Daily Rounds: Faster Nerve Repair; Ultrasound As Weapon; Hospital Power Couples; Wii And 'Real' Exercise

New methods could speed up repair of injured nerves - NPR - "When a nerve is injured, it's often hard to get it to regrow fast enough to restore function. But now researchers say they can speed up that process, so that damaged nerves can be healed in days instead of months — at least in rats. The scientists say they've developed a technique that reconnects the severed ends of a nerve, allowing it to begin carrying messages again very quickly." (NPR)

Ultrasound — A pawn in the abortion wars - The New York Times - "'Informed consent.' It sounds so reasonable. That’s the stated goal of legislation being considered in Virginia that would require a woman seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound, giving her an opportunity to examine the developing fetus and hear its heartbeat. But in Virginia, abortion rights advocates succeeded in reframing the proposal in the public mind as, instead, an outrageous threat to women’s dignity." (The New York Times)

Boston's power couples: Hospital version - The Boston Globe - "Some of those top health-care professionals are married to other high-powered folks on the medical scene. Here are some of Boston's medical power couples and their thoughts on their relationships and careers." (The Boston Globe)

Active video games don't mean kids exercise more - Reuters - "All that virtual boxing, bowling and dancing along with video game systems might not be helping kids meet their daily exercise requirements, a new study suggests. In the report, kids who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn't end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch. Researchers said that it's still possible playing active Wii games instead of other video games or simply watching TV could mean youngsters burn a few extra calories." (Reuters)