Simple treatment tweak drastically reduces blood loss from severe cuts
Key takeaways
- A procedure that could be done in half an hour, and prepared ahead of time, could seriously reduce blood loss from severe wounds, such as during surgery
- Blood loss kills around 2 million people worldwide each year, with the risk rising with every minute that bleeding continues.
- World's thinnest spaghetti won't please gourmands but may heal wounds
Why this matters: new research or scientific developments with potential real-world impact.
A procedure that could be done in half an hour, and prepared ahead of time, could seriously reduce blood loss from severe wounds, such as during surgery
Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email Red blood cells can be manipulated to play a bigger role in wound healing. A simple modification to the cells that carry oxygen around our body seems to stop severe bleeds almost immediately. When applied to serious wounds in the livers of rats, the animals formed clots in just 5 seconds and lost very little blood, raising hopes that the approach could one day help people undergoing planned or emergency surgery.
Blood loss kills around 2 million people worldwide each year, with the risk rising with every minute that bleeding continues. In mild cases, blood clots normally form quickly, but more severe incidences can require costly transfusions that are hard to deliver quickly, or the use of bandages that sometimes trigger immune reactions or interfere with healing.