Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Football Legend Bart Starr Undergoing Stem Cell Treatment for Stroke
Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr is taking part in a clinical trial that’s testing stem cells as a possible treatment for stroke, his family announced Wednesday.
The 81-year-old former Green Bay Packer suffered two strokes and a mild heart attack last September, the Associated Press reported.
“Following Bart’s strokes, our family began to investigate numerous therapy options,” the family said in a statement released by the Packers. “Several months ago we applied for and were accepted into a clinical trial using stem cells.
“Friday we safely returned home from the first of the two treatments,” they added, the AP reported.
Further information about Starr’s participation in the clinical trial will be released “at an appropriate time in the future,” the family stated. They said they want to give Starr the opportunity to fully participate in the study and “let the results, if any, speak for themselves.”
Starr played for the Packers from 1956 to 1971, and coached the team from 1975 to 1983.
Hockey legend Gordie Howe, 87, underwent an experimental stem cell treatment in Mexico after a stroke left him unable to walk and barely able to speak, the AP reported. His family said he has had a “life-changing” turnaround and underwent another round of treatment last week.
Starr’s family made contact with Howe’s family earlier this year. It’s not clear where Starr was receiving his treatment.
“We are working hard toward the one goal he most cherishes: a return to Green Bay for a Packers game,” Starr’s family said, the AP reported.
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Experimental Drug Improved Growth in Children With Dwarfism, Maker Says
An experimental drug boosted growth in children with dwarfism, according to drug developer BioMarin Pharmaceutical.
The 10 children who received the highest dose of the drug grew an average of 6.1 centimeters (2.4 inches) a year, compared with four centimeters a year before they began taking the drug, according to the preliminary study, The New York Times reported.
BioMarin said the children’s growth rate while taking the drug — called BMN 111 or vosoritide — was similar to that of children without dwarfism.
The drug is meant to treat children with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. It would not be expected to work in adults because they have stopped growing, The Times reported.
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Study Will Examine Long-Term Effects of Ebola in Survivors
A study of Ebola survivors is being launched in Liberia to assess the long-term effects of the virus and whether they contribute to outbreaks, the U.S. government says.
The researchers will seek to learn whether Ebola remains in the eyes of survivors, if the virus can be spread through semen, and why it causes joint pain, NBC News reported.
“To unravel the many unknowns, we have expanded the focus of our partnership with Liberia’s Ministry of Health to include research on the long-term health effects of Ebola virus disease, in addition to our ongoing efforts to find an effective preventive and treatments for Ebola virus disease,” Dr. Tony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said.
NIAID and Liberia health ministry researchers will follow 1,500 Ebola survivors and 6,000 people in close contact with them for as long as five years. The investigators will look at semen, sweat, tears and other bodily fluids in the survivors, NBC News reported.
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