Novel regenerative bandage may heal diabetics' wounds faster
New York, June 12: Your painful, hard-to-treat sores may soon be a thing of the past as scientists have developed a regenerative bandage that may quickly heal them without using drugs, an advance which may help make healing of wounds in diabetics faster.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the bandage healed diabetic wounds 33 per cent faster than one of the most popular bandages currently on the market.
"The novelty is that we identified a segment of a protein in skin that is important to wound healing, made the segment and incorporated it into an antioxidant molecule that self-aggregates at body temperature to create a scaffold that facilitates the body's ability to regenerate tissue at the wound site," said lead author Guillermo Ameer from the Northwestern University in Illinois, US.
The logic behind the regenerative bandage is laminin -- a protein found in most of the body's tissues including the skin.
Laminin sends signals to cells, encouraging them to differentiate, migrate and adhere to one another. The team identified a segment of laminin -- 12 amino acids in length -- called A5G81 that is critical for the wound-healing process.
They incorporated A5G81 into an antioxidant hydrogel bandage that it previously developed in the laboratory. The antioxidant nature also helps counters inflammation.
Hydrogel liquid can form the exact shape of the wound which makes this bandage better than others.
"Wounds have irregular shapes and depths. Our liquid can fill any shape and then stay in place. Other bandages are mostly based on collagen films or sponges that can move around and shift away from the wound site," Ameer said.
The team also used animal models to test the effectiveness and found no adverse effects of the bandage on the animals.
Ameer also added that their bandage can be rinsed off with cool saline, so the regenerating tissue remains undisturbed.
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'Still have freedom of speech': HC says no to plea against wife's cancer cure claim of Navjot Sidhu
New Delhi (PTI): Observing there still was freedom of speech in the country, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea against Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's claims that certain remedies helped his wife in her battle against stage 4 cancer.
A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the former cricketer had only voiced his opinion and the petitioner was also free to counter the claims.
"He is just voicing his opinion. Counter his claims by holding a press conference. Counter free speech by free speech and not by curtailing his free speech under the fear of legal action or contempt. We still have freedom of speech in this country," the bench said.
The bench went on to underline, "You can't say freedom of speech be curtailed. You counter his claim. This is not our domain. If you don't agree with this gentleman's views, don't listen to him. There are a lot of books which you may feel are bad, don't read them. Who is asking you to read them? Free speech is not meant to be curtailed by bringing them to court and putting them under the fear of contempt withdrawn."
As the court made it clear that a writ petition couldn't be entertained, the petitioner sought to withdraw it.
"We can't entertain a writ petition on this. Thousands of people claim they have a cure for something but that does not mean you will seek action against them."
At a press conference in Amritsar on November 21, Sidhu stated that his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had been declared cancer-free, emphasising the role of dietary and lifestyle changes in her recovery.
He then said his wife's diet included things like lemon water, raw turmeric, apple cider vinegar, neem leaves, basil, pumpkin, pomegranate, amla, beetroot and walnuts which made her healthy.
After oncologists questioned his claim that a strict diet helped his wife defeat stage 4 cancer, Sidhu clarified on November 25 that the diet plan was implemented in consultation with doctors and should be considered "facilitation in the treatment".
During the hearing, the petitioner said he was against Sidhu's claim on 100 per cent cure of cancer questioning if tulsi and ashwagandha fully could defeat stage 4 cancer.
Sidhu's video circulated on various social media platforms and news channels, and as a celebrity he had influence over many, it was claimed.
The petitioner therefore urged the court to restrain circulation of the videos saying misinformation was being peddled.
The court, however, said if Sidhu's wife, who was a doctor herself, felt better by following a particular diet, it was good.
Justice Gedela remarked if the petitioner was really concerned about public interest, he should go and file a petition against the manufacture of cigarettes and alcohol.
On November 23, Dr C S Pramesh, director of Tata Memorial Hospital, which specialises in cancer treatment, posted a video of Sidhu's press conference on X and said, "Parts of the video imply that starving cancer by avoiding dairy products and sugar, and consuming haldi (turmeric) and neem, helped cure her 'incurable' cancer".
He added, "Please don’t believe or be fooled by these statements, regardless of who they come from. These are unscientific and baseless recommendations. It was surgery and chemotherapy, which are evidence-based treatments, that made her cancer-free, not haldi, neem, or other such remedies".
