Latest advances in medical research thread

[ScienceRocks]

New drugs may make a dent in lung, ovarian cancer

New drugs are making a dent against some hard-to-treat cancers, but some results raise fresh questions about whether the benefit is worth the cost.

For the first time in a decade, an experimental drug has extended the lives of patients with advanced lung cancer who relapsed after standard chemotherapy. But the drug used in the study gave patients just six extra weeks of life on average, and costs $6,000 per infusion as currently sold to treat a different form of cancer.

Eli Lilly and Co.'s drug, Cryamza, was discussed Saturday at a cancer conference in Chicago, where other studies showed:

The drug Imbruvica, sold by Pharmacyclics Inc. and Janssen Biotech, substantially improved survival and could set a new standard of care for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, the most common leukemia in adults. Doctors say the pill more precisely targets cancer and is a good option for older people who can't tolerate standard chemotherapy infusions.

New drugs may make a dent in lung, ovarian cancer

 

[I.P.Freely]

Human studies are done all the time. So, if I had a bad disease after a few animal studies, I'd take the chance with a new "cure" to get better. Do you have any understanding of history at all? If you did, you'd understand that modern science over the past 200 years has added at least 30 years to our life. Not only, that the viruses, diseases and ailments that affect us aren't like they were in the 19th century when we had diseases that could wipe out entire families. This was within the modern world...And within the modern world, death was typically as painful as any in the shittest of third world countries.

So when I see a moron tell me that modern science is bad...Well, Why don't you just go into the jungle or something and live without it?

I must admit I do like the scientific advances in recognising foetal abnormalities. These advances obviously make abortion a simpler and quicker choice.The other great step science has made is the ability to stop puberty in a child with gender problems. Oh cloning is pretty cool as well so you are right fuck the mice.

 

[ScienceRocks]

I care about ending human suffering from disease like Cancer, etc. Get back to me when you're or someone you care about is laying in that bed suffering.

 

[I.P.Freely]

I care about ending human suffering from disease like Cancer, etc. Get back to me when you're or someone you care about is laying in that bed suffering.

I hope this helps
State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.org

 

[ScienceRocks]

Fuck the anti-science left and right!

'Quadrapeutics' works in preclinical study of hard-to-treat tumors: Animal tests show technology effective against aggressive cancer

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140601150816.htm
The first preclinical study of a new Rice University-developed anti-cancer technology found that a novel combination of existing clinical treatments can instantaneously detect and kill only cancer cells -- often by blowing them apart -- without harming surrounding normal organs. The research, which is available online this week Nature Medicine, reports that Rice's "quadrapeutics" technology was 17 times more efficient than conventional chemoradiation therapy against aggressive, drug-resistant head and neck tumors.

The work was conducted by researchers from Rice, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Northeastern University.

 

[strollingbones]

unfortunately not much of the stem cells things are being used in humans yet..the key word being yet...

 

[JimBowie1958]

unfortunately not much of the stem cells things are being used in humans yet..the key word being yet...

Soon they will, just be aware its coming and be at the front of the line if you need the treatment.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Miniature artificial lung could revolutionize cancer research
Miniature artificial lung could revolutionize cancer research

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology in Germany have created a miniature artificial lung that has the potential to significantly improve the process of developing treatments for lung cancer. In addition to the possibility of replacing animal trials currently used to test new medications, the "3D-lung" could be used to expand our understanding of how lung cancer spreads to the rest of the body.

With a volume of just half a cubic centimeter, the mini-lung has is made up of human lung cancer cells growing on tissue and is attached to a bioreactor that makes it "breathe" by pumping a nutrient medium through its blood vessels. The model is therefore able to react to medication the same as real human patients.

“We’ve developed an innovative 3D test system that allows us to superbly simulate what happens in the human body," says Professor Dr. Heike Walles of the Regenerative Technologies for Oncology project group responsible for the model. "Animal models may be the best we have at the moment, but all the same, 75 percent of the drugs deemed beneficial when tested on animals fail when used to treat humans.”

