Ways the
Health Science Center
helps you
Warm hands
Three inventors from the Health Science Center have patented a device that increases circulation to the hand, making it easier for blood samples to be drawn. The apparatus already is being used with diabetic patients who have poor circulation to their extremities. It applies heat in a safe manner to allow blood vessels to dilate before blood drawing. The patient puts a hand inside the box and is exposed to warm air (136 degrees Fahrenheit) circulated by a fan. Veins stand out within 30 to 60 seconds. "It sounds hot, but really it's a nice, warm wind. It is pleasant," says Mary K. Crowley, one of the inventors from the department of instrumentation services. Co-inventors are John M. Prokopchak and Frank A. Quijano.
Right care at right time
Respiratory care students in the School of Allied Health Sciences are evaluating patients receiving respiratory care at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Audie Murphy Division, as part of a quality assurance program. The collaborative project helps students gain a better understanding of how and when to deliver respiratory care. David C. Shelledy, PhD, associate professor and chairman of the respiratory care department, said, "Teaching students to evaluate care, to ensure that the right patient gets the right care at the right time, will result in cost-effective, high-quality care to patients."
Baby tooth decay
Fifteen percent of children under 5 years old in South Texas suffer from bottle caries, which is rampant decay of the baby teeth. Poor oral health habits, including sleeping with a bottle of milk or other sugary liquid, cause bottle caries. The Health Science Center's Infant Oral Health Clinic counsels parents regarding the best diet for children, gives instruction in proper tooth cleaning, evaluates and recommends an optimal fluoride program, tests bacteria in the mouths of children and their parents, and develops individualized prevention programs. The clinic may be reached at 210-567-6931.
Color vision genes
Basic research at the Health Science Center is shedding important new light on color perception. Working with colleagues in Boston, molecular biologists at the Health Science Center's Institute of Biotechnology cloned two genes that are responsible for color vision in honeybees and transferred them to fruit flies. The flies, bred to be blind, were light-responsive following the transfer, showing that the genes transferred encode pigments needed to see blue and ultraviolet light. Though a long way from simulating human vision, this is a model system for studying such genes and gaining better understanding of the mechanisms of color vision. Information gained may one day help human sight research.
Pain relief
A nicotine-based compound might prove useful in treating pain, said Christopher M. Flores, PhD, assistant professor of endodontics and pharmacology. He is working on cellular and molecular studies with the goal of better understanding pain and its transmission, and on research of the pain-relieving effects of nicotine with an eye to development of new analgesics.
Diabetes intervention
The Health Science Center's Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) in the department of medicine is working with volunteers to test a variety of approaches for preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes and its devastating side effects. Volunteers are asked to exercise, eat healthy food and visit the DPP office on a regular basis for three to six years to have blood sugar, weight and blood pressure checks. Some study group participants receive medication to lower blood sugar. The program is novel because it looks at preventing Type II diabetes in people who are not yet diagnosed. Most of the persons currently enrolled are Hispanic, one of the ethnic groups at increased risk for the disease.
Heart protection
Health Science Center studies showed that a new drug, when given with estrogen, protects the hearts of older women by raising levels of HDL-C, referred to as "good cholesterol." The drug, Prometrium®, also protects women from overgrowth of the uterine lining, a side effect associated with estrogen use. Many women who are past menopause receive estrogen, a female hormone, to prevent heart disease, osteoporosis and other health problems. The Health Science Center served as one of the core research centers for a study of Prometrium®, which recently was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as an alternative for women on hormone replacement therapy.
Yeast identification
Health Science Center infectious disease specialists identified the presence of a species of yeast which, although noted previously in Australia, Europe and South America, had never been seen in the United States. The yeast, Candida dubliniensis, was found in oral samples from 17 percent of HIV-infected patients participating in a study group. The yeast is associated with oral thrush, a fungus found in the mouth. Patients in the study received care at the Health Science Center and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.
Protecting newborns
Expectant mothers and their babies could benefit from recent studies of group B streptococcus (GBS), a type of bacteria found in the vagina and/or lower intestine of 10 percent to 35 percent of all healthy women. Stephen J. Mattingly, PhD, professor of microbiology, is working on a diagnostic test to identify the highly virulent form of GBS. He believes the test will be available by 1999. About 8,000 U.S. babies contract serious GBS infections each year and 800 die from them. Babies exposed to the bacteria during birth could develop one or more of the following symptoms: problems with temperature regulation, grunting sounds, fever, seizures, breathing problems, unusual changes in behavior, stiffness or extreme limpness.
Understanding cancer migration
Endocrinologists at the Health Science Center seek to better understand why breast and prostate cancers often migrate to bone. "Perhaps breast and prostate cancer possess inherent capabilities which not only direct them to bone but enable them to survive, proliferate and colonize in bone, " said Toshiyuki Yoneda, DDS, PhD, professor of medicine. "One goal of our research is to identify these capabilities at the molecular level." After the lungs and the liver, bone is the third most common site for cancer to metastasize. Once cancer has colonized bone it is extremely difficult to treat with currently available therapies, according to Dr. Yoneda.
Medicine from the garden
A Health Science Center scientist has spent 14 years zeroing in on the healing effects of the aloe vera plant. Wendell D. Winters, PhD, associate professor of microbiology, and his colleagues showed that the rate of growth of human cells in vitro could be increased as much as 50 percent with the addition of crude extracts of aloe. The researchers also helped compare species of aloe to find the ones with the most healing potential. Other findings: aloe stimulates human immune cells in the test tube, and it contains powerful antibodies that cause clumping of red blood cells.
Cardiovascular disease factors
Colleen S. Keller, PhD, professor of family nursing care in the School of Nursing, studies factors that impact cardiovascular disease risk in Mexican American women. One is abdominal fat concentration, which has been shown to be higher in Mexican American women than non-Hispanic white women. Dr. Keller compared external caliper measurements of abdominal fat with CT scans and found that the external measurements were reliable estimates of abdominal fat concentration. She is now studying the effects of exercise intensity on lowering fat and lipid levels (fatlike substances) in the blood.
Fighting fungi
Laboratory studies at the Health Science Center and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System are aiding in the war against fungi, a group of organisms that are showing increasing resistance to existing medications. Fungus expert Michael G. Rinaldi, PhD, professor of pathology, who supervises the two world-renowned labs in San Antonio, works with scientists and caregivers around the globe to help identify and control fungi in the body and develop new drugs to combat them. A crew of 12 people examines between 30,000 and 40,000 specimens each year. The AIDS epidemic and other factors have made this work even more urgent.
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to index--Fall 1998