A group of doctors from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital yesterday announced advances in stemcell research.
Urologist Lu Shing-hua (盧星華) reported his findings that muscle-derived stem cells injected into acellular biomaterial can bring about contractile activity useful in treating urinary incontinence, bladder disorders and erectile impotence.
Muscles can become loose and unable to properly regulate bodily functions. Lu said that incontinence is often a result of damaged or degenerative muscles of the urinary system. Muscle stem cells can bring about contractile activity that can counteract the damage.
"In my research, the muscle stem cells made formerly rigid acellular biomaterial resilient," Lu said.
In the past, doctors have prescribed oral medication, injections and surgery as solutions. However, Lu explained that results have not been optimal, often unable to cure symptoms completely.
Lu's research offers a new option for patients. "Without contractile activity, muscles are no good. Muscle-derived stem cells can be used to repair damaged muscles, organs and nerves," Lu said.
"In addition to injecting these stem cells in acellular biomaterial, researchers have experimented on mice. Eighty to 90 percent of the mice were effectively cured of urinary incontinence," Lu reported.
"Changes were seen in the urinary activity of the mice about four weeks after stem cells were injected," Lu said
While Lu's research focused on the uses of muscle-derived stem cells in urology, Lu said these research advances could eventually be used in other fields, including cardiology.
However, some obstacles still remain before doctors can actually begin using muscle-derived stem cells as a treatment.
"Our ultimate goal isn't to treat urinary incontinence in mice," Lu joked. He said that the next step would be to experiment on the human body but explained that the application process could be difficult.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS