🔄FROM THE ARCHIVE: Wounds in your mouth — like from biting your cheek — heal faster than scrapes elsewhere. Now scientists think they know why.
Biting your tongue or cheek when chewing can ruin a tasty meal. But thankfully, mouth wounds heal up fast — faster than cuts on skin — and now scientists know why. According to new research published today in Science Translational Medicine, mouths are primed for healing. The find could help researchers transfer the mouth’s curative superpowers to make skin lesions heal faster too.
“There is an urgent need to develop effective approaches to accelerate the healing of skin wounds,” Maria Morasso, a skin biologist with the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, who led the new research, said in a statement.Rather than trying to identify what goes wrong when skin wounds don’t heal well as scientists have in the past, Morasso looked for a place where wounds close up easily and quickly: the mouth.
To find out why mouth wounds heal faster than those to skin, Morasso and a team of researchers convinced 30 healthy individuals to let them take an eighth of an inch hole punch from the insides of their cheeks and the undersides of their arms. As expected, the mouth wounds closed up in a few days, but the skin wounds lingered for more than two weeks.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lead Householder juror explains why trial 'left sour taste' in his mouthThe lead juror in the largest corruption trial in Ohio history has been left disillusioned with state government, hoping political leaders will finally learn not to undercut their citizens.
Read more »
Oil project near Amazon River mouth blocked by Brazil's environment agencyBrazil’s environmental regulator has refused to grant a license for a controversial offshore oil drilling project near the mouth of the Amazon River, prompting celebration from environmentalists who had warned of its potential impact. The agency’s president highlighted environmental concerns in announcing Wednesday's decision to reject the state-run oil company Petrobras’ request to drill the FZA-M-59 block. The unique and biodiverse area is home to little-studied swaths of mangroves and a coral reef. Activists and experts had said that the project risked leaks that imperiled the sensitive environment.
Read more »
Modern analysis of 2011 death finds Pa. teacher's 20 stab wounds were likely from ‘assailant’Ellen Greenberg, 27, also had bruises experts say could be signs of being strangled and beaten.
Read more »
Why The Joker Was Present in Justice League’s EpilogueFans have wondered what brought Batman and Joker together in the Justice League epilogue, and Zack Snyder has now answered.
Read more »
Top Space Force General Confused About Why Space Force ExistsNobody is entirely sure why the Space Force, the youngest branch of the military, exists. Even the service's top general isn't sure.
Read more »