Protein Gel Quickly Stops Bleeding

Stefan vd Linden writes, "An international team of scientists has discovered a substance to heal bleeding wounds within seconds. They're using a solution of protein molecules that self-organizes into a biodegradable gel. Until now they've only tested it on animals, but the tests were highly successful. From the article: 'Some surgeons are already excited about the material. "I see great potential in the eye field, the gastro-intestinal field, and in neurosurgery," says Dimitri Azar, head of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, US. "In the eye, even a drop of blood will blur your vision for a long time," Azar adds. "A material that would stop the bleeding could lead to a paradigm shift in how we practice surgery in the eye."'"

Comments

Re:I already have a protein gel that stops bleedin

[ackthpt]

It's called platelets. It was invented long ago. Thank goodness, or I would have died the first time my nose bled...

Platelets are fine for small wounds, but they don't do much for larger than a small cut. For external cuts I usually stick it together with a little superglue. I don't expect this will be over the counter though..

in case of massive fragging mix contents with one cup of tea and drink really fast!

Re:I already have a protein gel that stops bleedin

[russ1337]

This reminds me of when I was watching the cannon run on the Edinburgh tattoo a few years ago. One of the soldiers got hit on his head (#1 haircut), and cut quite badly. A medic ran out with a thing that looked like a staple gun, sprayed it with 'numbing spray', stapled the wound closed with about three staples, then wiped some kind of gel/wax on it. The guy looked a little sore, but he wasn't bleeding and his wound was closed enough that he could carry on. - all in about 10 seconds.

Re:as a hemophiliac

[Rooked_One]

yah, i try to use styptic pencils but they just mostly sting more than do anything helpful. Yet another downer. The really sad thing is that the pharmco's are making so much cash off the few of us (i think the ratio is 1:10,000) but do you ever see any charity jars in your local stop and shop for hemophiliacs?

I'm not going for a sob story, i've long ago made peace with my situation and the lovely hep C that was given to me by Bayer when they were so kind as to make 'the newest, latest and greatest' product back in '88 or so that eliminated long stays in the hospital while bags of plasma were injected. Instead, you just mixed up a batch of freeze dried factor IIX that came from *dubious* sources.

Sorry to get off topic there... I havn't made peace with Bayer for that.

Re:I already have a protein gel that stops bleedin

[pilgrim23]

Sometime in pre-history, it was noticed that many things like; dried marigold petals and spider web staunches blood. It was common practice to bleed patients at one time, and when the leech was removed, spider web was used as a poltice. I have personally used spider web on cuts, and it stops the flow in seconds. I should have applied for a research grant dang it!

Re:I already have a protein gel that stops bleedin

[TractorBarry]

Not only that but spider webs are covered with antiseptic agents too.

There's a small summary and a nice picture at http://www.microscopyu.com/galleries/smz1500/spide rsmall.html