The Junvile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF) has undertaken an ambitious project to create an artificial pancreas.  There are many hurdles to overcome, but JDRF has released initial results that are encouraging. On September 8th, 2009, the JDRF released a press release showing preliminary results of the continuious glucose montiors (CGM) which “demonstrate continued improvements 12 months after use, with ‘remarkably low’ occurence of severe hypoglycemia.”
Aaron J. Kowalski, PhD, who is program director of metabolic control at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) told Endorcine Today that “I would say that we are really close, perhaps closer than many think.” He continues, “I will be incredibly disappointed if we do not have some degree of automation in the system before five years.”  Johnson & Johnson is also involved in this project.

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For people free of dementia, abnormal deposits of a protein (or Amyloid Deposits) associated with Alzheimer’s disease are associated with increased risk of developing the symptoms of the progressive brain disorder, according to two studies from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The studies, primarily funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, linked higher amounts of the protein deposits in dementia-free people with greater risk for developing the disease, and with loss of brain volume and subtle declines in cognitive abilities. The two studies are reported in the Dec. 14, 2009, online issue of Archives of Neurology. The scientists used brain scans and other tests to explore the relationship between levels of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein that forms the hallmark plaques of Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia risk in cognitively normal people. John C. Morris, M.D., who directs the NIA-supported Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis, and his team conducted the research. Martha Storandt, Ph.D., also of Washington University in St. Louis, directed one of the studies. “Previous studies of brain pathology, cognitive testing, and brain imaging have for some time suggested that Alzheimer’s pathology causes changes to the brain many years before memory loss, confusion, and other symptoms of the disease are apparent. But it remains difficult to accurately predict whether a cognitively normal person will — or will not — develop the disease,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. “These new studies suggest that beta-amyloid measured in the brains of cognitively normal individuals may be a preclinical sign of disease.” For more information http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2009/nia-14.htm

A company,  InQuickER, founded by Tyler Kiley out of Dalton, Georgia is creating a business allowing patients to go online and check into a emergency room. “With InQuickER, patients skip the ER waiting room by registering online and waiting at home.” Clients can find the emergency room near them that will see in the least amount of time and schedule a time to be seen at the emergency room so that they don’t have to wait in the emergency room lobby for hours until they are seen.

Their claim: InQuickER will “drastically cut ER waiting room times from several hours or more down to 15 minutes or less”. In fact, InQuickER has a guarantee, “When you register online using the InQuickER service, our promise is that you will be seen by a Physician or a Physician Assistant within 15 minutes of your selected time”. In fact, if you wait more than 15 minutes, there will be no charge for your ER treatment.

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