10 breakthroughs of world medicine 2008

No scars, genetic mapping for each person, preparation of "5 in 1" vaccine, early detection of Down syndrome only by maternal blood test . Achievements difficult to achieve in medicine have become reality in 2008.

Time magazine voted for the following 10 achievements in disease treatment as an outstanding achievement in 2008.

1. The first neurons were created from ALS patients

President-elect Obama has pledged to extend the ban on federal funding for fetal stem cell research by 7 years.

However, for some scientists, this is hardly a problem. Researchers at Harvard and Columbia University announced an experiment conducted in June 2008, which is meaningful as a milestone. They used a new method to create the first motor neurons from the stem cells of two older women with muscular atrophy (ALS) that absolutely did not need a fetus. half.

This technique was discovered by a Kyoto University scientist Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, including the programming of normal skin cells for patients to develop as a stem cell.

With the use of motor neurons created by ALS patients, scientists are now able to study the progression of the disease through the development, degeneration and death of affected cells on the disk. laboratory. Once you understand the development of ALS, scientists can think of treatments that are more effective, or cure the disease.

2. Inflammation against Cholesterol

Half of all heart attacks in the United States occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. Got a hand? Until November 2008 it was, until Dr. Paul Ridker at Boston Hospital confirmed that there was a particular and probably equally serious risk factor for heart disease, which is inflammation, one The culprit behind arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

Thanks to the suggestion of a few previous studies, Ridker 's work, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that people with normal cholesterol levels and CRP - an indicator protein For high blood infections - but taking statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) to lower CRP levels, the risk of heart attack is reduced by 54%.

Compare that, those who only take statins to lower cholesterol, the risk is only 20%. Doctors believe that cholesterol and fat membranes are a major indicator of myocardial infarction, but inflammation is also an important cause, acting as a trigger. It increases the instability of membranes, making them more fragile, sealing the blood vessels in the heart and causing heart attacks.

3. The scars are not scarred

Doctors are experimenting with more and more 'natural holes' surgeries, a new method in which surgeons have access to organs through natural holes such as the mouth, vagina, colon . instead of incision. skin. A group of doctors at the University of California performed the first appendix removal in the US in March 2008, using a camera-equipped device to guide the removal of a woman's vagina from the vagina.

This technique also helps bypass gastric bypass surgery in patients whose stomach tissue is dilated after surgery. Doctors give the device through the mouth and remove the stretched folds of the stomach into smaller sizes. Although there are absolutely no incisions, the incision is very small, reducing pain, infection and recovery faster than conventional surgery.

4. Genome map for each person

James Watson, co-inventor of the structure of DNA, did this. Then it was Craig Venter, one of the people who mapped the gene. Now, yourself, you can map your genes and discover some of its secrets for $ 399.

Scientists argue, is that information really worth this time, because normally you don't have enough scientific knowledge to explain what this gene means, but at least there are The company helps you assess your genetic data (this service has existed before, but is still very expensive to date).

You only need to provide a saliva sample, from which, you extract your DNA, analyze the presence of 90 known gene parameters, code for your personality traits, or from your lactose level. allowed to use (so you know if you can get comfortable milk) to prostate cancer.

Now you do not have a way to see if you will get cancer from the genetic map, but when the science advances, hopefully watching the genetic prediction allows people to seek treatment before the disease comes out.

5. New genes for Alzheimer's patients

Currently there is no cure, no vaccine, no method to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease, except the autopsy for examination. But it can be hoped that the discovery of four new genes will contribute to the most common forms of disease.

Genes emerged from the study of 1,300 families and although the gene's true role is not known in Alzheimer's disease, researchers think they are a cause of nerve cells to die. As the disease progresses, the fat membranes and tangles of fibrous proteins make the brain trap nerve cells and sometimes overwhelm them to death. Newly identified genes may clarify how the neurons need to be maintained because it is an important goal of future therapy.

What is even more remarkable is that one of the genes that produce proteins is used by neurons for information and another gene has the function of destroying Alzheimer's disease. Dozens of genes are linked to Alzheimer's disease, but each newly discovered gene represents a new goal and new hope for future drug therapy.

6. "5 in 1" vaccine

Any parent knows how children are afraid of injections. So welcome the Pentacel vaccine, because it is the first vaccine that immunizes against five diseases at the same time: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and hemophilia B (haemophilus influenzae type B).

The vaccine has been tested on 5,000 children, showing very few side effects such as fever, allergy or redness, swelling at the injection site. Pentacel has used the process of dosing, the time of repetition for each age group.

7. Genetic screening for breast cancer treatment

Genetic screening quickly becomes a very effective tool, not only to diagnose breast cancer but also to treat it. The best-known breast cancer drug currently available is Herceptin, which is unique to everyone, not all.

To determine whether the drug is compatible, it is necessary to do a SPOT-line test to see if the tumor produces more HER2 protein. The more this gene, the more responsive the tumor will respond to treatment with Herceptin.

Breast cancer patients can also rely on another gene test method, OncotypeDx, to identify both the risk of recurrence of breast cancer and which chemotherapy drugs work best in treating tumors. special

8. Mother's blood test, early detection of Down pregnancy

One of the best ways to identify Down syndrome before birth is to pry the abdomen (amniocentesis) - use a needle to get amniotic fluid around the embryo. But needles can affect the nerves, especially when the child is developing in the uterus; The risk level is likely to miscarry 1 in 200 cases.

Currently, genetic testing methods can identify the disease by a mother's blood sample. Because only a very small amount of DNA enters the mother's blood, the test principle is to detect abnormally high levels of chromosome 21 (related to Down syndrome) in the mother's blood, so that the child will know disease or not.

Tests are in development but can be expected to become a new way to identify certain genetic diseases.

9. Antiemetic patch for cancer patients

Pieces of motion sickness tape can help passengers to feel sick when sitting on a vehicle. From this idea, people thought of using anti-emetic drugs for cancer patients after undergoing chemotherapy.

In September 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a patch to release a continuous dose of Granisetron, block serotonin receptors and reduce nausea.

The drug is prepared for patients in the form of liquid, tablets or injections, but in fact, the patch is easier to use and more convenient. Each use, Sancuso patch effectively suppresses vomiting for about 5 days.

10. Tracheal graft has lined stem cells

In Claudia Lorena Castillo Sanchez's first transplant of Spanish physicians, 30-year-old, a new windpipe, is made up of the windpipe of a donor who has 'lined' a layer of Sanchez's stem cells. .

For the first time, a patient's adult stem cells, taken from the bone marrow, are used to develop a tissue or an organ for transplantation. Because the windpipe of the donor has been removed from the cells causing the elimination, while Sanchez has tuberculosis, a trachea of ​​her trachea has lost its function. This transplant has prevented patients from using drugs that suppress immunity that patients often need.

Doctors hope this implant is still in the experimental phase and it will take many years to be widely used. But Sanchez is happy that he doesn't have to wait long. The women of these two children went back to work and after 6 months of transplant surgery, started to dance again.