Best medical breakthroughs in 2013

2013 has witnessed many important and important advances in the field of medicine. The most significant is finding a way to help a child infected with HIV immediately after birth to get rid of the pathogen, make a drug to extract bacteria from human feces to cure dangerous intestinal diseases or make bald hair grow back, .

1. The prospect of ending the AIDS epidemic

Doctors at the University of Mississippi Hospital (USA) were extremely happy to find a way to help a mother of a mother infected with HIV get rid of the risk of a century after birth. According to the treatment group, the child showed signs of HIV infection right after birth, but two years later completely removed the pathogen from the body by using a combination of three antiviral drugs, which are usually prescribed for older children or adults.

Usually, doctors will give HIV-positive mothers and her children an antiviral dose during childbirth to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus. However, since the mother of the above child did not know she was HIV positive, the precautionary measure was not taken. Therefore, US doctors only rely on the effectiveness of the combination of stronger drugs. After all, their experiment was successful, opening up the prospect that, if doctors can intervene early enough after a patient is infected with HIV, the chances of preventing the disease will increase.

2. Great change in treating high cholesterol

The Heart Association and the American Heart University have published new guidelines for treating high cholesterol, which focus on risk factors. According to them, without a history of cardiovascular problems, the new calculation tool includes factors such as age, gender, sexual activity, history of smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure. And the amount of cholesterol in the blood, can help your doctor know if you can benefit from taking statins - cholesterol-lowering drugs.

3. The first home pregnancy test kit reveals the fetal age

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued certification for the first improved pregnancy test, not only capable of detecting pregnancy, but also measuring the age of the fetus, based on the time it takes to tell. from ovulation. This pregnancy test uses the same amount of hormones that reveal "stickiness", human chorionic glands to produce calculated results.

4. