FDA approves sealant for grafting over burn sites.
A fibrin sealant recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for adhering autologous skin grafts in pediatric and adult burn patients provides an alternative to staples and sutures, according to the agency. The sealant, derived from pooled human plasma, will be available in July and will...

Karen Hawes.
AMHERST, NH Karen Hawes, 58, of Amherst, NH died June 24th at Greenbriar Terrace Health Care in Nashua.Karen was born Dec. 17, 1949 in Vermillion, SD, to the late Russell and Ila Fredrickson. The family eventually settled in Barkhamsted (Pleasant Valley), Connecticut. She is survived by husband,...

Better blood: new tool removes agent of brain disease.
Scientists have developed a device that filters from blood the mutant proteins that cause the human form of mad cow disease. This new tool could boost the safety of donated blood. Infectious proteins called prions cause mad cow disease, scrapie in sheep, and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)...

HOW NOW MAD COW?
Twelve-year-old Zoe Jeffries cried for two weeks before the screaming began. Twenty-one year-old Clare Tomkins became uncharacteristically depressed after a holiday with her fiance. Twenty-four year-old Donna McIntyre suffered from violent mood swings and slurred speech. Victims of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) are often misdiagnosed with depression...

CJD cluster.
A cluster of 17 suspected Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease deaths associated with a common venue in New Jersey were initially believed to be caused by meat contaminated with the agent that causes mad cow disease, but an investigation revealed the cases were not linked to a common source of infection. ...

Gene may signal ancient prion-disease outbreaks. (Cannibalism's DNA Trail).
Cannibalism among prehistoric humans may have left lasting genetic marks, a team of scientists contends. Their controversial argument hinges on a link between specific DNA mutations and a disease that afflicted South Pacific villagers who practiced cannibalism as late as 1950. Gene variations that protect against prion...

Creutzfeldt-Jakob: culinary or genetic?
Creutzfeldt-Jakob: Culinary or genetic? The cannibalistic culinary habits of the Fore people of New Guinea -- and particularly their taste for human brains -- was discovered in the early 1970s to underlie their high incidence of kuru, a transmissible neurodegenerative disorder related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. When Libyan Jews...

Dementia. (The Effective Physician).
Background It is estimated that there will be over 8 million people with dementia in the United States by the year 2030. The American Academy of Neurology recently released a series of practice guidelines reviewing current evidence related to the diagnosis and treatment of different...

Drugs Counter Mad Cow Agent in Cells.
Fueled only by promising studies of cells, a California research team has invited controversy by beginning to give a little-used malaria drug to patients who have the human version of mad cow disease. The drug, quinacrine, is one of two that the investigators report clear brain cells...

MAD COW CONTROL. (Policy & Practice).
Efforts to improve scientific understanding of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, are underway at the Department of Health and Human Services. The Food and Drug Administration plans to review and expand its import inspection programs to keep potentially infected food products out of the United States,...