GOOD NEWS

Facial anomalies

Pioneering research into genetic conditions that lead to facial anomalies — like clefts, where the lip and often the roof of the mouth fail to form properly — could open the door to babies with these disorders being successfully treated in the womb. A team of researchers from the University of Manchester and the University of Iowa have shown that the mutation of a gene called IRF6 lead to such facial anomalies called craniofacial disorders. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers argue that targetting the defective gene during pregnancy could help the skin cells develop normally.

Seizure silencer

Though in clinical use for decades, a small, sweet-tasting compound is revealing a startling new face as a potential cure for epilepsy. Two-deoxy-glucose, or 2DG, has long been used in radio labelling, medical scanning and cancer imaging studies in humans. But now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found the substance also blocks the onset of epileptic seizures in laboratory rats. Reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the findings have potentially huge implications for up to half of all epileptic patients who currently have no access to treatment, say the researchers.

BAD NEWS

Surgery risk

In an analysis of more than 5 million discharges from US hospitals, researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that the incidence of acute renal failure associated with coronary artery bypass surgery had increased almost five-fold during the past 16 years. The finding suggests that current strategies used to prevent acute renal failure following bypass surgery may not be as effective as previously thought, the researchers said.

Sugar trouble

Patients who have high blood sugar before undergoing surgery run an increased risk of developing blood clots, deep vein thrombosis and even pulmonary embolism after surgery, according to researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Tightening glucose control dramatically cuts those risks, while also reducing hospital stays. “If an individual has high blood glucose and is coming for surgery, he or she should correct it first and probably postpone the surgery,” said a physician.