Have you heard about the Jaipur Foot? It is the World’s largest organization for the disabled. Jaipur foot is rubber based prosthetic leg for people who have undergone below knee amputations. The main goal of the organization is to help the disabled regain mobility and dignity by fitting artificial limbs free of charge. If you want to know more about it here is the link http://www.jaipurfoot.org/
A little smile, a little kind deed may make the other person to flourish and you may never know it. You know what? Sometimes Swarnam goes nuts and talks like this. Yesterday I read about this research on zinc stent. What is a stent you may wonder? It is a small mesh like tube which is used to treat narrow or weak arteries. An angioplasty is performed to place the stent in the artery. It restores blood flow through narrow or blocked arteries.
Six months after the stent is placed. The arteries get healed and the stent remains there for life. The long time span may cause some side effects such as inflammation and clotting at the implant site. It may also break and poke into the arterial wall? Sounds scary! Is it not?
Researchers are working on the bioabsorbable stents which have the ability to be absorbed or dissolved in the body. Their gaze fell upon zinc. When zinc wires were placed inside rat arteries, after some initial hiccups the corrosion rate was accelerated. This means the implant will not remain in the artery for long periods of time. To add to their success the healing of the tissues was remarkable.
The researchers feel that traditionally made zinc would not be strong to be used on human arteries, because the pressure of blood flow would be great. So, they are looking for zinc alloys. Zinc fights the plaque developed in the arteries and so it is quite healthy. The experiment done so far has been hugely successful and further research is going on. I wish there is more good news from the researchers about zinc stents in the near future.
Take care,
Swarnam
Photo by gubgib
Photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net
Take care,
Swarnam
Swarnam