 

[ScienceRocks]

'Quadrapeutics' works in preclinical study of hard-to-treat tumors: Animal tests show technology effective against aggressive cancer

'Quadrapeutics' works in preclinical study of hard-to-treat tumors: Animal tests show technology effective against aggressive cancer -- ScienceDaily

The first preclinical study of a new Rice University-developed anti-cancer technology found that a novel combination of existing clinical treatments can instantaneously detect and kill only cancer cells -- often by blowing them apart -- without harming surrounding normal organs. The research, which is available online this week Nature Medicine, reports that Rice's "quadrapeutics" technology was 17 times more efficient than conventional chemoradiation therapy against aggressive, drug-resistant head and neck tumors.

The work was conducted by researchers from Rice, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Northeastern University.

"We address aggressive cancers that cannot be efficiently and safely treated today," said Rice scientist Dmitri Lapotko, the study's lead investigator. "Surgeons often cannot fully remove tumors that are intertwined with important organs. Chemotherapy and radiation are commonly used to treat the residual portions of these tumors, but some tumors become resistant to chemoradiation. Quadrapeutics steps up when standard treatments fail. At the same time, quadrapeutics complements current approaches instead of replacing them."

Lapotko said quadrapeutics differs from other developmental cancer treatments in that it radically amplifies the intracellular effect of drugs and radiation only in cancer cells. The quadrapeutic effects are achieved by mechanical events -- tiny, remotely triggered nano-explosions called "plasmonic nanobubbles." Plasmonic nanobubbles are non-stationary vapors that expand and burst inside cancer cells in nanoseconds in response to a short, low-energy laser pulse. Plasmonic nanobubbles act as a "mechanical drug" against cancer cells that cannot be surgically removed and are otherwise resistant to radiation and chemotherapy.

In prior studies, Lapotko showed he could use plasmonic nanobubbles alone to literally blow cells apart. In quadrapeutics, his team is using them to detect and kill cancer cells in three ways. In cancer cells that survive the initial explosions, the bursting nanobubbles greatly magnify the local doses of both chemotherapy drugs and radiation. All three effects -- mechanical cell destruction, intracellular drug ejection and radiation amplification -- occur only in cancer cells and do not harm vital healthy cells nearby.

To administer quadrapeutics, the team uses four clinically approved components: chemotherapy drugs, radiation, near-infrared laser pulses of low energy and colloidal gold.

"Quadrapeutics shifts the therapeutic paradigm for cancer from materials -- drugs or nanoparticles -- to mechanical events that are triggered on demand only inside cancer cells," Lapotko said. "Another strategic innovation is in complementing current macrotherapies with microtreatment. We literally bring surgery, chemotherapies and radiation therapies inside cancer cells."

 

[ScienceRocks]

New Coating May Finally Help Make Artificial Joints Last a Lifetime

Artificial replacement joints are well known for their tendency to fail and to require replacement after a number of years. Artificial spinal discs particularly suffer from the fact that replacing them is unusually difficult, so developing a material that can withstand decades of use has been a major research goal. Some years ago diamond-like carbon (DLC) was a promising coating for joint implants, but it failed spectacularly as it eventually chipped off from the implants and caused all sorts of problems.

New Coating May Finally Help Make Artificial Joints Last a Lifetime

 

[ScienceRocks]

Medtronic MiniMed Duo Integrates Glucose Sensor, Insulin Infusion Into One Device
Medtronic MiniMed Duo Integrates Glucose Sensor, Insulin Infusion Into One Device

Medtronic is launching in Europe the world’s first combined continuous glucose sensor and insulin infusion pump, the MiniMed Duo. This device will allow diabetics who have to be vigilant in controlling their glucose levels to use only one access point on their body for both monitoring and delivery of insulin.

Mini Duo with Transmitter Medtronic MiniMed Duo Integrates Glucose Sensor, Insulin Infusion Into One DeviceThe sensor has to be changed every three days and is inserted using a button that pops out the needle discreetly so that it’s never seen by the user. The MiniMed Duo notably also features automatic insulin shut off if the glucose levels drop low enough to leave a patient in hypoglycemia.

Rural clinics turn to telemedicine to bridge distance between emergency patients and hospitals
http://www.usnews.com/news/science/...ral-clinics-increasingly-turn-to-telemedicine

WAGNER, S.D. (AP) — Doctors across rural America are increasingly seeking help in emergencies from video services that let them connect with hospitals in bigger cities.

Telemedicine systems allow small-town physicians to reach out to more experienced specialists when an urgent case lands in their clinics. The video link allows the two doctors to work together as if they were in the same room.

