Heart failure, stem cell & nitric oxide news bytes

Doctors have discovered that one of the medicines routinely given to end-stage heart failure patients to block the kidneys from retaining water may also be blocking reception of vital signals that tell the heart to beat more strongly. A catch-22 they can now begin to study and hopefully remedy soon.

Mesenchymal stem cells are being used successfully to reduce muscuoskeletal pain in patients with arthritic knees, regardless of past-65 age or weight. It’s also being used for “such conditions as degenerative disc disease, desiccated discs, spinal stenosis (both central and foraminal), facet arthrosis, sacroiliac joint syndrome, osteoarthritis of any joint, and sports/overuse injuries.” Exciting news. Can’t wait ’til this approach becomes a best practice for every osteo doc.  Imagine potentially being able to skip that hip replacement!

We all know that breathing in traffic pollution can damage lungs. Now, in a study with rats, researchers have found the effect of breathing in smoke from combustion increased iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) and other factors and resulted in damage to the olfactory bulb – inflammation, permeability and swelling. Hmmm. Wonder if this relates to why so many baby boomers have what seems like permanent excess mucus in their sinuses. Snort of fluticasone, anyone?