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What’s better than reading a health news report about something good that happened in the world? Reading about a whole bunch of happy news. Here’s a recap of 10 of the most inspiring health stories from 2010, so that you can wrap up the year on a positive note.

Woman Who Had All Major Organs Removed Becomes Doctor
Although she’s had nearly every major organ in her body transplanted, including her liver, kidney, heart and lungs, over the span of 12 years, U.K. resident Allison John still managed to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor after 14 years in medical school. Needless to say, she’s happy to be entering the hospital as a healer rather than an ill patient, according to this report.

Grocery Customer Gives Kidney to Favorite Cashier
Most people just give supermarket cashiers money or a smile with the swipe of their credit card. But longtime customer Dan Coyne provided his favorite cashier at Jewel Osco Supermarket in Evanston, Ill., Myra de la Vega, with the gift of life by donating one of his kidneys. Once very sick and undergoing dialysis, de la Vega, a single mother of two, is now feeling much better after the successful March operation.

“Kangaroo Cuddle” Brought Baby Back to Life
After giving birth prematurely to twins at 27 weeks, Australian mom Kate Ogg didn’t give up when hospital officials declared that one twin was dead after unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate the infant for 20 minutes. Ogg placed the baby boy on her chest anyway, a skin-to-skin position known as the kangaroo cuddle, staying that way for two hours. The baby ultimately gasped and opened his eyes.

Doctors Save Life of Girl, 14, Replacing Her Esophagus With Stomach
When 14-year-old Brianna Ranzino was given just six months to live after being diagnosed with a rare trachea tumor, which was considered inoperable by several hospitals, doctors at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital took a chance. They removed the tumor and patched her damaged esophagus and trachea with tissue from her own stomach. According to this report, replacing esophagus with a patient’s own stomach has never been done before.

Afghan Teen Without Nose Has Surgery in California
Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old Afghani teen who says her nose was cut off as punishment for running away from her violent husband, arrives in Southern California, where a local foundation arranged for her to get reconstructive surgery.

Man Who Tried to Cut Off Own Arm Saved His Own Life
Who can forget the courage and resourcefulness of Jonathan Metz, the 31-year-old from West Hartford, Conn., who used nearby tools to partially amputate his own arm after getting it caught in his basement furnace while trying to fix it? According to this report, Metz’s self-amputation saved his life by blocking the spread of toxins from his decaying limb. His surgeons say he is recovering.

Mom Finds Cure For Daughter After Doctors Fail
You can take control of your family’s health with the power of the Internet, as this story attests. When doctors couldn’t determine what was wrong with California teen Hayley Lairmore, who spent nine months vomiting and doubled over in pain, her mom, Christine, took to the Internet for hours to find answers. Her determination eventually led to Hayley’s diagnosis: POTS, a rare syndrome that affects the autonomic nervous system.

Baby Born From 20-Year-Old Frozen Embryo
The use-by date on frozen fertilized egg just got longer. According to a report about the published case study in the journal Fertility and Sterility, a 42-year-old woman gave birth to a baby in May. It’s the first successful live birth from an embryo frozen 20 years ago. The case study sheds new light on the shelf life of frozen embryos and offers child-bearing hope to young cancer patients who would like to preserve their fertility far into the future even though treatment will make them infertile.

All 33 Chilean Miners Survive Ordeal
After being trapped underground for more than two months, all 33 men were brought to safety. Of course, their trial is not completely over, as they now may undergo a variety of health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, respiratory problems and depression, all potential consequences of their lack of nourishment, sun exposure, dehydration, lengthy exposure to mine dust and loss of muscle mass. But you can’t help feel good about the fact that every one of the miners survived the collapsed mine, including the men with preexisting health conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

First U.S. Embryonic Stem Cell Treatments Begin on Spinal Injury Patient
Despite all the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells, research has begun that may ultimately help spinal injury patients. Geron Corp., a Menlo Park, Calif., biotech company is testing an embryonic stem-cell treatment on a patient with spinal-cord injuries. The drug, known as GRNOPC1 that contains embryonic stem cells, will be injected into the patient’s spine to hopefully reverse paralysis. It’s the first time such a drug will be tested in a human. Embryonic stem cells are considered the most versatile type of stem cells because they can morph into any type of cell. Geron doesn’t use federal funding to conduct its research, so it’s free of restrictions. The company plans to enroll eight to 10 patients in the study nationwide.

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The MDMouse system is the first suite of tools being developed by CalHealth.  These tools are the combination of pre-existing medical devices into conventional computer control mice, creating devices that are easier to use and more efficacious than stand-alone units.

The principal advantages incorporated into the devices will lead to an overall increase in compliance from patients, which in turn, will lead to better data collection.  In addition, the process of borrowing computational power from the computer should also lead to improved results of any test or measurement taken with the device.

The first tool is designed to measure blood pressure outside of the medical environment, and to provide that information for use by the individual, clinical evaluation companies (CROs), healthcare providers and healthcare payers.  It consists of an innovative mouse device which includes a blood pressure monitor and an application software package that resides on a PC where the blood pressure readings are displayed.  The software application for the MDMouse system will display the blood pressure readings to the user and it will also provide a means to maintain records and allow the user to access past readings at any time.  In addition, the software will allow the user to direct his/her records to a third party, such as a physician or insurance company, or in the event of use for clinical studies, the data can go directly to the study sponsor.  Other features of the system include the ability to set alarms reminding the user to take their blood pressure or medications and set appointments with the doctor.

The MDMouse system is easy to use and readily available to the patient.  In today’s world, patients are in front of their computer regularly and will have the mouse in their hands where it is convenient to take a blood pressure reading without leaving their chair.  And, there is significantly greater accuracy in machine-to-machine communication, as used by the MDMouse system, than relying on patients to write down their readings and then consolidate them on a monthly basis.  The blood pressure readings go directly from the MDMouse system sensor to the computer for recording on the hard drive – there is no human interaction required and none allowed.  This information can be easily inserted into an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.  Once EHR systems are fully implemented in the U.S., it will be imperative that the all blood pressure monitors do what the MDMouse system already accomplishes…automatically move the data collected remotely into those EHR systems.

Inside a standard-sized computer mouse is a blood pressure finger cuff that is placed over the index finger to allow blood pressure measurement.  Additional components include a pneumatic pump to inflate and deflate the cuff and a pressure sensor to identify the pulse during cuff deflation, thus allowing for measurement of blood pressure by a standard method (the “oscillometric” method).  These components, and the electrical power source and processing capabilities of the computer to which the MDMouse hardware is attached, comprise a highly accurate “sphygmomanometer”.  The PC, using the installed MDMouse software, along with the MDMouse device, will perform the calculations necessary to turn the digital data obtained by the sensor into useful information for display on the PC.

By: CalHealth