Neurosurgeons use MRI-guided lasers to ‘cook’ brain tumors

In the seemingly perpetual battle to rid this planet of cancer, a team of neurosurgeons from Washington University are using a new MRI-guided high-intensity laser probe to “cook” brain tumors that would otherwise be completely inoperable. According to Dr. Eric C. Leuthardt, this procedure “offers hope to certain patients who had few or no options before,” with the laser baking the cancer cells deep within the brain while leaving the good tissue around it unmarred. The best part, however, is that this is already moving beyond the laboratory, with a pair of doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital using it successfully on a patient last month. Regrettably, just three hospitals at the moment are equipped with the Monteris AutoLITT device, but if we know anything about anything related to lasers, it’ll be everywhere in no time flat.

Neurosurgeons use MRI-guided lasers to ‘cook’ brain tumors originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:59:00 EDT.

How to fight jet lag

According to Dr. David Rapoport, director of the Sleep Medicine Program at NYU’s School of Medicine, studies increasingly suggest that your pretravel ritual is key: modifying your exposure to light can help reset your body’s internal clock (for travel east, wake up extra early and take a 20-minute walk; if you’re westward-bound, stay up later and spend 20 minutes in a brightly lit space before bedtime).

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How to fight jet lag

The FUN THEORY revisited

Wednesday January 06, 2009
Editor

Remember our earlier post about the FUN THEORY? Well, here’s another ingenious fun idea:

The FUN THEORY is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.

Check out their site >>

American “Medical Tourist” Women Dies in David After Undergoing Liposuction

By José Vásquez for La Critica -

An American woman, 30 year old Patrice Lachon Clark, died early yesterday at dawn on Monday morning in a private health clinic in David, as a result of a presumed heart attack suffered after undergoing liposuction. “The woman entered the clinic on Saturday, underwent plastic surgery, came out of the operation, and spoke to her family members in the United States. She was then transferred to the recovery room of the company that assists patients undergoing operations. Later she suffered respiratory failure which the patient did not survive,” explained Dr. Paúl Alegría, the reconstructive and plastic surgeon who operated on the patient. Dr. Alegría said they conducted all of the required medical evaluations, briefed the patient on the risks of surgery, and the next day conducted the surgery. “We complied with the entire process. The risks of undergoing an operation of this type are the same as getting a filling in a tooth or undergoing a surgery of any kind – the greatest risk is during the operation,” he said.

The surgery began Saturday at 12:00 noon and Patrice died yesterday at 3:00 am. The First Superior Public Prosecutor, Franklin Amaya, said an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death and to consider if there are merits to open an investigation for medical negligence. The American woman arrived from Houston, Texas, accompanied by other Americans who had already undergone liposuction with Dr. Alegría. The cost of liposuction is approximately $10,000. The relatives of Patrice Lachon Clark spoke yesterday with Dr. Alegría and asked for a medical forensic investigation, and for the corpse to be transferred to the United States.