Taking the shock out of septic shock.Taking the shock out of septic shock Septic Shock Definition Septic shock is a potentially lethal drop in blood pressure due to the presence of bacteria in the blood. Description Septic shock is a possible consequence of bacteremia, or bacteria in the bloodstream. Bacteria in the bloodstream can be deadly, overwhelming the body's defenses and causing death from shock-induced organ failure. Scientists studying this difficult-to-treat condition -- called septic shock, of which toxic shock syndrome toxic shock syndrome (TSS). acute, sometimes fatal, disease characterized by high fever, nausea, diarrhea, lethargy, blotchy rash, and sudden drop in blood pressure. It is caused by Staphylococcus aureus, an exotoxin-producing bacteria (see toxin). is an example -- have most recently focused on factors released by a patient's own cells in response to bacterial toxins. One such factor is cachectin, or tumor necrosis factor tumor necrosis factor n. Abbr. TNF A protein that is produced in the presence of an endotoxin, especially by monocytes and macrophages, is able to attack and destroy tumor cells, and exacerbates chronic inflammatory diseases. (SN: 1/17/87, p. 42). Researchers at New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Chiron Research Laboratories in Emeryville, Calif., and Rockefeller University in New York City report in the Dec. 17 NATURE that baboons survived if injected with antibody against cachectin two hours prior to injections of bacteria. But other baboons -- either treated with the antibody only one hour before bacteria were injected, or not at all -- died from organ failure. The results indicate that cachectin is a major factor in fatal shock during blood infection, and suggest a possible therapy, say the scientists. |
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