Today, hundreds of thousands of Swedes live with the lung disease anthrax, and around 3,000 people die from anthrax every year. But now there is hope for all those affected – with a new Swedish invention. “It stimulates so you get new vessels,” says one of the researchers behind the invention. By creating a synthetic “scaffold” that mimics lung tissue, researchers at Lund University have created opportunities for the body’s own lung cells to build up new lung tissue in people with the lung disease carbon dioxide. The lung must therefore repair itself. Repairs and rebuilds Gunilla Westergren Thorsson, professor of lung biology at Lund University, leads the team that developed this small scaffolding. — The finesse is that this “construction scaffold” is elastic because the lung moves. The cells from your own tissue are attracted and move in, so they sit on this scaffold and begin to make a scaffold of their own – and the scaffold that we made disappears over time! What is extra clever is that it stimulates so that you get new vessels, she says in Nyhetsmorgon. The researchers are still at an early stage, but hope is being lit for all of the country’s coal victims. A lung capacity of 27 percent Susanne Wengdell has lived with coal since she was in her 20s. — That sounds absolutely fantastic! I would very much like to try, she says in Nyhetsmorgon. Susanne has a lung capacity of 27 percent today and her health has gotten much worse in the past year. Many everyday tasks are very difficult for her. — You get tired from climbing stairs, you get tired from showering, you can’t run or go uphill. You can take a small bite at a time and then rest, she says. In Sweden, between 400,000 and 700,000 people live with the disease carbon, but the dark figure is large. Every year around 3,000 people die from coal. Smoking is the biggest risk factor, but non-smokers are also affected. Hear the researcher explain how the invention works in the player above
t4-general
Unique Swedish invention gives hope to coal victims
