Wireless technology enables people to keep in touch wherever they are by transmitting text, pictures and voice. Often a cellphone is a lifesaver for someone stranded in a car that has broken down, or found themselves in some other emergency in which the cellphone is their only way to communicate their condition to those who can help.

Now at a medical center in Newark, NJ, wireless technology is being used to save lives of patients suffering a heart attack. A new system allows on-call cardiologists to receive ECGs on “smart phones” and be in touch directly with the paramedic on the scene. Before the patient has even arrived at the hospital, the cardiologist has seen the ECG and can instruct the paramedic on life-saving treatment. The ECG can even be sent to the hospital’s cath lab, and patients can be transported directly there, cutting down the door-to-balloon time, the time between arrival at the hospital and the initial inflation of an angioplasty balloon to open a blocked coronary artery.

“We have found a way to receive electrocardiograms from home, from another hospital, from our cars — anywhere we are,” said Vivek N. Dhruva, D.O., academic chief fellow in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-New Jersey Medical School, who presented the paper. “In only 4 months, we went from being in the bottom 10 percent of hospitals in the time to treatment of heart attack to being in the top 10 percent of hospitals.”

The current guideline for door-to-balloon time is 90 minutes. Using the wireless system, the UMDNJ is now averaging 73 minutes.

Transmitting ECGs to Cardiologists by Smart Phone Cuts Treatment Time in Half

Drinking Green Tea could be therapeutic in the treatment and alleviation of the symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System say a new study shows that Green Tea may block the cell signaling pathways that regulate levels of two immune system molecules, IL-6 and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which cause bone erosion and inflammation in the joints of people with RA.

It’s a compound in Green Tea, called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) that researchers believe may inhibit joint destruction in Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers and could one day be derived synthetically for use as a treatment in RA.

Green tea compound may be a therapy for people with rheumatoid arthritis, University of Michigan study finds

The FDA has added warning labels to some commonly used pain relievers like ibuprophen and naproxen, warning that use of these NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) increase the risk of heart attacks.

But according to Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the FDA has ignored the most dangerous of these drugs, Voltaren, and incorrectly labeled naproxen, which appears to be safe based on research.

High doses (500 mg twice daily) of Aleve were not associated with an increased risk of heart attacks compared to a placebo. High doses of Advil (800 mg three times a day) and Voltaren (75 mg twice daily) were associated with rates of heart attack that were 51 percent and 63 percent higher, than the placebo. The increased risk of heart attack is associated with drugs that are COX-2 inhibitors.

“Naproxen does not increase the risk of heart attacks and ought to be a painkiller of choice,” said Furberg. “On the other hand, Voltaren carries the same risk as the harmful COX-2 inhibitors Bextra® and Vioxx®, which have been taken off the market.

Read more at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

There’s more good news about berries, dark-colored berries especially. Berries contain antioxidants and vitamins that have been shown to inhibit the development of cancer of the esophagus, colon and oral cavity in animals. Now researchers want to see if they have the same effect in humans.

Berries contain phenolic compounds with high-antioxidant potential. Phenols called anthocyanins give berries their color. Dark berries, such as black raspberries and blackberries have a higher content of these anthocyanins.

Scientists at Ohio State University are conducting the research. This food-based approach to cancer prevention has many advantages, including the absence of toxicity of berries to humans.

Participants in the study are patients with early stage colon cancer will consume the equivalent of 2½ cups of black raspberries per day for 2 to 4 weeks. The patients have all undergone colonscopy prior to the study and tissue samples of their tumors taken. Following the study, physicians will again remove tumor tissue for study to see if the berry treatment had any effect on cell growth and tumor development.

OSU Studies Berries in Colon Cancer Prevention