Medical Breakthroughs, Research, and News

[SubGod22]

Scientists think they've overcome a major hurdle in reversing deafness

Hearing loss due to aging, noise, and certain cancer therapy drugs and antibiotics has up until now been seen as irreversible when there is the death of such cells—which develop in the embryo and do not reproduce.

But scientists have discovered a single master gene, TBX2, that can change ear cells into either outer or inner sensory hair ones.

The outer hair cells expand and contract in response to the pressure of sound waves and amplify sound for the inner hair cells. The inner cells transmit those vibrations to the neurons to create the sounds we hear.

Discoveries such as this could be life changing for millions of people. We seem to be on the cusp of so many life changing discoveries in the medical fields.

[Maizerunner08]

That’s amazing. Would be a game changer on so many levels.

[SubGod22]

I may just turn this into a cool/interesting medical research/breakthrough sort of thread.

The Mechanism Behind Memory Loss in Aging Was Identified By Scientists at John Hopkins

Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a mechanism in the brain behind age-related memory loss.

The system lies in the hippocampus, the memory control center of the brain, and its discovery sheds fresh light on the causes of dementia and could combat Alzheimer’s and other age-related neurological disorders.

“With many memory disorders, something is going wrong with this area,” says the senior author, professor James Knierim of the university in Baltimore.

Dementia/Alzheimer's is one of the worst things that can happen to someone and being able to limit the effects, if not downright prevent them would be huge and save a lot of people a lot of suffering. My sister-in-law's mother had dementia and I heard how that impacted her and her sisters as they dealt with it towards the end of her life.

I had an aunt that also went through it and it was heartbreaking. Nobody had warned me and when I saw her at a funeral a few years back and she recognized but couldn't recall who I was it was hard. This was a woman who I'd spent a lot of time with growing up as she was the oldest sister on my mom's side. I'd even spend a week or two many summers staying with her and my uncle at their home outside of Blackwell and we'd have Christmas get togethers at their home each year until her husband passed. It's a tough thing to witness and it has to be even harder for those who are around them more often.

One of my biggest fears is to see my own mother go through this. I pray that doesn't happen but you never know. Hopefully we get some major breakthrough's surround this area in the near future to save a lot of people a lot of heartache and allow them to truly enjoy the last few years with their loved ones as themselves.

[SubGod22]

Drug Combination Lowers Risk of Asthma Attacks By 24% 'This Represents a Paradigm Shift'

About 25 million adults and children in the U.S. have asthma. Now a clinical study shows patients worldwide who used a new combination of two drugs dramatically lowered their chances of suffering an acute attack.

Results from the trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine, show that a combination of albuterol—which provides relief from an asthma attack by relaxing the smooth muscles and is used for immediate asthma relief—and a corticosteroid taken together via an inhaler, lower the number of sudden episodes of shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing in patients, which can often land them in an emergency room or, in some cases, cause death.

“This represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of asthma. We see this combination treatment, which is the first of its kind, as becoming part of standard therapy,” said author Reynold Panettieri Jr., a professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

I've never dealt with asthma but have known those that have. It's a pain in the ass, if not worse.

[SubGod22]

Relief For Kids With Peanut Allergy: Immunotherapy Puts 74% Into Remission in Breakthrough Study

Australian researchers have discovered the key immunological changes that support the remission of peanut allergy in children, paving the way for new, more targeted treatments.

The research showed for the first-time specific gene networks are rewired to drive the transition from peanut allergy to clinical remission following a combination treatment of a probiotic and peanut oral immunotherapy.

Led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the Telethon Kids Institute, the study found that this network reprogramming essentially shuts down the allergic immune response that was responsible for causing a food allergy.

I knew there had been some studies done over the gradual introduction of the allergy inducing item, but this goes well beyond that and to greater success. With peanut allergies having become much more common, this could be the way to counteract that and improve the lives of millions.

[Kel Varnsen]

I don't know if we can cure the deaf, but man, every time I see one of those videos where a kid suddenly hears for the first time, it's just waterworks. Awesome stuff.

[SubGod22]

I don't know if we can cure the deaf, but man, every time I see one of those videos where a kid suddenly hears for the first time, it's just waterworks. Awesome stuff.

Those are, and not just limited to kids. I've seen some videos where a spouse hears their significant other for the first time and that tugs at the old heart as well.

[SubGod22]

**** cancer!

Protein Destroys 'Hard to Treat' Cancers, Could Become 'One Size Fits All' Pill

A protein that destroys hard-to-treat cancers has been discovered by scientists, offering hope of effective new treatments.

Experiments on mice and human tissue found it is effective against the most aggressive tumors.

