Medical Breakthroughs, Research, and News

[SubGod22]

When Antibiotics Failed, She Found a Natural Enemy of Superbug Bacteria to Save Husband's Life

I can't share all of the important or cool aspects of this. Worth the read and an interesting prospect to future possibilities.

“I said, ‘Honey, we’re running out of time. I need to know if you want to live. I don’t even know if you can hear me but if you can hear me and you want to live, please squeeze my hand.’ I waited and waited, and all of a sudden, he squeezed really hard.”

From that moment, Strathdee was determined to find a cure—even if it meant turning conventional disease intervention on its head.

After sifting through mountains of medical research, she finally found something that gave her hope: phage treatment. Phages are naturally occurring viruses that literally eat bacteria.

Strathdee reached out to the Tbilisi, Georgia researcher whose work she’d discovered online and learned that although the protocol isn’t mainstream, long-term studies conducted in the U.S. and abroad had already indicated the treatment showed promising efficacy in some cases.

However, with more than 10 million-trillion-trillion unique phages on the planet, identifying a handful that specifically fed on the Acinetobacter baumannii afflicting Tom was a task akin to finding one tiny star in a huge galaxy.

The deadly superbug is nicknamed Iraqibacter because wounded combat troops sometimes contracted it in Iraq—and it ranks No. 1 on the World Health Organization’s list of dangerous pathogens. Undaunted, Strathdee quickly began networking to get Tom the treatment he so desperately needed to survive.

She basically used this knowledge to track down scientists willing to help (Texas A&M and US Navy) who found the phages needed to save her husbands life. She's then gone on to create an organization dedicated to research and implementation of phage based treatments.

This man was lucky to be married to an epidemiologist.

[SubGod22]

There seems to be a common theme to some of these studies surrounding Alzheimer's. Basically, stay active in some way and/or play some brain games to keep things firing.

Large Study Suggests Doing Chores May Be Linked to a 21% Reduced Risk For Alzheimer's Disease

Cooking, cleaning, and gardening may be linked to reducing your risk for developing Alzheimer’s by more than one-fifth (21%), according to new research.

The study that looked at more than a half-million Brits also found the biggest protective activity to be regular brisk walks or bike rides, which were linked to a 35 percent reduction in the onset of the disease.

The other vital factor was meeting up with family and friends, which was associated with a 15 percent reduced risk.

The study looked at the effects of these activities, as well as mental activities and use of electronic devices in people both with and without higher genetic risk for dementia.

“Many studies have identified potential risk factors for dementia, but we wanted to know more about a wide variety of lifestyle habits and their potential role in the prevention of dementia,” said study author Huan Song, MD, PhD, of Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. “Our study found that exercise, household chores, and social visits were linked to a reduced risk of various types of dementia.”

[SubGod22]

The power of music!

Music Helps Reconnect Elderly Patients with their Memories in New Study

What the researchers found was striking: music was essentially creating a channel directly between the auditory center and the medial prefrontal cortex, the brain’s reward center and one of the areas to lose its activity and functional connectivity in aging adults, especially in folks with dementia, Loui said.

Music that was both familiar and well-liked tended to activate the auditory and reward areas more. However, the music that participants selected themselves provided an even stronger connection between these two areas of the brain.

“This might be the central mechanism for what changes happen in the brain when you’re listening to music and when you’re consistently, persistently and mindfully listening to music over the course of an intervention,” Loui said.

Loui hopes this study, which is one of the first to document neurological changes from extended exposure to a music-based intervention, could have a significant impact in a field that has quickly risen in prominence.

[ShockTalk]

The power of music!

Music Helps Reconnect Elderly Patients with their Memories in New Study

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga prepare for Bennett's last big concert - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Singer Tony Bennett is a great example. He's 95, has Alzheimer's yet he can still sing his songs. He nailed his performance with Lady Gaga on his 95th birthday concert.

[SubGod22]

Trendy Type of Norwegian Cheese May Stave Off Bone Thinning, Shows New Study

Participants were all healthy, of healthy weight and had an average age of 33.

Afterwards the group who had been munching on Camembert were told to nibble on Jarlsberg for six weeks.

Both cheeses have similar levels of fat and protein but Jarlsberg is also rich in vitamin K2 while Camembert is not.

One form of vitamin K2 is found in animal products such as liver while others come from bacteria and are found in fermented foods such as cheese.

Blood samples were taken from participants to check for important proteins, osteocalcin and a peptide (PINP)—which helps bones renew themselves and stay young.

