Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
PMDs and Advancing Medicine
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1006 PMDs and Advancing Medicine
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
An ad I saw years ago has stuck with me. It said, “Donate organs, don’t bury them!”
I remember that one, Dave. The fact remains that donated organs save lives and yet, the waiting list continues to be long.
Our bodies are useful in other ways after we die. Medical students and researchers need human bodies for dissection and basic research.
Scientists have now created a new way for our deceased selves to be helpful. It’s called PMD which stands for “physiology maintained deceased” when there is no brain function and the bodies are kept alive artificially through ventilation and assisted circulation for a limited time. This is beyond a coma or persistent vegetative state where there is still some brain activity.
PMD bodies can respond to therapies, fight infection, and heal wounds which make them a great resource for advancing medicine.
Even though we can do work in the lab with cell cultures and animals, they don’t translate well to humans. As my first research mentor would say -- we have cured cancer in mice many times but they just don’t work in humans.
We can use PMDs to test animal organ transplantation, keep human organs alive until they can be transplanted, test new drugs and therapies, and lower the cost of clinical trials.
We’d need strict bioethical and medical guidelines as well as rigorous public debate to move forward with PMDs. One day, people may choose to advance medicine by gifting their bodies to this area of research.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast.
