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"  Blood-clotting nanoparticles injected just after an explosion injures a soldier could dramatically reduce blood loss and increase survival rates on the battlefield. That&amp;#039;s according to new findings that could also one day help victims of car crashes and other emergencies. Explosions account for 79 percent of combat-related injuries and are the leading cause of battlefield deaths. Shock waves and flying shrapnel can lead the lungs, brain, and other organs to hemorrhage and bleed uncontrollably. And beyond the battlefield, uncontrolled bleeding from collisions, blows, and falls is the leading cause of death for civilians age 5 to 44 years old in the United States. Bioengineer Erin Lavik at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and her colleagues were investigating the role bleeding played after injuries to the nervous system when &amp;quot;we were shocked to learn that there were no treatments to stop internal bleeding,&amp;quot; she says. This began a nearly decade-long quest for a better solution. For years, scientists have tried to speed up the natural process of blood clotting, in which blood cells called platelets link up to plug holes in blood vessels. Previous attempts have involved injecting platelets from blood donors or triggering clotting with an artificially generated protein known as recombinant factor VIIa. But platelets taken from blood donors have a short shelf life and can trigger dangerous immune responses, while recombinant factor VIIa must be refrigerated, cost roughly $10,000 per dose, and can trigger unwanted clots can lead to strokes and heart attacks. What Lavik&amp;#039;s team invented are new &amp;quot;hemostatic nanoparticles&amp;quot;\u2014essentially, artificial platelets. They consist of solid balls of biodegradable organic compounds covered with molecules that react with activated platelets to help blood clots form faster. In experiments with mice exposed to blast waves, injections of the nanoparticles improved survival rates to 95 percent, compared to 60 percent for untreated mice. No complications were seen up to three weeks after injections. The researchers suggest the nanoparticles did not lead to any dangerous clots because they do not activate platelets; rather, they serve as &amp;quot;bridges between the activated platelets,&amp;quot; Lavik says. Nanoparticles should also be easier to use in the field, the team argues. When dried, they remained viable after two weeks on a shelf at room temperature. In practice, medics in the field or an ambulance crew would add the nanoparticles to saline solution, shake, and inject them into patients. However, while the ingredients are already FDA-approved for other uses, Lavik says, it could take a few years to get through clinical trials of the new procedure. Lavik and her colleagues detailed their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a10806/blood-clotting-nanoparticles-could-save-lives-on-the-battlefield-and-beyond-16940790/>