Blood samples showed key signs of bones renewing themselves and of vitamin K2 had increased after six weeks among people who ate Jarlsberg.

[SubGod22]

Who had green bananas as a possible cancer preventer?

Starch in Green Bananas May Slash Risk of Some Cancers by Over 60%, Study Finds

A study has identified a starch in unripe bananas that can reduce the risk of some cancers by more than 60 percent—and scientists say it’s the first trial that points to a diet supplement that may be able to prevent hereditary cancer.

The research involving people with high hereditary risk of a wide range of cancers has shown a major preventive effect from resistant starch, found in a range of foods such as oats and slightly green bananas.

The international trial—known as CAPP2—involved almost 1000 patients with Lynch syndrome from around the world. It revealed that a regular dose of resistant starch, also known as fermentable fiber, taken for an average of two years, reduced cancers anywhere except in the bowel by more than half.

This effect was particularly pronounced for upper gastrointestinal cancers including oesophageal, gastric, biliary tract, pancreatic, and duodenum cancers.

The astonishing effect was seen to last for 10 years after stopping taking the supplement, which can also be found in breakfast cereal, cooked and cooled pasta and rice, peas and beans.

[SubGod22]

Diabetes Might Be Cured Using Healthy Stool Samples, Say Researchers at UCSD

“We know E. coli can pick up pathogenic genes and cause disease, and now we are just realizing if we put a beneficial gene in, it can help us to treat chronic diseases, maybe even cure some of them,” said Zarrinpar, author of the August 4 paper in the journal Cell.

He likened BSH to a superhero: “We say to the bacteria: Hey, we will give you a new superpower, which you may not even benefit from, but we will put you right back into the environment that you thrive in.”

After a single treatment in mice, the E. coli were found throughout the entire gut, with activity retained for the entire lifetime of the host. It was able to positively influence diabetes progression in the rodents.

“We know E. coli can pick up pathogenic genes and cause disease, and now we are just realizing if we put a beneficial gene in, it can help us to treat chronic diseases, maybe even cure some of them,” said Zarrinpar, author of the August 4 paper in the journal Cell.

He likened BSH to a superhero: “We say to the bacteria: Hey, we will give you a new superpower, which you may not even benefit from, but we will put you right back into the environment that you thrive in.”

After a single treatment in mice, the E. coli were found throughout the entire gut, with activity retained for the entire lifetime of the host. It was able to positively influence diabetes progression in the rodents.

[SubGod22]

'Transformational' Therapy Seems to Be a Cure For Hemophilia

A transformational therapy is changing the lives of patients with hemophilia B.

Hemophilia is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body’s ability to make blood clots, which naturally slows bleeding.

British doctors are giving patients a dead virus that’s been re-engineered to produce a protein known as factor IX, which is the vital missing component in hemophiliacs.

Without it, they’re liable to bleed continuously from wounds—the most dangerous of which are internal as they can’t bandaged. This means many children and adults alike are “wrapped up in cotton wool” as the Brits say, for their whole lives.

Elliot Mason was recently part of a trial group for the treatment, which he received as a one-off through a slow, one hour IV drip. It took his naturally-made levels of factor IX from around 1%, up to those of a non-hemophiliac.

[SubGod22]

Bioengineered Cornea Can Restore Sight to the Blind and Visually Impaired

Researchers and entrepreneurs have developed an implant made of collagen protein from pig’s skin, which resembles the human cornea and restored vision to 20 people.

Prior to receiving the implant, most of the patients were blind due to diseased corneas. The promising result of the trial brings hope to those suffering from corneal blindness and low vision by providing a bioengineered implant as an alternative to the transplantation of donated human corneas, which are scarce in many countries.

“The results show that it is possible to develop a biomaterial that meets all the criteria for being used as human implants, which can be mass-produced and stored up to two years and thereby reach even more people with vision problems,” says Neil Lagali, professor at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at LiU, one of the researchers behind the study.

An estimated 12.7 million people around the world are blind due to their corneas, which is the outermost transparent layer of the eye, being damaged or diseased. Their only way of regaining vision is to receive a transplanted cornea from a human donor.

But just one in 70 patients receives a cornea transplant. Furthermore, most of those who need cornea transplants live in low and middle-income countries in which access to treatments is very limited.

This really is amazing and has the potential to help millions of people in the future.

