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New Blood Analysis Chip Could Lead to Disease Diagnosis in Minutes

Posted on April 6, 2011, 6 a.m. in Diagnostics

A major milestone in microfluidics could soon lead to stand-alone, self-powered chips that can diagnose diseases within minutes. The device, developed by an international team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, Dublin City University in Ireland and Universidad de Valparaíso Chile, is able to process whole blood samples without the use of external tubing and extra components.  The researchers have dubbed the device SIMBAS, which stands for Self-powered Integrated Microfluidic Blood Analysis System.

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Ivan K. Dimov, Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts, Jose L. Garcia-Cordero, Benjamin M. Ross, Antonio J. Ricco, Luke P. Lee. “Stand-alone self-powered integrated microfluidic blood analysis system (SIMBAS).”  Lab Chip, 2011, 11, 845-850.

  

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ANTI-AGING TIP OF THE DAY

Tip #176 - A Toast to Health
A number of studies suggest that light alcohol consumption may help to promote extended good health:

Researchers from the University of California/Los Angeles (UCLA; California, USA) analyzed data from 4.276 men and women, ages 50+, enrolled in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey’s Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study. After a five-year follow-up period, healthy moderate drinkers were at a 17.7% chance of becoming disabled or dying within 5 years, as compared with 26.7% for those who did not drink at all, and 21.4% for heavy drinkers. In addition, healthy older study subjects who drank moderately also experienced a 3 to 8% reduction in the odds of developing a disability with each additional drink per week (up to 9 drinks for women, 15 for men). A team from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (California, USA) assessed data collected on 12,519 men and women, ages 55-plus, participating in the Health and Retirement Study. The team followed the subjects for 4 years and found that moderate alcohol consumption, defined as one alcoholic drink a day, was associated with a 28% reduction in the risk of death (as compared to the subjects who did not imbibe).

Wageningen University (The Netherlands) researchers studied 1,373 Danish men and found that a half-glass of wine a day increased life expectancy by five years. In the study, the majority of the wine consumed was red wine.

If you choose to drink, have only a limited (or moderate) amount. This means:
• No more than 1 drink a day for women
• No more than 2 drinks a day for men
Where one drink is a:
• Bottle of beer (12 ounces)
• Glass of wine (5 ounces)
• Shot of liquor (1.5 ounces)

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