senatormedicalab – Senator Medical AB

Important points about: Cloth Face Masks

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 05:23:41 +0000

As you may be hearing in the news, experts may soon be recommending that all of us wear masks in public. There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that it could be a wise move. Researchers from Yale compared data from countries where mask usage is common against countries where it is not and found that the death rate from COVID-19 is up to 10% lower in the countries with masked populations. Whether “masks for all” becomes an official recommendation in the US or not, at this point, if something MAY be effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, it’s probably time to do it.

However, it’s important that you do not try to buy surgical or N95 masks! Given the dangerous shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers on the frontlines, it is vitally important that we save surgical masks and N95 masks for those doctors, nurses, and others who are exposed to high levels of the virus.

That being said, you can still make cloth masks, or order them, for yourself or family. Studies have shown that cloth masks may help with spread of infection when used in conjunction with hand washing and physical distancing.

As a mom of two kids myself, I started looking into this a few days ago. There are several options, it seems: you could go the DIY route (basic instructions here); or you could buy them, whether from people in your communities who are selling them, or on websites, like etsy.

What type of cloth mask could work?

One study done in 2013 showed that 100% cotton t-shirts could have 69% effectiveness in protecting against organisms that are sized similar to flu viruses, and linen has 60-61%. But since COVID-19 is so new, we don’t have data about the levels of protection against this particular virus.

When choosing a fabric, one doctor suggested a “light” test, to see how effective different cloths might be – the less light that passes through the mask, the more effective it is. In fact, this doctor demonstrates how to make masks from old bras! (this doctor’s YouTube video is here)

Whatever kind of fabric you choose, keep these best practices in mind:

2-3 ply masks make sense, as the extra fabric helps filter out particles.
The fit of the mask is key: you need to make sure it covers the mouth and nose properly, and that it doesn’t slip from that area too often.
Putting a vacuum filter, or even a coffee filter, between layers of fabric may help as it causes some electrostatic friction which may ‘trap’ particles in the mask so you won’t breathe them. If you go this route, make sure that the mask has a pocket that will allow you to take out the filter when you need to wash the mask. Note that there is very little science around this idea – it’s just based on common sense at this point.
Washability of the mask is important. Remember, to sterilize, you need to use the hot water cycle in the washer, and heat dry. For this reason, synthetic fabrics may not be good.
Make sure you don’t touch the mask when you wear it. It may have contaminants on the surface. Leave it on until you get home and wash your hands after you do take it off.
Take off your mask when you get home. Place it in a plastic bag until you’re ready to do laundry. Masks should be treated as dirty and contaminated after each use.

One last thought as we venture into the “masked” new world –

Although wearing a mask can potentially help prevent the spread of infection, it should be considered an add-on, not a replacement, for physical distancing and hand hygiene. Staying away from others and vigilant hand-washing are truly the pillars of prevention, and have been proven to be effective in ‘flattening the curve” and decreasing the flow of people to our hospitals.

Reference: WebMD

Four Things Patients with Cancer Should Know About Coronavirus 2020

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 13:56:48 +0000

Here are the four key things that patients with cancer need to know as they prepare for the corona-virus:

Take Preventive Measures Like You Normally Would
Make Sure You Get the Flu Shot
Only Testing Can Determine If You Have Corona-virus
Cancer Drugs Manufactured Overseas Are Okey

Reference Article

Corona Virus (COVID-19), Characteristics and important lessons learned!

admin — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 14:48:01 +0000

latest updates Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Corona virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China.

Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reference: #Jamajournal #CoronaVirus #statistics #2020

Read original article here

Who can take benefit of Electrochemotherapy? Simply explained!

admin — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 13:39:48 +0000

What is electrochemotherapy?

Electrochemotherapy is a way of getting specific chemotherapy drug into cancer cells.

It is a combination of:

Chemotherapy injected into the tumour or bloodstream
Aan electric pulse to send the chemotherapy into the cancer cells (called electroporation)

A special probe sends an electric pulse to the tumour. The electric pulse changes the outer layer of the cancer cell. This makes it easier for the chemotherapy to get inside the cell.

Who can have electrochemotherapy?

