Stem cells could cure incontinence
Austrian scientists have used muscle stem cells as a treatment for urinary incontinence in women. Stress incontinence affects 15 million people, mostly women, around the world. It occurs when the sphincter muscles around the urethra become weak or diminished. Now a team from the Medical University of Innsbruck has found that cells taken from women’s arms and then cultivated and injected in a brief operation replicate nearby cells. “Not only do they stay where they are injected,” says Dr Ferdinand Frauscher, “but also they quickly form new muscle tissue and when the muscle mass reaches the appropriate size, the cell growth ceases automatically.” A year after the procedure, 18 of the 20 women tested remain continent.
- Prescribe morning-after pills to young teenagers, say US pediatric group - November 30, 2012
- Bahrain sentences protest docs to prison - November 28, 2012
- Terry Pratchett assisted suicide documentary wins International Emmy - November 27, 2012
More Stories
Commercial surrogacy hammered in Rome
Momentum in growing in Europe for a global ban on surrogacy. Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni has blasted surrogacy as...
Canadian man wins right to a government-funded ‘penile-preserving vaginoplasty’
An Ontario man has won the right to government-funded gender-affirming surgery in the United States which will give him both...
14-year-olds will be able to change their gender legally in Germany
German lawmakers have made it easier for transgender, intersex and non-binary people to change their official gender. A controversial Self-Determination...
Gaza’s IVF embryos have been destroyed by Israeli bombs
One of the many casualties of the war in Gaza has been the embryos and gametes stored at the Al-Basma IVF...
UK doctors fear toxic abuse over their research on trans issues
Fallout from the Cass review of transgender medical treatment in the UK continues. The Guardian interviewed doctors and researchers who...
Utah’s new stem cell law undermines FDA’s authority
The state of Utah has just enacted a law permitting patients to receive medical treatments using placental stem cells without formal approval...