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Maggot Therapy, Used For Treating Type 2 Diabetes Complications And Infections, Is Seeing A Renaissance This  article  first appeared on  Mosaic  and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. By the time Michelle Marineau saw her patient, James (not his real name), there was little she could do to help him. His big toe had been removed, a complication from years of uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, but the amputation site had stubbornly refused to heal. An infection had eaten away flesh and left tendon and bone exposed, streaks of off-white against the angry, red, weeping wound. Several of his other toes had developed gangrene, turning black and slowly dropping off. If unchecked, diabetes leads to damaged nerve endings, meaning small injuries can go unnoticed and turn into ulcers prone to life-threatening bacterial infections. The bacteria build a nearly impenetrable shield called a biofilm that protects them from antibiotics, so instead surgeons use s...

  Fathers' Smoking Prior To Conception Leaves Babies At Higher Risk For Asthma, Study Finds Men, and especially teenaged boys, who smoke prior to conceiving children are more likely to have babies with asthma, according to the first study to discover this link, announced Monday in Germany. The research looked at the smoking habits of 13,000 men and women who responded to survey questions, including whether they have smoked, when and for how long. They also indicated whether they stopped smoking before conceiving, according to a  news release . Fathers who smoked prior to conception raised the chances of their unborn children having asthma, a condition that causes the airways to swell, leading to labored breathing and tightness around the lungs. At least 25 million Americans have asthma, and 7 million of them are children, according to the  National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute . It isn't exactly clear how smoking before conception could cause asthma, but air p...

A new asthma pill outlined in a recent study might significantly reduce severe symptoms in patients.   Pixabay, public domain Researchers  out of the University of Leicester have developed a new asthma pill for the first time in 20 years, which they believe will significantly improve symptoms for those with severe asthma. The drug, known as Fevipiprant (QAW039), was shown to reduce asthma symptoms as well as inflammation, and it improved lung function and repaired airway linings. The pill may be a “game changer for  future  treatment of asthma,” said Professor Chris Brightling, a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leicester, in a  press release . In the study, the researchers  examined  61 participants who were divided into two groups: The first was given 225mg of the drug twice a day for 12 weeks, and the second group was given a placebo. By measuring the sputum eosinophil — the in...

  Fiber May Prevent Knee Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Joint Condition Half Of Adults Will Develop It keeps you full, regular and lowers heart disease risk, and  a new study adds  one more benefit to eating dietary fiber: protection against osteoarthritis. Published in the  Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases , researchers at Tufts University and the University of Manchester used data from two previous long-term studies to find yet another reason to include fiber-rich foods into your diet. The analysis of these studies found that people who ate more fiber were less likely to develop knee osteoarthritis (OA). Read :  Why Drastically Cutting Calories Won't Help You Lose Weight; Neurons May Block Dieting Efforts The  Osteoarthritis Initiative  (OAI), one of the studies reviewed by the team, looked at the health of nearly 5,000 Americans between the ages of  45 to 79. All participants either had or were at risk of developing osteoarthritis, ...

Lung disease  can affect the ability to breathe, potentially causing short-term or long-term damage to our overall health.  Estimates  by the American Lung Association suggested more than 35 million Americans have a preventable chronic lung disease. The category of lung disease includes a number of conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the United States, asthma is the most common one affecting approximately 25 million people. Mild symptoms should be checked out as early detection can improve treatment outcomes and potentially be life-saving. Here are some lung disease warning signs to watch out for. Cough problems Usually, a regular cough as a  result  of a cold will gradually disappear over a fortnight at most. But if your cough has been very persistent and has not shown any signs of slowing down, it may be worth seeing a doctor about it. In more serious cases, ...