My friend octoberskies has asked me to post a prayer and general assistance request for a little boy named Jacob who has recently been diagnosed with the disease known as Hypophosphatasia.

Toby has given me a link here that gives some more details about the disease as well as ways you can help Jacob to receive treatment. 'Depending on the severity of the skeletal disease, there may be deformity of the limbs and chest. Pneumonia can result if chest distortion is severe. Recurrent fractures can occur.Teeth may be lost prematurely, have wide pulp (inside) chambers, and thereby be predisposed to cavities. As yet, there is no cure for hypophosphatasia and no proven medical therapy. Some medications are being evaluated. Treatment is generally directed towards preventing or correcting the symptoms or complications.'

Toby is involved with this because she is a friend of the band, State of Man, whose drummer little Jacob is related to.

Please visit this link or octoberskies' site to find out more about how you can help. The goal is to raise enough money to cover medical expenses and to send Jacob to the Shriners Hospital in St. Louis, MO where they have a special department set up to study and treat people with this baffling disease.

Even if you canny donate, you can still remember Jacob in your prayers and thoughts. No child should have to be going through this, and when you think that there is no cure at this time, it's very scary. Jacob needs our help.

Thank you. :)

Growing human organs in a laboratory has moved a step closer after scientists developed a structure that can support beating heart muscle.

By Graham Tibbetts
Telegraph.co.uk
03 Nov 2008

The non-living material is described as a "scaffold" that is robust enough to hold the organ tissue in place yet is designed to degrade within two months to leave the organ behind.

In the short term scientists will seed the structure with stem cells to grow tissue which can be used to repair damaged hearts.

But in the longer term they hope to be able to produce fully functioning organs from scratch, reducing the need for donors. ( Continued )

BBC
5 Sept 2008

Children who suffered as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have been banned from visiting Northern Ireland for medical treatment.

The Belarussian government made the decision to introduce a worldwide ban after a girl who was visiting the US for treatment refused to return home.

Photo of children and more information from: Belarusian Chernobyl Tragedy

Maureen Brady from Derry has looked after Belarussian girls for the last two summers.

"The children deserve to have these benefits, it's a matter of health."

The Chernobyl children have become a familiar sight in the north west, and the rest of the country, over the summer as thousands travel to Ireland each year for recuperation.

Paul Carlisle, the chairman of the Chernobyl Children's Project Foyle said he was shocked when he heard the news.

"It was quite a surprise, I got an e-mail stating the government had banned children from travelling for rest and recuperation."

Mr Carlisle said he has questioned the decision by the Belarussian government to stop them from travelling when the objective is to help sick children

"Our organisation works so hard, not just to bring the children here but to raise money for orphanages, equipment and activities that we send out there."

Maureen and her husband Vinny said they decided to become a host family after friends got involved with the scheme.

"We can't actually believe this is happening," Vinny said.

"It's just very sad because what we as a family get out of it is immense, but what the children get in terms of healthcare and a little bit of happiness is just tremendous."

Many families were affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986

In 2004 a similar worldwide ban was put in place but restrictions were lifted after various governments, including the Irish stepped in.

Adi Roache, chief executive of The Chernobyl Children's Project International (CCPI), has brought thousands of Belarussian children to Ireland through the organisation since 1991.

Ms Roache has requested that the Irish foreign minister look into the issue to seek an exemption.

Daily Mail
26th August 2008

A man who has been paralysed for the past 20 years is able to walk again thanks to a revolutionary electronic exoskeleton.

Radi Kaiof, 41, now walks down the street with a dim mechanical hum as the system moves his legs and propels him forwards.

Radi Kaiof walks using an electronic exoskeleton. It is due to go on sale in 2010

'I never dreamed I would walk again. After I was wounded, I forgot what it's like,' said Kaiof, who was injured while serving in the Israeli military in 1988.

'Only when standing up can I feel how tall I really am and speak to people eye to eye, not from below.'

The device will allow many wheel-chair bound people to stand

The device, called ReWalk, is the brainchild of engineer Amit Goffer, founder of Argo Medical Technologies, a small Israeli high-tech company.

Something of a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by Robocop, ReWalk helps paraplegics - people paralysed below the waist - to stand, walk and climb stairs.

Goffer himself was paralysed in an accident in 1997 but he cannot use his own invention because he does not have full function of his arms.

The system, which requires crutches to help with balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries.

