Wraps made from human placenta may reduce the risk of men remaining impotent after prostate cancer surgery.
The wraps, which come from placental tissue normally discarded when a woman has given birth, are folded around the delicate nerves that control a man’s erections.
This is done during cancer surgery to remove the prostate — a procedure that can damage sensitive nerves, leaving men impotent afterward.
The tissue, called the amnion, is a tough, flexible membrane that forms the innermost layer of the placenta — the source of nutrients and oxygen for a baby in the womb.
Wrapping it around nerves not only protects them physically, but the amniotic fluid also contains a cocktail of various compounds — including growth factors and stem cells — that can help repair nerve damage done during surgery.
About 5,000 men a year in the UK undergo radical prostatectomy (which involves removing the entire prostate and a small amount of surrounding tissue) to try to get rid of cancer
Animal studies also suggest that these compounds dampen any harmful inflammation as they leak out of the placental tissue.
Now research shows that the technique is accelerating the rate at which men restore their sexual function after surgery, called a radical prostatectomy.
About 5,000 men a year in the UK undergo radical prostatectomy (which involves removing the entire prostate and a small amount of surrounding tissue) to try to get rid of cancer.
While modern surgical techniques – known as nerve-sparing surgery – can reduce the risks, the charity Prostate Cancer UK estimates that up to 80 percent of men who undergo prostate removal later experience erectile dysfunction severe enough to jeopardize their sex lives and strain their relationships. to put deformation.
The challenge for surgeons is that the area around the prostate is a dense forest of nerves that control erections, as well as urinary continence. Any accidental damage or bruising can lead to incontinence or impotence.
Research suggests that many men struggle with what they see as a loss of their masculinity, due to the impact of surgery on their sex lives – more than two-thirds claim they would rather live shorter lives if it meant they could be sexually active again .
Wraps made from human placenta could reduce the risk of men remaining impotent after prostate cancer surgery
But the placenta wraps can be an unlikely solution.
After birth, the placental tissue is sterilized and dried out, rather than discarded.
Then, when a surgeon uses it during prostate surgery, the dried-out wraps become moist upon contact with blood and other bodily fluids — they instantly stick to nerve bundles without the need for stitches. After use during surgery, the wrap is removed.
A recent study in the Journal of Robotic Surgery by US researchers from Harvard University, the University of Central Florida and the State University of New York, involving 600 men treated with the placenta wrap, found that after an average of only four months. In some cases, their sex life returned to normal within a few weeks.
Even with nerve-sparing surgery, it can often take up to a year for the nerves to fully recover if the nerves are not protected in this way.
Commenting on the study, Professor Raj Persad, a urologist at the private clinic Bristol Urology Associates, said: ‘This is interesting, but we need a randomized controlled trial to investigate its effectiveness and safety. Exactly how it might work is unclear.
‘It is possible that stem cells in the tissue repair the damaged erectile nerve cells. Sometimes nerves have to be consciously sacrificed during an operation to get rid of all the cancer cells.’
Eating more fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of prostate cancer in men under 65. Harvard University doctors followed nearly 50,000 men for decades and found that those who ate the most fruits and vegetables were 16 percent less likely to develop a tumor and nearly 20 percent less likely to die from it, according to the results. in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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Snail slime helps wounds heal
Can snail mucus help wounds heal faster? That’s the theory behind a study in the journal Membranes.
The slime is produced as a defense mechanism by the chocolate band snail, found in eastern Mediterranean countries, and contains two compounds, allantoin and glycolic acid, which have antimicrobial properties and can heal skin damage, researchers found.
The study, from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, based on lab rats, showed that wound size was about 25 percent smaller after just one day in those treated with a bandage containing the snail mucus compared to a control group.
It is hoped that the study will pave the way for snail slime dressings.
Air quality linked to hyperactivity
Children living in polluted cities are at significantly higher risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), researchers suggest.
They compared the ADHD rates in 37,000 children with the percentage of greenery in their neighborhood and pollution levels.
The team at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that cases of ADHD were 62 percent higher in young people living in built-up areas, Environment International magazine reports. But exposure to greenery was found to halve this risk.
Toxic particles can cause inflammation in nerve cells in the brain, the researchers said.
Children living in polluted cities are at significantly higher risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), researchers suggest
Vitamin D lowers the risk of psoriasis
Vitamin D and omega-3 supplements reduce the risk of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, the BMJ reports.
Scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, asked 25,000 older adults to take various combinations of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid pills or placebo tablets and record their health for five years.
All supplement regimens, with the exception of placebo, resulted in a lower rate of autoimmune diseases during the study period.
The American researchers think this is due to the anti-inflammatory effects of the supplements.