They include those of the breast, pancreas, ovaries, and brain. The compound, known as ERX-41, leaves healthy tissue unscathed.

It is one of the most promising breakthroughs to date—offering hope of a ‘one size fits all’ pill that was once thought impossible.

Results were so encouraging that clinical trials are expected to begin in the next few months.

This could be a game changer.

[pogo]

I would like to see a study that has the cure for Stupid. Now that would be a game changer

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

I would like to see a study that has the cure for Stupid. Now that would be a game changer

Kamala could be the first one in the medical trials...

[SubGod22]

3D-Printed Ear is Made and Transplanted From Patient's Living Cells

It's amazing where we are with tech and where we will be in the near future.

“As a physician who has treated thousands of children with microtia from across the country and around the world, I am inspired by what this technology may mean for microtia patients and their families,” said Dr. Arturo Bonilla, a leading pediatric ear reconstructive surgeon who led the team.

“This study will allow us to investigate the safety and aesthetic properties of this new procedure for ear reconstruction using the patient’s own cartilage cells.”

Not only will it allow people the freedom from the self-consciousness of having a deformed ear, but 3DBio Therapeutics’ ear is 100% living, and so in most cases it restores ordinary hearing back to the patient.
.....
They’re not necessarily looking towards hyper-complex organs like a liver, but simpler, collagen-rich tissues such as a spinal disc, a rotator cuff, or a meniscus, which could restore mobility in disabled people.

Feinberg notes this hypothesizing is now securely in the realm of “when” not “if” it becomes possible.

[SubGod22]

Rectal Cancer Trials Deliver 'Unheard Of' Results: Remission in Every Patient

Sascha Roth remembers the phone call came on a hectic Friday evening.

She was racing around her home in Washington, D.C., to pack for New York, where she was scheduled to undergo weeks of radiation therapy for rectal cancer.

But the phone call from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) medical oncologist Andrea Cercek changed everything, leaving Sascha “stunned and ecstatic—I was so happy.”

Dr. Cercek told Sascha, then 38, that her latest tests showed no evidence of cancer, after Sascha had undergone six months of treatment as the first patient in a clinical trial involving immunotherapy at MSK.

It's an insanely small study at this point, but the results have been quite impressive so far.

As MSK’s rectal cancer trial continues, Dr. Diaz says he hopes “it’s the tip of the iceberg.” He explains that “we are investigating if this same method may help other cancers where the treatments are often life-altering and tumors can be MMRd. We are currently enrolling patients with gastric (stomach), prostate, and pancreatic cancers.”

Dr. Diaz has coined a term for this new method of using immunotherapy alone to target MMRd tumors, calling it “immunoablative” therapy—that means using “immunotherapy to replace surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation to remove cancer.” Dr. Diaz says, “That might sound futuristic—but in this trial, we have a clinical example where that happened.”

[MoValley John]

Rectal Cancer Trials Deliver 'Unheard Of' Results: Remission in Every Patient



It's an insanely small study at this point, but the results have been quite impressive so far.

My sister had an aggressive form of lukemia 10 years ago. She went through three different chemo rounds with no success. Her last ditch was a trial in Pittsburgh, but the Pittsburgh trial required the patient to have failed another trial first. My sister's oncologist sighned her up for an immunotherapy trial, telling my sister that it was a quick, three week trial, that she would fail, but give her time to go get to Pittsburgh. Two weeks into her immunotherapy trial, she was in remission. She received a bone marrow transplant and has been cancer free since. The trial she underwent is now a front line leukemia treatment.

[SubGod22]

My sister had an aggressive form of lukemia 10 years ago. She went through three different chemo rounds with no success. Her last ditch was a trial in Pittsburgh, but the Pittsburgh trial required the patient to have failed another trial first. My sister's oncologist sighned her up for an immunotherapy trial, telling my sister that it was a quick, three week trial, that she would fail, but give her time to go get to Pittsburgh. Two weeks into her immunotherapy trial, she was in remission. She received a bone marrow transplant and has been cancer free since. The trial she underwent is now a front line leukemia treatment.

That's beautiful. I'm sure the process sucked and must have been difficult when you're told you must sign up for and fail another trial, when you've already been through so much. Scary times I'm sure, but the end results and the impact for so many others now is beautiful.

[MoValley John]

That's beautiful. I'm sure the process sucked and must have been difficult when you're told you must sign up for and fail another trial, when you've already been through so much. Scary times I'm sure, but the end results and the impact for so many others now is beautiful.

We went from preparing for her to die, to a miracle within weeks. The stuff they are doing today is amazing.