Doctors use electrochemotherapy for cancers that started in the skin or have spread to the skin from elsewhere. These include:

Basal and squamous cell skin cancers
Melanoma skin cancer
Kaposi’s sarcoma
Breast cancer that has spread to the skin
Head and neck cancers that have spread to the skin

Electrochemotherapy has been approved by many of European Health Authorities including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a possible treatment to relieve symptoms for people with cancers affecting their skin. It can help to control symptoms when other treatments are no longer working.

Most people who have this treatment have shown improvement in their symptoms. How much it helps varies from one person to another. You might need more than one treatment to control your symptoms.

Research is looking into finding out more about how well it works and which patients it can help.

Having electrochemotherapy

You usually have electrochemotherapy as a day patient. But occasionally people need to stay in hospital overnight. You will have either a general anaesthetic, so you are asleep, or you might have a local anaesthetic with a drug to make you sleepy (sedation).

You have chemotherapy as either:

An injection into the tumour (intratumoural)
An injection into your bloodstream through a small tube (intravenously)

The type of chemotherapy you might have is either Cisplatin or Bleomycin. You have much lower dose than with standard chemotherapy treatment. This is because the electric pulse helps the chemotherapy get through the cell wall. Lower doses of chemotherapy mean fewer side effects.

Injection into the tumour

You might have this treatment awake with a local anasethetic to numb the area or you might be asleep (general anasethetic).

First you have an injection of local anaesthetic to numb the area. The doctor then injects the chemotherapy and you have the electric pulse immediately afterwards.

Injection into a vein

You usually need to have this while you are asleep, under general anaesthetic.

You have the chemotherapy into a vein. Then eight minutes later, you have the electric pulse to the tumour.

The electric pulse comes from a special machine. Attached to the machine is a probe. The probe is the size of a large pen and has an electrode on it. The doctor puts the electrode against your skin to deliver an electric pulse to the tumour.

Your whole treatment can take between 10 and 60 minutes, depending on how many tumours you have.

Side effects of electrochemotherapy

The main side effect is pain in the area where the electrode touches the skin. This is usually mild and lasts for a couple of days. More rarely some people have more severe pain that can last between two and four weeks. Your doctor or clinical nurse specialist will give you some painkillers if you need them.

Some people have muscle contractions during the treatment. Your doctor can slightly alter the way they give treatment if this is uncomfortable. You may also feel sick but this is usually mild and you can have anti sickness medicines. Infection in the area you have treatment is rare. Tell your doctor if you notice the area has become redder, swollen, painful or if there is any discharge.

You might notice the colour of your skin changes where you had treatment. It might be darker or lighter. This usually fades with time but can be permanent for some people.

The area where you have treatment can form an ulcer or the skin might breakdown. If this happens you will need a nurse to dress it until it heals. This might take a couple of weeks.

Research into electrochemotherapy

So far, researchers have used electrochemotherapy to control symptoms of advanced skin cancers when other treatments aren’t working.

In the future, researchers hope that electrochemotherapy could become a treatment for early skin cancers. But we need to compare it with the current standard treatments and this can take many years.

Researchers are also looking into using electric pulses to treat cancers in body cavities. These include early bladder cancers and cancers in the chest. This treatment in body cavities is called electromotive drug administration.

Reference: Cancer Research, UK, 2019

Our LinkedIn Corporate page- Follow us to get latest healthcare industry news immediately & free of charge!

admin — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:08:08 +0000

Follow our company page on LinkedIn to see some of latest updates within healthcare industry and medical devices/pharmaceuticals business:

Senator Medical AB

#LinkedIn #Thanksgiving

Women are gaining ground at top Medical Journals — Slowly

admin — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 15:08:18 +0000

It has been a hard but continuous achievement

When the New England Journal of Medicine announced its new editor-in-chief in June, it chose to continue with a man for the post. In their 208-year history, the journal has had one top female editor, Marcia Angell, MD. She held the title for 1 year, from 1999 to 2000.

Angell was the first woman to helm a major medical publication, though Suzanne Fletcher, MD, shared the position at the Annals of Internal Medicine with her husband, Robert Fletcher, MD, from 1990 to 1993.

Now that women make up a little more than half of the current medical school class, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the times they are a changing, though not at the same pace everywhere.