Although telemedicine has been around for at least two decades, the practice is fast becoming a standard feature in many communities, even as other public services such as police and fire protection decline.

South Dakota-based Avera Health has a telemedicine network that includes 86 hospitals in seven states in the West and Midwest. It expects to have contracts with 100 facilities by the end of the year.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Gene editing tool can write HIV out of the picture

20:00 09 June 2014 by Peter Aldhous

Take a hot new method that's opened up a new era of genetic engineering, apply it to the wonder stem cells that in 2012 won their discoverer a Nobel prize, and you might just have a tool to cure HIV infection.

That's the hope of researchers led by Yuet Kan of the University of California, San Francisco – and they have proved the basic principle, altering the genome of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to give them a rare natural mutation that allows some people to resist HIV.

Kan's work relies on "genome editing" – snipping out a particular DNA sequence and replacing it with another. It's much more precise than traditional forms of genetic engineering, in which sequences are added to the genome at random locations.

To alter the stem cells, Kan's team turned to the CRISPR-Cas9 system, a super-efficient method of genome editing based on an ancient bacterial "immune system". In bacteria, the system takes fragments of DNA from invading viruses and splices them into the cell's own DNA, where they act like "wanted" posters, allowing the viruses to be recognised and attacked in future.

Gene editing tool can write HIV out of the picture - health - 09 June 2014 - New Scientist

 

[ScienceRocks]

Developing terahertz detectors with carbon nanotubes: Improvements in MRIs on the horizon

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, along with collaborators from Rice University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, are developing new terahertz detectors based on carbon nanotubes that could lead to significant improvements in medical imaging, airport passenger screening, food inspection and other applications.

A paper in Nano Letters journal, "Carbon Nanotube Terahertz Detector," debuted in the May 29 edition of the publication's "Just Accepted Manuscripts" section. The paper describes a technique that uses carbon nanotubes to detect light in the terahertz frequency range without cooling.

Historically, the terahertz frequency range—which falls between the more conventional ranges used for electronics on one end and optics on another—has presented great promise along with vexing challenges for researchers, said Sandia's François Léonard, one of the authors.

Read more at: Developing terahertz detectors with carbon nanotubes: Improvements in MRIs on the horizon

 

[ScienceRocks]

PulseOn watch PulseOns New Heart Rate Monitoring Wristwatch

PulseOn, a spinoff of Nokia, has developed a heart rate monitoring wristwatch for athletes and fitness enthusiasts to improve how they train and exercise. An optical sensor on the back of the watch detects the pulse through the wrist and built-in algorithms make sure the readings are accurate in different situations. Wireless connectivity via Bluetooth lets the watch send its data to a companion iOS/Android smartphone app that helps interpret the readings, set goals, and keep track of calories burned.

The device is currently available for pre-ordering through Indiegogo with initial deliveries scheduled for September. Those not willing to skip the summer without a convenient heart rate monitor can take a look at our recent review of the Basis Carbon Steel Edition Band, a similar watch that also features heart rate monitoring.

PulseOn's New Heart Rate Monitoring Wristwatch

 

[callenfl42]

I personally think participating in medical research is the most important thing that anyone can do to help advance medicine and treatment of various diseases . I am participating in six week study now and will be paid $2,500 plus expenses when completed.

I found this website USA Medical research.weebly.com and learned about different trial going on and signed up. I feel like I am helping advance the development of much needed new and better medicines

has any body here taken part in a clinical trial?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Researchers Create Miniature Human Retina In A Dish
Researchers create miniature human retina in a dish | KurzweilAI

Johns Hopkins researchers have created a miniature human retina in a dish that can sense light.

The work, reported online June 10 in the journal Nature Communications, “advances opportunities for vision-saving research and may ultimately lead to technologies that restore vision in people with retinal diseases,” says study leader M. Valeria Canto-Soler, Ph.D., an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The achievement emerged from experiments with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). While the system doesn’t yet produce images, it could eventually enable genetically engineered retinal cell transplants that halt or even reverse a patient’s march toward blindness, the researchers say.

The iPS cells are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to their most primitive state. Under the right circumstances, they can develop into most or all of the 200 cell types in the human body. In this case, the Johns Hopkins team turned them into retinal progenitor cells destined to form light-sensitive retinal tissue that lines the back of the eye.

