Drug abuse medication could help with strokes

In this installment of SFBWโ€™s โ€œInnovations in Health Careโ€ series, we look at an unexpected way to treat strokes, a new device designed to help nursing moms, a less-invasive method of heart surgery, and a more-efficient form of radiation cancer therapy.

Alcohol abuse drug as stroke treatment

Strokes are the third-leading cause of death and disability in our the United States. One Florida Atlantic University professor has applied for a patent for a promising substance believed to reverse the brain damage caused by the affliction.

John Wu, a professor of biomedical science at FAUโ€™s Schmidt College of Medicine, has been experimenting with an active metabolic product of a drug that has been used for more than 50 years to combat alcohol abuseโ€”disulfiram, which is better known by its brand name, Antabuse.

Researchers have discovered the metabolic agent, called carbamathione, can be used to effectively treat conditions associated with hypoxia, a lack of oxygen to tissues, that occurs in a stroke.

Wu says the substance can reduce brain injury, even after the usual window for clot-busting treatment has passed. โ€œThe drugโ€™s been very effective in restoring brain function both prior to and post-treatment,โ€ he says. โ€œItโ€™s been demonstrated in several animal studies.โ€

Reduced oxygen flow caused by a stroke leads to harmful substances being released by the damaged cells. Carbamathione can block those harmful effects.

Proton therapy soon at Delray Medical Center

The South Florida Proton Therapy Institute at Delray Medical Center aims to begin treating cancer patients by the summer, says Tim Williams, the facilityโ€™s medical director.

Williams says this new technology has fewer side effects and is less harmful to the body than the traditional gamma rays used to shrink tumors. โ€œProton beams will reach a certain level in the body and stop,โ€ he says, adding traditional radiation therapy beams pass through a patientโ€™s body and exit the other side, potentially damaging surrounding tissue and organs. โ€œProtons allow us the ability to increase the dose,โ€ he says.

Proton therapy is particularly effective in treating solid cancerous tumors, including cancers of the brain, spine, head, neck, lung, prostate, colon and breast.

The new Delray machine will use pencil-beam, or targeted, scanning to deliver the proton therapy, Williams says. โ€œItโ€™s the newest evolution in technology,โ€ he says.

Good news for nursing moms

Nursing mothers soon can enjoy the benefits of hands-free pumping of breast milk. Imalac, a Miami-based medical technology company, is working on a new product, called Nurture, which massages a womanโ€™s breast mechanically while sheโ€™s pumping. Company co-founders Noreen Sablotsky and her daughter, Rachael Kish, have developed the product.

Kish says by using Nurture, nursing mothers will be able to increase milk production, reduce pumping time and decrease swelling. Working mothers in particular will benefit, she says. โ€œThey will experience truly hands-free pumping,โ€ says Kish, who has two children with another on the way. โ€œThat was part of my issue. I had every intention of pumping and working at the same time. This product gets rid of the need to use your hands.โ€

Mother and daughter say educated moms in the workforce are those most likely to understand the health benefits of nursing for themselves and their babies. Nurture is compatible with most breast pumps available on the market, and comes with a special bra designed to be used with both the pump and the massage cups. Nurture was designed to replicate breast massage by hand while using a standard-action breast pump. The massage cups provide gentle massage around the entire breast.

New cardiac procedures lead to better results

It was 2003 when Joseph Lamelas, chief of cardiac surgery at University of Miami Health System, realized it was time to make cardiac procedures less invasive. โ€œSo many medical specialties were going in that direction,โ€ he says.

He began performing many standard heart-related surgeries with a minimally invasive approach. This technique involves making less than a 2-inch incision between the ribs without breaking them.

โ€œI wanted to make a difference in patient care,โ€ Lamelas says. He since has performed 6,000 minimally invasive surgeries. In fact, the procedures he invented have been called โ€œthe Miami methodโ€ in the industry.

However, he discovered better surgical tools were needed to enhance his surgical techniques. So, he designed his own surgical instruments, which are now available and widely used by other surgeons.

Lamelas says minimally invasive procedures are the way of the future. โ€œEverything is going in that direction. Surgeons need to jump on the bandwagon,โ€ he says.

โ€œThere are no procedures that can rival this,โ€ he claims. โ€œThereโ€™s less chance for an infection, less wound issues, and a patient can mobilize quickly. Most go home in three days, and can resume normal activities in two weeks.โ€.โ™ฆ

Martin Lenkowsky
mlenkowsky2@sfbwmag.com
1 Comment
  • Crider Center
    Posted at 14:54h, 02 April Reply

    That pending patent innovation will be a game changer in the healthcare industry. Considering that strokes are the third-leading cause of death and disability in our the United States. The innovation will surely address a major underlying issues in the medical sector.

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