[SubGod22]

Snacking on Grapes May Add 4-5 Years to Lifespan of Those Who Regularly Eat Fast Food

New research suggests that snacking on grapes might combat the effects of consuming a junk food diet—flushing out the refined fats and sugars of processed food.

Eating the grapes led to “unique gene expression patterns, reduced fatty liver, and extension of lifespan” for animals consuming the high-fat diet, said Dr. John Pezzuto who led the team at Western New England University.

Pezzuto, who has authored over 600 studies, called it “truly remarkable.”

“It adds an entirely new dimension to the old saying ‘you are what you eat.’”

In a series of experiments, mice gorged on a high fat diet, similar to those consumed in western countries.

They also received over a cup of daily powdered grape supplement. These lab rodents had less fatty liver—and lived longer than those who didn’t.

The effect was an alteration of gene expression. As shown in this paper, fatty liver—which affects around 25% of humans and can eventually lead to liver cancer—is prevented or delayed. The genes responsible for the development of fatty liver were altered in a beneficial way by feeding grapes.

In addition to genes related to fatty liver, the researchers found increased levels of antioxidant genes after the grape-supplemented diets.

[SubGod22]

Interesting new tech. Though I've seen how poorly live subtitles can be on certain videos/TV I've seen so I wonder how accurate it is.

New Glasses Allow Deaf People to 'See' Conversations by Turning Audio into Subtitles

What seem like an ordinary pair of glasses are actually using Amazon Alexa software to turn incoming audio into closed captioning, before the software developed by Scarfe and his company Nreal project those CCs through augmented reality onto the world through the glasses.

It took him just six months to launch the XRAI glasses, and while the software can’t cope with people speaking over each other, Scarfe insists it’s just the beginning.

“We’re going with a small number to begin with to prove it out, to get the feedback, to understand what people like, what they don’t like, [and] rapidly innovate on that,” said Scarfe. “And then we’re hoping if the winds are behind us, then we will reach general availability by September.”

The portability is impressive, as the glasses are just glasses, and a normal cable connects to your smartphone. It’s being hailed as a lifechanging innovation by Britain’s Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) and the organization DeafKidz.

“As a profoundly deaf person myself, I was blown away by this technology,” said Steve Crump, Founder and Chair, DeafKidz International. “When I tried on the glasses, I was astonished—real time subtitles that enable you to engage and participate as never before.”

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Snacking on Grapes May Add 4-5 Years to Lifespan of Those Who Regularly Eat Fast Food

Yet another reason to have a nice Cab or Pinot with my steak...

[WstateU]

Yet another reason to have a nice Cab or Pinot with my steak...

[SubGod22]

Genetic Heart Conditions Could be Cured for First Time with Single Jab - It's a 'Defining Moment'

Armed with a big research grant, a crack team of scientists will seek to develop an injectable gene therapy to cure one of the most horrible diseases imaginable.

Genetic cardiomyopathies make up a group of diseases that are genetically passed on to offspring at a 50/50 chance, and result in faulty genes causing heart failure, often striking down young adults in their prime years—in the UK at a rate of 12 per day among those under the age of 35.

A global team of experts from the UK, US and Singapore at CureHeart have recently been awarded a £30 million grant from the British Heart Foundation to develop a treatment to reprogram the genetics which cause muscular heart disease.

The grant was awarded based on preliminary work in animal studies which have shown a single-shot treatment based on CRISPR technology called “base and prime editing” can cure various genetic ailments of the heart that affect 1 in every 250 people worldwide.

[SubGod22]

Alzheimer's Memory Loss Reversed in Mice After Scientists Discover Method to Form New Brain Cells

Alzheimer’s has been reversed in mice after scientists at the University of Illinois-Chicago boosted the formation of new brain cells, a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments.

Their gene therapy fueled new neurons in the hippocampus—a region in the brain vital for learning and remembering where you put your car keys.

Experiments have shown this growth process is impaired—particularly in the hippocampus—in patients and mice with mutations linked to Alzheimer’s.

The team found that the increasing production of neurons transformed the lab rodent’s defects, as the new neurons were incorporated into memory circuits, restoring normal function.

Brain cells send electric signals. We keep producing them throughout our lives, with help from our neural stem cells. But numbers tail off as we age—and fall dramatically in Alzheimer’s.

“This is the first time that there is evidence that neurogenesis plays an active role in Alzheimer’s disease pathology,” said lead author Professor Orly Lazarov. “Our discovery really opens up a huge opportunity for new therapies to develop in the field that are based on the enhancement of neurogenesis.”