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Researchers converted a kidney with type-A blood to type-O.Credit: Sherry Yates Young/Science Photo LibraryScientists have converted the blood type of a donor kidney and transplanted the organ into a person. The procedure — the first of its kind — could improve access to donor organs, specialists say, because the blood type of the donor would no longer matter.Currently, organs from deceased donors can be transplanted into people only if they have a compatible blood type. This is because the recipient’s immune system can produce antibodies to attack and destroy the donated organ if the donor and recipient have different antigens,…

If you’ve ever wondered why your hair feels like straw despite investing in high-end conditioner, or why your skin stays dry no matter how much moisturizer you slather on, the culprit might be lurking in your pipes. Hard water—that mineral-heavy H2O flowing through an estimated 85% of American homes—could be sabotaging your efforts.

One day agoI crawled out of the ruins, only to feel a gun silently pressed against my back.Cautiously, I raised my hands, signalling that I was no threat, and turned around slowly.His face was terrified, exhausted. I guessed he hadn’t slept in a comfortable bed or had a decent meal in a long time — just like me; just like everyone else.But when he saw me, the terror on his face faded, to be replaced by a sense of relief, a kind of peace.I understood why.I saw myself in his eyes: a 14-year-old girl. A victim of the colonizers. A…

In a new paper, scientists have reported the first successful human transplant of a kidney converted from blood type A to the universal type O using special enzymes developed at the University of British Columbia. These enzymes are designed to help prevent a mismatch and rejection of the organ. Details of the work, which was led by scientists from the University of British Columbia, are published in Nature Biomedical Engineering in a paper titled “Enzyme-converted O kidneys allow ABO-incompatible transplantation without hyperacute rejection in a human decedent model.” According to the scientists, an enzyme-converted kidney was transplanted into a brain-dead…

Toxic epidermal necrolysis is a severe, drug-induced immune reaction that causes the detachment of the epidermis over large areas of the body.Image credit:Dr. Med. T. NordmannDuring his training in clinical dermatology, Thierry Nordmann encountered several patients with a rare, horrifying condition called toxic epidermal necrolysis, or TEN. Widely considered to be the only emergency in the field of dermatology, TEN has no effective treatments and is often fatal. “I experienced firsthand what it means not to have specific treatments for this disease, and what that means for the patient,” said Nordmann, a clinician scientist at the Max Planck Institute of…

Researchers came to this conclusion by examining health records for more than 600,000 Korean adults and almost 1,200 American adults who had one of these cardiovascular issues. Before things reached a crisis point, 99 percent of participants in both groups had developed at least one of four common cardiovascular disease risk factors: smoking, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, or high blood sugar.“We often think that heart disease can happen without warning, but there is almost always a warning sign,” says study coauthor Sadiya S. Khan, MD, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in…

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Fall is quickly approaching, and we can’t be the only ones anticipating the cozy pumpkin flavors that come with the season. Whether you’re looking to make a warm and comforting dinner or a classic dessert, these four- and five-star rated dishes will leave you craving pumpkin flavors year-round. Recipes like our Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese and Pumpkin Overnight Oats are so delicious, you’ll want to make them again and again. Love any of these recipes? Join MyRecipes to save, search and organize your EatingWell recipes all in one place. It’s free! Pumpkin–Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Photographer: Jen Causey, Food…

Edoardo Cervoni, directorLocumdoctor4u, Southport, UKcervoni{at}nhs.netAs a UK general practitioner (GP) in 2002, when the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) was introduced, I anticipated that it would enhance quality of care by incentivising structured chronic disease management. But Ho and colleagues’ systematic review aligns with my experience that its impact on care quality has been limited.1The observed short term improvements in quality, often reversed when the incentive was …

Credit: Science Photo Library/Getty Images Flu could one day be detected through the tastebuds, following the development of a test that produces a Mediterranean herb flavor when the virus is present. The low-tech sensor releases the flavor of thyme and could be built into a gum, lozenge, or lollipop to rapidly screen anyone, anywhere at any time without the need for labs or specialist personnel. This would crucially help prevent the spread of flu when people are contagious but before symptoms appear, which is key to preventing future pandemics. “This strategy opens up new possibilities for the early detection and…