Fibrinogen/LDL apheresis is a promising rescue therapy for sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Fibrinogen/LDL apheresis has been proven to be effective in treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNH). This study is aimed to investigate if reduction of fibrinogen and serum LDL is also effective in patients with SSNH non-responding toward treatment with corticosteroids and plasmaexpanders.Remission rates of 217 patients suffering from SSHL were investigated after treatment with apheresis. All patients were non-responders after other therapies such as high doses of steroids or plasmaexpanders.Single apheresis resulted in complete or partial remissions in 61% of patients when given after other unsuccessful conducted therapies such as corticosteroids and plasmaexpanders.Fibrinogen/LDL apheresis is a promising rescue therapy for sudden sensorineural hearing loss even after unsuccessful other therapies

Analysis of current research addressing complementary use of life-cycle assessment and risk assessment for engineered nanomaterials: have lessons been learned from previous experience with chemicals?

While it is generally agreed that successful strategies to address the health and environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (NM) should consider the well-established frameworks for conducting life cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment (RA), scientific research and specific guidance on how to practically apply these methods are still very much under development. This paper evaluates how research efforts have applied LCA and RA together for NM, particularly reflecting on previous experiences with applying these methods to chemicals. Through a literature review and a separate analysis of research focused on applying LCA and RA together for NM, it appears that current research efforts have taken into account some key “lessons learned” from previous experience with chemicals while many key challenges remain for practically applying these methods to NM. We identified two main approaches for using these methods together for NM: “LC-based RA” (traditional RA applied in a life cycle perspective) and “RA-complemented LCA” (conventional LCA supplemented by RA in specific life cycle steps). Hence, the latter is the only identified approach which genuinely combines LC- and RA-based methods for NM-risk research efforts to date as the former is rather a continuation of normal RA according to standard assessment procedures (e.g. REACH). Both these approaches along with recommendations for using LCA and RA together for NM are similar to those made previously for chemicals, and thus, there does not appear to be much progress made specific for NM. We have identified one issue in particular that may be specific for NM when applying LCA and RA at this time: the need to establish proper dose metrics within both methods.JRC.I.4-Nanobioscience