Oxycyte compound

We're in a world of test-tube babies, artificial hearts, and even cloned animals. But when it comes to blood, we've been stuck in the dark ages. A way to disinfect blood or even replace it would transform the lives of millions of people, and it's just around the corner."There is no magic pill or treatment for traumatic brain injury in terms of salvaging brain tissue. If you can get oxygen to that tissue, you can salvage a lot of tissue," Bruce Spiess, M.D., a cardiac anesthesiologist at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, tells Ivanhoe.Dr. Spiess' man-made blood substitute called Oxycyte does just that. It's made from perfluorocarbons (PFCs), a compound similar to non-stick Teflon in frying pans.He says when you take a carbon atom and add fluoride to it, it can carry a huge amount of oxygen. In a brain injury, swelling makes it tough for red blood cells to carry vital oxygen. Oxycyte's particles are much smaller."They are about 1/50th to 1/100 the size of a red blood cell," Dr. Spiess says. Given intravenously, Oxycyte carries oxygen 50-times more effectively than blood. "Within about a half hour to 40 minutes after the patients received the Oxycyte, their brain oxygen levels doubled to quadrupled."Oxycyte could also help patients recover from spinal cord injuries, heart attacks and strokes. If it gets FDA approval, it will be the first drug ever approved in the United States for traumatic brain injuries.

Source: ivanhoe.comAdded: 26 February 2007