Canto-Soler says that the newly developed system gives them the ability to generate hundreds of mini-retinas at a time directly from a person affected by a particular retinal disease such as retinitis pigmentosa. This provides a unique biological system to study the cause of retinal diseases directly in human tissue, instead of relying on animal models.

Personalized retinal treatment to restore vision

You can also help science by voting against the tea party and for congress members that wish to fund science!

 

[ScienceRocks]

A ‘Vaccine’ for Heart Disease Could Mean No Pills, Lettuce or a Gym

It’s the latest in gene therapy, and it’s lowered cholesterol and heart attacks in mice. People are next
Doctors, and especially doctors who do research, don’t like to use the words cure or eradicate. They know how dangerous that can be, since the human body is so unpredictable. But Dr. Kiran Musunuru is showing some uncharacteristic swagger about his latest success in lowering heart attack risk among some lucky mice.

Taking advantage of advances in genetic engineering, a team lead by Musunuru, who holds positions at Harvard University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, have edited the genomes of mice and successfully protected them from heart disease. The results, published in the journal Circulation Research, hint at an entirely new way of avoiding the leading killer of Americans by possibly cutting heart attack risk by up to 90%. “What has me excited as a cardiologist is that my goal is eradicating disease,” says Musunuru. “There is no bolder way I can put it. I want to eradicate the disease and this offers one potential way to do it.”

A Vaccine Against Heart Disease - TIME

 

[ScienceRocks]

Scientists find trigger to decode the genome
3 hours ago

Scientists from The University of Manchester have identified an important trigger that dictates how cells change their identity and gain specialised functions.
And the research, published today in Cell Reports, has brought them a step closer to being able to decode the genome.

The scientists have found out how embryonic stem cell fate is controlled which will lead to future research into how cells can be artificially manipulated.

Lead author Andrew Sharrocks, Professor in Molecular Biology at The University of Manchester, said: "Understanding how to manipulate cells is crucial in the field of regenerative medicine which aims to repair or replace damaged or diseased human cells or tissues to restore normal function."

Read more at: Scientists find trigger to decode the genome

 

[ScienceRocks]

Rescue of Alzheimer's memory deficit achieved by reducing 'excessive inhibition'

A new drug target to fight Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by a research team led by Gong Chen, a Professor of Biology and the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences at Penn State University. The discovery also has potential for development as a novel diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia and one for which no cure has yet been found. A scientific paper describing the discovery will be published in Nature Communications on 13 June 2014.

Chen's research was motivated by the recent failure in clinical trials of once-promising Alzheimer's drugs being developed by large pharmaceutical companies. "Billions of dollars were invested in years of research leading up to the clinical trials of those Alzheimer's drugs, but they failed the test after they unexpectedly worsened the patients' symptoms," Chen said. The research behind those drugs had targeted the long-recognized feature of Alzheimer's brains: the sticky buildup of the amyloid protein known as plaques, which can cause neurons in the brain to die. "The research of our lab and others now has focused on finding new drug targets and on developing new approaches for diagnosing and treating Alzheimer's disease," Chen explained.

"We recently discovered an abnormally high concentration of one inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brains of deceased Alzheimer's patients," Chen said. He and his research team found the neurotransmitter, called GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), in deformed cells called "reactive astrocytes" in a structure in the core of the brain called the dentate gyrus. This structure is the gateway to hippocampus, an area of the brain that is critical for learning and memory.

Rescue of Alzheimer's memory deficit achieved by reducing 'excessive inhibition'

 

[ScienceRocks]

A pill fights all cancers and gives lifelong protection

British scientists have discovered a drug which fights all cancers by boosting the body's defences and prevents the disease returning by increasing natural immunity.

'Delta-inhibitors' were already known to help leukaemia patients, but researchers were amazed to find they also work on a whole range of other cancers. The drugs, which are taken orally as a pill, were so successful in leukaemia trials that the control group, who were taking placebos, were immediately switched to the medication on ethical grounds.

Now, scientists at UCL and the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, have discovered that the same 'delta inhibitors' are also effective against lung, pancreatic, skin and breast cancers, and probably many more.
Cancer suppresses the immune system by producing an anzyme called 'p100delta' which tells it to power down, making it difficult for the body to fight the disease. The drugs 'inhibit' that enzyme, allowing the immune system to attack tumor cells.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...ts-disease-and-gives-lifelong-protection.html