My cousin (thanks!) sent me the link to a very interesting article concerning a new invention, a sort of gluey substance that, if all goes well (tests, etc.), one day may be able to mend fractures quickly and, even more importantly, without the need for surgery, nails or pins. This goo, invented by a team led by two Italian researchers, yay!, apparently stimulates bones to heal themselves (wowsie!), so much so that someone with a broken leg would be back on his/her feet within one week…
And that lead me to wonder if it might be of help to myeloma patients some day…Wouldn’t that be fabulous?
You can read the “Economist” article here: http://goo.gl/LwPpR
Of particular interest: this newly developed material releases mesenchymal stem cells—the progenitors of osteoblasts, which make bone tissue, into the patient’s body…The article does not mention, however, which cytokines and growth factors get activated during this healing process…If one of them were IL-6, well, that would not be a good thing…
At any rate, it will be very interesting to read about further developments…
No question that this is an interesting concept… wonder how it is applied? I have this hysterical image of doctors trying to get it to stick to broken bones and finding themselves stuck to the patient… chuckle.
According to the article, these researchers have developed a sort of paste that can be injected into the fracture, using an ordinary syringe, apparently…
Boy, I hope they give pain killers to the animals that are being used in the tests…ugh…I just re-read that part…