Novel approach leads to potential sepsis prevention in burn patients

Immediately following severe burns, bacteria reach the wound from different sources, including the patient’s skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tracts and health care-related human contact. Within the wound, bacteria multiply, establish an infection and move from the infected burn wound into the bloodstream, causing serious complications like sepsis, multiple-organ failure and death. In modern burn units, more than 50% of deaths […]

Continue reading »

Survey finds 16 percent of burn patients test positive for PTSD

A Loyola Medicine survey has found that 15.8 percent of adult burn patients screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The survey by clinical psychologist Elizabeth Simmons, PsyD, licensed clinical social worker Kelly McElligott, AM, and colleagues from Loyola Medicine’s Burn Center was presented at the annual meeting of the American Burn Association, where it was named the top poster […]

Continue reading »

Scientists identify two hormones that burn fat faster, prevent and reverse diabetes in mice

UCLA geneticists have created a new technique to hunt for hormones that influence how organs and tissues communicate with each other. The method enabled them to find naturally occurring molecules that play major roles in Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. In particular, they discovered: Two hormones called “notum” and “lipocalin-5” that speed up the body’s ability to burn […]

Continue reading »