Health scan: Israeli trauma collar 100% effective

'We now know that the LuboCollar is not only safe but also works.'

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
An Israeli-designed collar designed to help save lives after trauma has been proven 100% effective in a preliminary efficacy study. "We now know that the LuboCollar is not only safe but also works. It enables medical personnel to quickly and safely evacuate semi-conscious and unconscious patients who can't breathe on their own. It simultaneously secures the spine and, equally if not more importantly, prevents suffocation," according to Hadassah University Medical Center orthopedist Dr. Omri Lubovsky, who studied it. His study was registered with the US National Institutes of Health and operated under the guidelines of both the NIH and the Health Ministry in Jerusalem. The results were announced recently by Hadasit, the Hadassah Medical Organization's technology transfer company, and Ramot, its counterpart at Tel Aviv University Trauma is the number-one killer of people between five and 40. All injured patients are at risk for cervical spine instability and air blockage. Though existing collars ensure cervical spine stabilization, they do not protect the airway, which is opened by invasive means - a tracheostomy - if needed. LuboCollar is designed to protect the neck and maintain an open airway in a non-invasive, simple manner. It does so by using a jaw-thrust-like knob to maneuver the mandibles, pushing them forward in the direction of the chin. Ten generally healthy people between the ages of 18 and 60, who were scheduled for fracture surgeries at Hadassah were enrolled in the efficacy study. Results showed that LuboCollar was 100% successful in securing the airways of the seven patients who lost muscle tone after receiving general anesthesia. To generate more safety data, LuboCollar was also employed during the surgeries of the three patients who were able to breathe independently after anesthesia. In all cases, no adverse side effects were reported. "We are now waiting for Health Ministry approval to extend enrollment numbers and further study the efficacy of the product," said Dr. Yuval Meroz, a Hadassah anesthesiologist and part of the clinical team of the LuboCollar study. The LuboCollar was exhibited at the ILSI-Biomed Israel Conference in Tel Aviv. SELF-TREATMENT FOR DENTAL DECAY If you're disheartened when the dentist repeatedly discovers cavities, this may be good news for you. An Australian science and business cooperative has produced a brown "mousse" that one day you may apply in your own home to repair cavities. The Cooperative Research Center for Oral Heath Science (CRC-OHS) at the University of Melbourne has just been awarded a prize for excellence in innovation for its Tooth Mousse Plus. Australian and Japanese researchers in the CRC-OHS set out to find a method of using fluoride in a more effective way to prevent tooth decay. The new product is claimed to penetrate 10 times deeper than current fluoride treatments, and combines fluoride with a substance designed to penetrate tooth enamel. Known as peptide-calcium phosphate nanocomplex, it repairs tooth damage by replacing the minerals lost through the decay process. Researchers at Australian university developed the fluoride and nanocomplex formulation before development moved to the Tokyo labs of GC Corporation. Prof. Eric Reynolds, CEO of the Cooperative Research Center for Oral Health Science at the University of Melbourne, describes Tooth Mousse Plus as a "breakthrough in oral health care." ASTHMA CAN KILL After the death of a young Israeli during a vacation in Turkey last month, a senior allergy specialist at Emek Medical Center in Afula warned that without suitable treatment, people can die from asthma. Dr. Menahem Retem, who is also chairman of the Israel Society of Allergology, said the risk of dying increases the longer one suffers from the disorder. The chronic respiratory condition involves the occasional constriction and inflammation of the airways; they become full of mucus, often in response to an environmental stimulant such as an allergen, tobacco smoke, cold or warm air, perfume, pet dander, moist air, exercise, exertion, colds or stress. The most commonly used medication is spray bronchodilators.