As this graphic illustrates, the Journal of the American Medical Association was helmed by Catherine DeAngelis, MD, from 2000 to 2011; Fiona Godlee, MD, has run the BMJ since 2005; and the Annals of Internal Medicine appointed Christine Laine, MD, to its highest spot in 2009. Another prestigious medical journal, the Lancet, has never had a female editor-in-chief.

Reference: Medscape 2019

WHO warning: E-cigarettes won’t help in reducing cancer

admin — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 09:38:53 +0000

No evidence to justify their claim according to World Health Organization (WHO)

Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are not helping fight cancer, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says, urging smokers and governments not to trust claims from cigarette firms about their latest products.

The seventh “WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic” said blocking the industry’s interference was critical to cutting the harm from tobacco use.

“The tobacco industry has a long history of systemic, aggressive, sustained and well-resourced opposition to tobacco control measures,” the report said.

“While some strategies are public and others more covert, all have the goal of weakening tobacco control.”

The report said tobacco giant Philip Morris International was trying to position itself as a responsible public health partner via its “Unsmoke” campaign, which encourages people to “change to a better alternative”.

The WHO said the campaign aimed to ensure tobacco remained socially acceptable, while confusing consumers with terms such as “smoke-free products”, which may refer to products with toxic emissions and unknown short-term and long-term health effects.

Philip Morris spokesman Ryan Sparrow said the WHO’s message made it harder to provide safer options for people who cannot quit smoking.

“There is no question that the best choice for smokers is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether. The reality is many people do not. We cannot turn our backs on them,” he said. “Organisations like the World Health Organisation need to stop talking at smokers and start listening.”

The WHO report said the industry hoped to win respectability through manipulative messages such as claiming their products were part of a “harm reduction” strategy, even though cigarettes still account for 97 per cent of the global tobacco market.

Vinayak Prasad, program manager of WHO’s tobacco control unit, said development of new products was solely intended to expand the markets of tobacco firms.

“There is no difference between cigarettes and heated tobacco products except that in terms of exposure: the exposure is less and the smoke is not visible,” he said.

Electronic cigarettes, containing nicotine but not tobacco, were promoted as a way to quit smoking. But there was no evidence to justify the claim, and evidence from the United States showed they had increased the prevalence of young people smoking, he said.

“So it’s also a gateway for young people,” Prasad said.

“The answer is it needs to be regulated. WHO has clear guidelines – to get electronic cigarettes regulated. And if you are banning it, fine, but if you aren’t banning it don’t let it (go) free in the market, because the young people are taking it up.”

Reference: WHO, 7news

Importance of Body image for women (Breast Cancer Article)

admin — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 12:23:05 +0000

Body image in women with breast cancer using a scalp cooling system to reduce chemotherapy induced hair-loss

Background: Most women consider hair to be an important part of body image. Alopecia is an emotionally traumatic side effect for breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. The DigniCap Scalp Cooling System is the first scalp cooling system cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration to reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy induced alopecia.

Methods: Quality of Life (QOL) data were collected as part of a prospective clinical trial evaluating the clinical performance of scalp cooling in women with early stage BC receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

The study’s primary endpoint was hair loss as evaluated by patient self-assessment. Treatment success was defined as ≤ 50% hair loss. QOL was evaluated by the EORTC-QLQ-BR23 (BR23) administered at baseline, last chemotherapy cycle, and one month later. For BR23, 4 response categories were collapsed to 2 categories (Not at all/A little bit and Quite a bit/Very much) for analysis. QOL was compared between those with success vs. failure of scalp cooling.

Results: 101 patients were evaluable for the primary endpoint: Success was seen in 67 (66.3%) pts. QOL at study entry was comparable between pts with scalp cooling success or failure for each item in the BR23 questionnaire. Results reported as percentages of patients in each group who answered either quite a bit or very much to body image-related questions on the BR23 questionnaire are displayed in Table 1.

Conclusions: Women with breast cancer using scalp cooling during chemotherapy who had hair preservation experienced improved quality of life, according to self-assessment of body image, compared to women who had significant hair loss.

Reference: Cancer Research Journal

A Swedish Human Milk Analyzer Cleared by FDA to Measure Nutritional Content for Donor Milk

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 17:54:30 +0000

Senator Medical AB in Stockholm, Sweden introduces an innovative Swedish medical device with FDA Approval

Donor human milk is a standard of care in many maternity wards caring for preterm infants. While very effective, the nutritional content of donor milk is often subpar and requires targeted fortification.