The user picks a setting with a remote control wrist band - stand, sit, walk, descend or climb - and then leans forward, activating the body sensors and setting the robotic legs in motion.

'It raises people out of their wheelchair and lets them stand up straight,' Goffer said.

'It's not just about health, it's also about dignity.'

Kate Parkin, director of physical and occupational therapy at NYU Medical Centre, said it has the potential to improve a user's health in two ways.

'Physically, the body works differently when upright. You can challenge different muscles and allow full expansion of the lungs,' Parkin said.

'Psychologically, it lets people live at the upright level and make eye contact.'

The ReWalk is now in clinical trials in Tel Aviv's Sheba Medical Centre. It is due to go on sale to the public in 2010 and will cost around £10,000.

By SHÂN ROSS
Scotsman
12 August 2008

THOUSANDS of years ago warriors made longbows from the wood of an evergreen tree and smeared poisons from its bark and leaves on to arrowheads to make them deadlier. These days cuttings from Britain's tallest yew hedge are used to heal, as scientists extract a cancer drug from them.


(Photo: Daily Mail)

The 40ft-high hedge – believed to be nearly 300 years old – stretches in a semi-circle for 150 yards around the side of Lord Allen Apsley's mansion in the Cotswolds.

Clippings from the Bathurst Estate are sold to pharmaceutical companies who use yew extract as a key ingredient of Docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug used for breast, ovarian and lung cancer.

Yesterday workers finished the latest trim – collecting more than a tonne of clippings over two days, cutting back six inches of new growth from the 33ft-wide hedge with the help of a 70ft-high cherrypicker.

Lord Apsley, who spends more than £5,000 a year maintaining the hedge, said: "Cutting it isn't too dangerous but you do have to be careful."

Before cherrypickers were used, staff climbed up ladders to trim the bush with shears.

Philip Lusby, horticultural lecturer at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said: "The practice of sending yew cuttings to drug companies is quite well established and has been going on for around ten to 15 years.

"Traditionally the wood, which is absolutely beautiful and very hard, with a wonderful grain, was used for furniture or even bagpipes. It is also regarded as a symbol of longevity and was often planted in graveyards."

Yew staves as early encyclopaedias

The Celts used yew staves and tablets to record aspects of their history, such as names of rulers, phases of the Moon and traditional law. The Druids used Yew wands as memory devices or for divination or magical practices.

Killer arrowheads

All over Europe warriors smeared yew toxins on to arrowheads, causing immediate death. The poison was made with an extract of the seeded arlis, which was then distilled.

Poisonous effects

The effects are extremely rapid because taxin is absorbed quickly into the digestive system. It is a very poisonous cardiovascular toxic substance which causes vomiting, diarrhoea, dilated pupils, unconsciousness and death due to cardiac arrest often within an hour of ingestion.

Yews and animals

Horses are the animals most at risk of the poison and may die within minutes of feeding on shoots. Pigs are also susceptible, but a fivefold amount is required to poison cattle.

Nicolas Culpepper, 17th-century herbalist on yew poison:

"It is the most active vegetable poison known in the world, for in a small dose it immediately induces death without any previous disorder, and its deleterious power seems to act upon the nervous system, without exciting the least inflammation in the part to which it more immediately enters."

Trance-inducing

Literature records the trance-inducing "shamanistic" properties of the yew. This was inspired by the Nordic myth of the god Wodan (also known as Odin), who hung for nine days on a tree in a trance to receive the wisdom of the runes.

Hampton Court maze

This is one of the most famous hedge mazes in the world. It covers a third of an acre and its paths are half a mile long. The yew hedges are approximately 7ft high and 3ft wide.

Yew sprays and finding things

Just as hazel has been used for water divining and rowan for finding metals, yew sprays were sometimes used to find things lost both in mythical stories and in everyday life.

Clan Fraser

The plant badge of the Clan Fraser is the yew – traditionally fastened on bonnets before battles. Believed to be from the ancient tradition of using yew as a talisman.

The yew and fertility

An 850-year-old female yew in Stoke Gabriel, Devon, with a girth of 17ft, is associated with a fertility ritual – women are said to become fertile by walking forward and around the tree. Men walk backwards around it.

World's tallest hedge of any type

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Scotland is home to the world's tallest hedge of any type – a beech hedge at Meikleour in Perthshire, which ranges from 80ft to 120ft in height.

FACT BOX

The oldest yew hedge is believed to have been planted in 1710 when Queen Anne reigned.

