FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3A
HEALTH
Clinical trial worries some
Potential patients want to opt out
activ-
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BY TAMI DRIETZ
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORRESPONDENT
A clinical trial involving the use of fake blood has caused some area residents to worry. The PolyHeme clinical trial began Nov. 1, but several residents are looking to opt out.
PolyHeme is a temporary oxygen-carrying red blood cell substitute. Because it requires no cross-matching of blood types, it is compatible with all blood types. Researchers believe that PolyHeme will be useful for patients who have lost large amounts of blood because it will be able to carry oxygen to patients' organs and tissues.
"One in five trauma patients die from their injuries," said Michael Moncure, physician and the principal investigator of the
The University of Kansas Medical Center has been working for almost a year to test the product in its emergency room, but if it sounds scary, students and residents can opt out of the tests.
PolyHeme study. "It is believed that PolyHeme will help these patients survive."
"An opt-out wristband is available for anyone who wishes to be excluded from this clinical trial," Moncure said. "This wristband will prevent that person from getting placed in the study if they happen to get injured."
Suzanne Porras, research coordinator in the trauma department at the Med Center, said the hospital needed to educate the public about the trial before it could begin. Because PolyHeme is used in trauma situations and many patients may not be conscious, the hospital needed to meet federal regulations. Over the course of several months, doctors and nurses from Med Center spoke at meetings around the area, including
The University of Kansas Medical Center has been working for almost a year to test the product in its emergency room, but if it sounds scary, students and residents can opt out of the tests.
Douglas County, discussing this issue and how someone can choose not to participate.
"Thus far, the public response has been pretty positive," Porras said. "They think that it will be very cutting edge and will be a big improvement in the care that we can give patients."
Porras said only about 30 people had chosen to opt out of the trial.
Opt-out wristbands are available by contacting the Med Center. Anyone wearing this wristband will automatically be
excluded from the PolyHeme clinical trial.
Treatment with PolyHeme would begin before the patient's arrival at the hospital and then would continue for 12 hours after his or her injuries. Patients who have lost a large amount of blood, are in shock and are at least 18 years of age are all eligible to be selected to participate in this clinical trial.
Three-hundred and sixty patients will receive PolyHeme during the study and 360 others will receive regular standard care for comparison. Standard care consists of administering intravenous fluids and donated blood. PolyHeme recipients are randomly selected. Once a patient has been selected to receive PolyHeme, his or her family is immediately notified.
"If a family decides that they do not want their loved one participating in this clinical trial, they can withdraw their loved one from the study at any time," Moncure said.
Edited by Patrick Ross
Dueling tummy hormones curb hunger
BY LAURAN NEERGAARD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Scientists have discovered a biological brake for a hunger hormone: a competing hormone that seems to counter the urge to eat.
SCIENCE
The substance, named obestatin, has been tested in laboratory rats. But if it pans out, the discovery of the dueling hormones could help unravel the complex ways that the body regulates weight and lead to a new appetite suppressant — important news for the one-third of obese American adults.
The same gene sparks production of the two opposing hormones, Stanford University
researchers said in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
"It seems counterintuitive that Mother Nature would press on the brake and gas pedal at the same time," said Matthias Tschop of the University of Cincinnati, a reviewer of the work.
Scientists know that dozens of hormones probably are involved in the balancing act of weight gain and loss, so they face years of research to see whether obestatin might work as an appetite suppressor.
Among the crucial questions to be answered is whether obestatin made the rats eat less because it directly suppressed their appetites, or because it made them feel ill.
Huseh's team scoured databases of genes from humans and other organisms to discover types of hormones that could be turned into drugs. They narrowed their hunt to stretches of genes conserved through millions of years of evolution in
A sister hormone to ghrelin, obestatin might be better dubbed the anti-ghrelin. Stanford endocrinologist Aaron Hsueh and colleagues discovered.
from the hunger hormone called ghrelin. Produced in the stomach, it boosts appetite. The theory is that ghrelin helped early humans survive famine by fattening them up during times when food was plentiful, a mechanism that can backfire in todav's culture of plenty.
far-ranging species, a sign that those sequences may be of particular biological importance.
The genetic sequence that leads to ghrelin had an extra protein hanging on the end — obestatin. Hsueh created a synthetic version of the hormone and set out to see what it does.
Obestatin also slowed the movements of food through the rodents' stomachs and intestines, important steps in countering ghrelin's-hunger-induced effects.
Normal-weight rats injected with obstatin cut food intake in half, causing a 20 percent drop in weight during eight days.
The research was funded by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.
Turtle power
Chitose Suzuki/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Biologist Pilar Gibson holds a two-week-old yellow spotted Amazon River turtle at the New England Aquarium in Boston on Thursday. The Aquarium's yellow-spotted Amazon River turtles, which are a threatened species, laid eggs for the first time this fall. The Aquarium Medical Center incubated the eggs for about two months, and five baby Amazon River turtles have hatched.
ON THE RECORD
♦ A 20-year-old KU student reported to Lawrence police that her roommate slapped her between midnight and 1:30 a.m. Nov. 4 on the 300 block of West 14th Street.
♦ An 18-year-old KU student reported to Lawrence police the theft of a blue iPod mini and a speaker between 2 and 10 a.m. Tuesday from the 1100 block of Louisiana Street. The items are valued at $397.
ON CAMPUS
♦ As part of Donate Life Week, the KU Organ Donation Awareness Coalition is holding an organ donation registration from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union. Students who register will get prizes.
- Student Union Activities is putting on a free Star Wars Marathon from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. tonight in the Kansas Union Ballroom, with music, laser tag, Star Wars video games, a costume contest, trivia and prizes.
The Muslim Student Association is holding the 2005 Fast-A-Thon on Tuesday, MSA invites KU students to fast during the day and eat a free Iftar dinner at 5 p.m. at Maceli's, 1031 New Hampshire St. Sign up at www.msaku.com.
Sm-Lg available for $14.95
(XL Hucks may be more)
Jayhawk Bookstore
...at the top of Naismith Hill
voted Best Bookstore by KU Students
1420 Crescent Rd.
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