Credit: Hamilton Health Sciences
Hamilton, ON (May 15, 2021) - A simple surgery saves patients with heart arrhythmia from often-lethal strokes, says a large international study led by McMaster University.
Researchers found that removing the left atrial appendage an unused, finger-like tissue that can trap blood in the heart chamber and increase the risk of clots cuts the risk of strokes by more than one-third in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Even better, the reduced clotting risk comes on top of any other benefits conferred by blood-thinner medications patients with this condition are usually prescribed. If you have atrial fibrillation and are undergoing heart surgery, the surgeon should be removing your left atrial appendage, because it is a set-up for forming clots. Our trial has shown this to be both safe and effective for stroke prevention, said Richard Whitlock, first author of the study.
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Credit: McMaster University
Hamilton, ON (May 10, 2021) - It is well known that each person s gut bacteria is vital for digestion and overall health, but when does that gut microbiome start?
New research led by scientists from McMaster University and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany has found it happens during and after birth, and not before.
McMaster researchers Deborah Sloboda and Katherine Kennedy examined prenatal stool (meconium) samples collected from 20 babies during breech Cesarean delivery. The key takeaway from our study is we are not colonized before birth. Rather, our relationship with our gut bacteria emerges after birth and during infancy, said Kennedy, first author of the study and a PhD student, whose findings are published in
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Hamilton, ON (May 5, 2021) - Schools and child care centres should train staff on food allergies and have epinephrine available to treat anaphylaxis, but new guidelines do not recommend food bans.
The recommendations come from an international team, led by McMaster University, which has developed practice guidelines for the prevention and management of allergic reactions to food at child care centres and schools. The guidelines were published today in the
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The management of food allergy is a sensitive topic, said Susan Waserman, chair of the guidelines panel, an allergist and professor of medicine at McMaster University.
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Credit: McMaster University
Hamilton, ON (April 14, 2021) - Modified immune cells that ruthlessly kill cancerous tumours may prove a game-changer for people living with late-stage cancer.
McMaster University researchers Ali Ashkar and Sophie Poznanski have uncovered that changing the metabolism of natural killer (NK) immune cells allows these cells to overcome the hostile conditions found inside tumours and destroy advanced ovarian and lung cancer.
In the past decade cancer immunotherapy has achieved tremendous therapeutic effects in patient with blood cancers. However, the immunosuppressive conditions found inside solid tumours, whose aggressive growth starves surrounding healthy tissues of energy, have until now remained a formidable barrier for immune cell therapies.
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