The University of Missouri Health Sciences Center offers the following research tips for October 1997. For more detailed versions, visit the Media Relations Web site at http://www.hsc.missouri.edu/cares/NEWS.html.
Taking a New Shot at Allergic Reactions
Enzyme potentiated desensitization sounds like a mouthful of medical jargon. However, it could mean being able to enjoy a mouthful of food without having an allergic reaction.
Laurie Fowler, M.D., allergy specialist at the University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics, says the allergy treatment process, known as EPD, treats a broad spectrum of food and inhaled allergens without the need for weekly injections.
Fowler says that in the beginning of EPD treatment, patients receive an injection every eight weeks. As EPD treatments continue, injections are needed less often.
"The way the EPD antigen is set up is that it treats pretty much everything," she says.
Fowler says EPD first came to the United States seven years ago but has been used since the early 1960s in Great Britain, where it is the country's only recognized form of immunotherapy.
This spring MU became the first academic medical center in the country to conduct clinical research on EPD. As an immunotherapy, it needs no FDA approval. ï Contact Charlie Rahm, media relations specialist, at [email protected] or (573) 882-5663.
MU Docs Make Headway Against 'Brain Attack'
Thanks to new medications and technology, stroke doesn't have to mean a death sentence or permanent disability for its victims, provided they seek care immediately when symptoms arise.
A team from the University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics recently saved the life of an 18-year-old woman using a rare and risky procedure that has been successfully performed on only 22 known patients nationwide.
The woman, who was experiencing headaches, nausea and seizures, was brought to the hospital's emergency center. Neurologist Michael Meyer, M.D., determined the patient was suffering from an uncommon and potentially deadly type of stroke called venous thrombosis. A blood clot had developed in a major vein of her brain. Normally, such clots are found in the arteries, where they are more readily treatable with heparin and other blood-thinners.
"She was getting worse, and if we didn't dissolve the clot quickly, it could have been fatal," Meyer says.
MU radiologist Geoffrey Beale, M.D., inserted a catheter into a vein in the patient's leg, guided it up through her heart and into her head. After determining the precise location of the problem, the team decided to administer a clot-dissolving drug called urokinase directly to the affected area. After 30 hours the clot had disappeared, and the woman was out of the woods. ï Contact Dolores Shearon, medical news coordinator, at [email protected] or (573) 882-5660.
New Ulcer Test Easier to Stomach
Detecting stomach ulcers now is as easy as blowing up a balloon.
A new technology tested at the University of Missouri Health Sciences Center and recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration makes ulcer diagnosis a lot quicker and more comfortable for many patients. PYtest, made by Tri-Med Specialties Inc. of Lenexa, Kan., detects the presence of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium associated with the development of most ulcers and a number of other gastric problems.
"Because it is so simple, so harmless and relatively inexpensive, I could see this test becoming as common as bone-density screening for osteoporosis," says Amolak Singh, M.D., MU professor and chief of nuclear medicine. Singh led a local evaluation of PYtest during its early clinical trials, when MU was one of three centers nationwide looking at its efficacy and safest dosage levels.
Ten minutes after taking the PYtest capsule, the patient blows into a balloon. Nuclear medicine technologists then analyze the breath sample, looking for carbon dioxide labeled with minute levels of radioactive carbon-14.
For many years, the only definitive means of diagnosing ulcers was endoscopy. PYtest should decrease the need for endoscopy in patients with mild to moderate H. pylori-related gastritis and ulcer disease, Singh says. ïContact Dolores Shearon, medical news coordinator, at [email protected] or at (573) 882-5660.
Two Bs Make for a Healthier Heart
People who worry about having a healthy heart soon may want their homocysteine levels examined along with their cholesterol. Growing evidence associates the presence of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood with cardiovascular disease.
While vitamin companies have rushed to promote folic acid as a means of controlling homocysteine levels, a recent study led by a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher suggests that B-complex vitamin alone isn't enough. The research, published in the June 1997 Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found that vitamin B-12 must be present in sufficient quantities to help folic acid convert homocysteine back to a non-menacing state, says medical nutritionist Margaret Flynn, Ph.D., professor emeritus of family and community medicine.
"For years, we have been told that humans have enough B-12 in the liver to last 12 years. It may be stored there, but it isn't necessarily delivered to the cells," says Flynn, who looked at homocysteine and nutrient levels in 171 male and female subjects.
The researchers advocate that all foods and vitamin pills fortified with folic acid also should contain B-12. ïContact Dolores Shearon, medical news coordinator, at [email protected] or at (573) 882-5660.
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