derived pacemaker that would be an ideal alternative to the natural system. They are aiming at transforming the embryonic stem cells into pacemaker cells so that they can naturally receive and give electrical heart signals.
There have been many researches and studies around artificial pacemaker with stem cells. But this research is special because it focuses on creating SAN pacemaker cells from the stem cells whereas other studies involve creating various types of cardiomyocytes.
Earlier in 2015, another team created SAN-like pacemaker cells from stem cells but they permanently inserted the gene into the DNA of the cells, which may lead to tumor and thus is not suitable for clinical procedures. The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine team has relied on a process that is gene insertion-free. Stephanie Protze, the first author in the report, said, “It’s tricky, you have to determine the right signaling molecules, at the right concentration, at the right time to stimulate the stem cells.”
The research shows that 90% of the SAN cells that are derived from stem cells have the natural pacemaker functionality. That means that these cells can function as a natural pacemaker. This is an interesting step towards treating people with heartbeat problems.
The team had implemented the method on a rat module and now they are eager to implement the new technique to create pacemaker cells from human stem cells. This may be a time-consuming process and may take a longer time to come down to any conclusion, but the approach will enable the team to study heartbeat disorders and thereby to come up with drugs that can improve the condition.
Type 2 Diabetes – Does Telemedicine Have a Place In Treating Diabetes? – By Beverleigh H Piepers
Investigators at the University Hospital in Tours and several other research institutions in France have determined telemedicine is useful in dealing with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Their work was reported on in August 2018 in the Telemedicine Journal and E-Health.
The investigators combined 42 trials of the technique and analyzed them as if they were one large study with 6,170 participants…
- a total of 34 studies used devices for telemonitoring blood sugar levels while the other
- 8 used teleconsultation.
The participants using telemedicine experienced a more significant reduction in their HbA1c levels than those who were treated with the usual care, and the difference was more significant in those with Type 2 diabetes than those with Type 1 diabetes. Those aged between 41 and 50 years showed more significant improvement than the younger participants, and telemedicine programs lasting over six months reduced HbA1c levels further than shorter programs.Another investigation, reported on in January 2018 in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, showed telemedicine to be effective at preventing low blood sugar levels as well. Researchers at Huzhou University and several other research institutions in China combined 14 studies in their analysis. They found telemedicine reduced the risk of low blood sugar by an average of 58 percent in 1324 diabetic participants.
Obesity is a concern for those with Type 2 diabetes and Gestational diabetes. According to an article published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare in January of 2018, scientists at the National Yang-Ming University Hospital in Yilan and other research institutions in Taiwan found telemedicine helpful for the control of the body mass index (BMI). A total of 25 trials that included 6253 individuals were involved. Telemedicine was more effective than the usual care alone in reducing the BMI in those treated for…
- obesity alone,
- being overweight,
- having diabetes, or
- high blood pressure.
Continuing their care for at least six months and follow-up care afterward, was also helpfulTelemedicine also has its place in Gestational or pregnancy-related diabetes. In August of 2018, the journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice reported on a study performed at the University of Melbourne and some other research facilities in Australia. A total of 95 pregnant women who had been diagnosed with Gestational diabetes were included…
- 61 received telemedical care as well as the usual care, while
- 34 received general attention only.
The cost of care for both groups cost the same amount. Those receiving the telemedical care needed fewer changes to their insulin dosage and achieved their targeted HbA1c levels in an average of 4.3 weeks, while the women receiving the usual care reached their goals after an average of 7.6 weeks.
Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. By making easy changes to your daily routine, its possible to protect your heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs from the damage often caused by diabetes, and eliminate some of the complications you may already experience.
DR ARETHA'S MEDICAL BLOG 