Miris, based in Uppsala, Sweden, won FDA clearance for its Human Milk Analyzer, a novel device used to test donor breast milk for energy, fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. The device provides results within minutes using only a small sample of milk. The technology allows clinicians to fortify donor milk with the right ingredients before it is administered to preterm babies.

The system consists of the Miris Ultrasonic Processor and Miris Heater that are used to prepare samples, and the Miris Human Milk Analyzer for analysis.

Senator Medical AB, New technologies, FDA approved Swedish product

Some details about the study that led to the clearance, according to Miris:The FDA reviewed data submitted by the sponsor of 112 samples of human milk to analyze the performance of the device. For the study, the sponsor tested the same 112 samples in the machine and compared them to the expected true values obtained by independent methods; both systems provided similar results for each test. The data showed that the Miris Human Milk Analyzer test was effective at determining levels of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the milk.

There may be conditions that limit the information available from the Miris Human Milk Analyzer. For example, certain medications that a nursing mother may be taking could interfere with the test’s ability to accurately measure nutrient levels in breast milk.

The FDA reviewed data submitted by the sponsor of 112 samples of human milk to analyze the performance of the device. For the study, the sponsor tested the same 112 samples in the machine and compared them to the expected true values obtained by independent methods; both systems provided similar results for each test. The data showed that the Miris Human Milk Analyzer test was effective at determining levels of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the milk. There may be conditions that limit the information available from the Miris Human Milk Analyzer.

For example, certain medications that a nursing mother may be taking could interfere with the test’s ability to accurately measure nutrient levels in breast milk.

Reference: Internet, medgadget, Senator Medical Ab

Keywords: Innovative technologies, future projects, Senator Medical AB, Medisenator, milk analyzer, 2019, FDA approved, Medical devices

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018 was awarded for the discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation; few days ago here in Stockholm, Sweden

admin — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 09:16:33 +0000

But how does the immunotherapy work?

Immunotherapy uses our immune system to fight cancer. It works by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells.

Our immune system works to protect the body against infection, illness and disease. It can also protect us from the development of cancer. The immune system includes the lymph glands, spleen and white blood cells. Normally, it can spot and destroy faulty cells in the body, stopping cancer developing. But a cancer might develop when:

The immune system recognises cancer cells but it is not strong enough to kill the cancer cells
The cancer cells produce signals that stop the immune system from attacking it
The cancer cells hide or escape from the immune system

Immunotherapy is not yet as widely used as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy uses medication to kill cancer cells and radiotherapy means the use of radiation, usually X-rays, to treat illness.

Immunotherapy uses the natural power of your immune system to fight illnesses, and has been approved to treat people with many types of cancer.

There are different types of immunotherapy, some of which are also called targeted therapies or biological therapies.

Monoclonal antibodies (MABs)

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced molecules engineered to serve as substitute antibodies that can restore, enhance or mimic the immune system’s attack on cancer cells. They are designed to bind to antigens that are generally more numerous on the surface of cancer cells than healthy cells. This process is called antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).

Vaccines to treat cancer

Normally, vaccines help to protect us from disease, and researchers are looking at whether vaccines can be used as a treatment to help the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells.

When you have the vaccine, it stimulates the immune system into action. The immune system makes antibodies that can recognise and attack the harmless versions of the disease. Once the body has made these antibodies it can recognise the disease if you come into contact with it again. So you’re protected from it.

Cytokines

Cytokines are a group of proteins in the body that play an important part in boosting the immune system. Interferon and interleukin are types of cytokines found in the body. Scientists have developed man made versions of these to treat some types of cancer.

Adoptive cell transfer

Adoptive cell transfer changes the genes in a person’s white blood cells (T cells) to help them recognise and kill cancer cells. Changing the T cell in this way is called genetically engineering the T cell.

This treatment is only available as part of a clinical trial in the UK. An example of a type of adoptive cell transfer is CAR T-cell therapy.

Source: Cancer Research UK, Senator Medical AB, Medisenator

Keywords: Senator Medical AB, Immunotherapy, Nobel Prize, Sweden 2018, cytokines, vaccine therapy, Medisenator, Monoclonal Antibodies, Cancer treatment, Oncology, Edutainment