Health

Can probiotics improve outcomes for knee replacement surgery?

Published

1 year ago

June 21, 2023

Researchers at Western and Lawson Health Research Institute are examining whether the use of a daily probiotic can improve outcomes in patients who undergo total knee replacement surgery.

There are more than 70,000 knee replacement surgeries in Canada each year, and up to 10 per cent of patients experience complications following the procedure.

“One in five patients is dissatisfied after surgery due to pain and discomfort, and some patients need a repeat surgery because there is complication, infection or loosening of the joint,” said Matthew Teeter, associate professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and scientist at Lawson Health Research Institute at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

Teeter and the research team are focused on improving patient outcomes. Recognizing that knee replacement patients who are considered healthy tend to have better outcomes, they are interested in how they can better support patients’ overall health as one way to optimize their results.

“The knee replacement patients I see in clinic are very diverse – from young, healthy, active patients to medically complex to socioeconomically disadvantaged,” said Dr. Brent Lanting, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry professor, Lawson scientist and orthopaedic surgeon at LHSC. “We know those with poor health do not do as well as those with good health, good diet and good supports. This study is profound in that it investigates a core aspect of our health – the gut microbiome.”

[embedded content]

The research team will recruit 30 participants who are scheduled for knee replacement surgery. Half of the participants will receive a daily probiotic for six weeks ahead of the surgery, and the other half will act as a control group.

“Our microbiome is a large part of why we are healthy. A healthy person has a microbiome that produces vitamins and other things which cross over to our system and helps to promote healing,” said Jeremy Burton, Lawson scientist and research chair in human microbiome and probiotics at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. Burton is also a professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. “We are hoping it will improve more deep healing and prevention of the rejection of the joint by improving the microbiota.”

The team will assess outcomes using CT imaging, looking at the bone and implant and how it is fixed into place. They will also use PET/MRI to look at the cellular activity around the joint and inflammation.

“This should give us a sharp focus of what is going on with the joint and help us determine if there was a positive effect by using probiotics,” said Teeter.

If the pilot study proves to be promising, the team will then work towards a larger clinical trial, combining probiotics into pre-surgical care.

“Ultimately, we want better patient outcomes with a simple treatment,” added Burton. “If we can help improve outcomes with the use of a daily probiotic, that is a great win.”

The research team received a New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) of $250,000 over three years to conduct this study.

Source link

Health

The US is mailing Americans COVID tests again. Here’s how to get them

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes.

The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.

The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 booster and their yearly flu shot.

“Before you visit with your family and friends this holiday season, take a quick test and help keep them safe from COVID-19,” U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in a statement.

U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat the recent virus strains and, they hope, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.

Using the swab, people can detect current virus strains ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season and the holidays. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year. Insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of the tests.

Before using any existing at-home COVID-19 tests, you should check the expiration date. Many of the tests have been given an extended expiration from the date listed on the box. You can check on the Food and Drug Administration’s website to see if that’s the case for any of your remaining tests at home.

Since COVID-19 first began its spread in 2020, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into developing and purchasing COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines. The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the government still has on hand.

Source link

Health

Free COVID tests are back. Here’s how to order a test to your home

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order free COVID-19 tests sent straight to their homes.

Source link

Health

Disability rights groups launching Charter challenge against MAID law

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – A coalition of disability rights groups says it is launching a Charter challenge against a part of Canada’s law on medical assistance in dying.

The group, which also includes two individual plaintiffs, argues that what’s known as track two of the MAID law has resulted in premature deaths.

Under the law, patients whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable but whose condition leads to intolerable suffering can apply for a track-two assisted death.

The coalition says track two of the MAID law has had a direct effect on the lives of people with disabilities and argues medically assisted death should only be available to those whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable.

The executive vice-president of Inclusion Canada – which is part of the coalition – says there has been an alarming trend where people with disabilities are seeking assisted death due to social deprivation, poverty and a lack of essential supports.

Krista Carr says those individuals should instead be supported in order to live better lives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Source link