Scientists have used a technique to grow bile duct organoids – often referred to as ‘mini-organs’ – in the lab and shown that these can be used to repair damaged human livers. This is the first time that the technique has been used on human organs. Funding provided by European Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research and the Academy of Medical Sciences
Tag Archives: Liver
TOP JOURNALS: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCIENCE MAGAZINE (July 3, 2020)
Medical Lectures: “Living Donor Liver Transplants” (UCSF Medical School)
Nationally, there are approximately 18,000 patients on the liver transplant list. Annually, about 6,000 patients receive a liver transplant. Because of the organ shortage, many patients waiting for liver transplants die on the list or become too sick to undergo transplant. Dr. John Roberts offers these solutions: expanded criteria donors, split livers and living donors. Recorded on 10/30/2019.
More from: Organ Failure and Replacement: Why Organs Fail and What Therapies are Available for Organ Replacement (https://www.uctv.tv/organ-failure-rep…)
Healthy Diets: “The Science Behind Fasting – Ketosis” (Infographic)
…It seems fasting triggers a dramatic switch in the body’s metabolism, according 
to a paper Mattson and colleagues published in February in the experimental biology journal FASEB. In humans, fasting for 12 hours or more drops the levels of glycogen, a form of cellular glucose. Like changing to a backup gas tank, the body switches from glucose to fatty acids, a more efficient fuel. The switch generates the production of ketones, which are energy molecules that are made in the liver. “When the fats are mobilized and used to produce ketones, we think that is a key factor in accruing the health benefits,” says Mattson.
Health Research: Type 2 Diabetes Caused By “Overflow Of Fat” From Liver To Pancreas
From a Newcastle University news release:
“When fat cannot be safely stored under the skin, it is then stored inside the liver, and over-spills to the rest of the body including the pancreas. This ‘clogs up’ the pancreas, switching off the genes which direct how insulin should effectively be produced, and this causes Type 2 diabetes.”
This latest paper builds on previous Newcastle studies supported by Diabetes UK showing exactly why Type 2 diabetes can be reversed back to normal glucose control. Those studies led to the large DiRECT trial which showed that Primary Care staff can achieve remission of Type 2 diabetes by using a low calorie diet with support to maintain the weight loss.
A quarter of participants achieved a staggering 15 kg or more weight loss, and of these, almost nine out of 10 people put their Type 2 diabetes into remission. After two years, more than one third of the group had been free of diabetes and off all diabetes medication for at least two years.
In 2020, this approach to management of short duration Type 2 diabetes is to be piloted in the NHS in up to 5,000 people across England, and a similar programme is being rolled out in Scotland.
Boomers Health: Routine Blood Test Leads To Unneeded Anxiety Over Elevated Liver Enzymes
“The doctor asked whether he was sure that he had not taken anything else when he was sick? No acetaminophen? No herbs or supplements? The man was certain. Moreover, his labs were abnormal even before he took the antibiotics. The doctor hypothesized that the man’s liver had been a little inflamed from some minor injury — maybe a virus or other exposure — and the antibiotic, which is cleared through the liver, somehow added insult to injury.”
A few weeks before he got sick, he had blood tests for an application for life insurance. Days later, he heard from his doctor that his liver labs were a little off. There are enzymes in the liver that help with the organ’s work of cleansing the blood. When the liver is injured, these hardworking chemical assistants leak into the circulatory system. The levels of these enzymes, his doctor explained, were double what they should be.
Read more in the NY Times Magazine article by Lisa Sanders, M.D.:
Boomers Daily 