• In January that year a severe winter caused food shortages in major cities.

• James Ferguson, astronomer and instrument maker and author of Astronomical Rotula for showing the motions of the planets, places of the sun and moon, &c, was born in Banffshire.

• The British secured victory at the Battle of Almenara in July during the War of the Spanish Succession. Later that year the Spanish lost the Battle of Saragossa in the same war.

• In December 1710, umbrellas were a novelty when they appeared on the streets of London.

The UK's first hand transplant and Europe's first voicebox transplant are being planned by British doctors, the Daily Telegraph has learned.

Photos and story here.

By John von Radowitz
Independent.ie
August 05 2008

VITAMIN C that is injected rather than swallowed can destroy cancer, research has shown.

The therapy halved the growth of aggressive tumours in mice, killing cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.

It could provide a new lifeline for patients with a poor prognosis and few treatment options, scientists suggest.

Tackling cancer with vitamin C would also have the added advantage of being cheap.

Usually the body keeps a tight rein on vitamin C levels in the blood. But scientists found that the mechanism can be by-passed if the vitamin is injected straight into the bloodstream instead of passing through the digestive system.

When this is done it releases the powerful anti-cancer potential of the vitamin, according to the researchers.

Experiments showed that high levels of vitamin C in the blood generate hydrogen peroxide, which is lethal to tumours.

The chemical forms in the spaces between cancer cells, damaging membranes, upsetting metabolism, and scrambling DNA. Even the growth of aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers was held back in the studies.

But healthy tissues appeared to resist the effects.

The use of high dose vitamin C as a complementary or alternative cancer treatment has a long history dating back to the 1970s. Patients have taken the vitamin both by mouth and intravenously.

But despite some positive outcomes, reliable evidence that the therapy works has been lacking.

Experts

For this reason claims that vitamin C can treat cancer have been dismissed by conventional cancer experts.

The new US investigation led by Dr Qi Chen, from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, involved testing the effects of vitamin C on laboratory cell lines and cancer-ridden mice.

In the laboratory, two hours of exposure to the vitamin significantly reduced the survival of ovarian, pancreatic and brain tumour (glioblastoma) cancer cells.

Similar results were seen when mice bearing the same kinds of tumours were injected with vitamin C.

- John von Radowitz

RTÉ
1 August 2008

German doctors have succeeded in transplanting two complete arms onto a 54-year-old man.

The hospital has described the double transplant as the world's first operation of this kind.

>>Read on

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Telegraph.co.uk
31 Jul 2008

*Many people think stem cells are all derived from controversial sources, but this is not so

*See also Skin cells could help with treatment of Alzheimer's in the Guardian

Scientists have made a significant advance in a stem cell technique that could pave the way to finding treatments for dozens of genetic diseases.

The development could help them to find a way of tackling conditions such as Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease.

For the first time a research team has managed to take human skin cells from a patient with a genetic condition and transform them into nerve cells.

It means they will now be able to create limitless numbers of the diseased cells to help them carry out research in the hope of finding a way to treat the illness.

The research has been carried out by an American team.

( >>Read on )

UK Reuters
12 July 2008

HOUSTON, July 12 (Reuters) - Surgeon Michael DeBakey, whose ground-breaking heart transplants and coronary bypass operations made him one of the giants of 20th century medicine, has died at age 99.

The Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital said DeBakey died on Friday of natural causes. Methodist Hospital in Houston was his primary surgical hospital for many years.

In a career that spanned more than seven decades, DeBakey developed a number of new surgical procedures that now are standard in treating heart ailments and led many to consider him the father of modern cardiovascular surgery.

His best known innovation was the now-common coronary bypass operation for clogged arteries, which he first performed in 1964, using leg veins to bypass blocked or damaged areas between the aorta and coronary arteries.

"He has improved the human condition and touched the lives of generations to come," said Ron Girotto, president of the Methodist Hospital system.

DeBakey, the Louisiana-born son of Lebanese immigrants, was still a student at Tulane University in New Orleans in 1932 when he created the roller pump, which would be a critical component of the heart-lung machine that helped make open-heart surgery possible.

During World War Two, DeBakey served in the Surgeon General's office and was credited with developing the mobile Army surgical hospitals -- MASH units -- that moved medical care closer to the battle lines and hastened treatment of wounded soldiers.

In 1953, using his wife's sewing machine, he fashioned out of Dacron the first artificial artery for repairing damaged arteries in a surgery he pioneered. ( >>Read on )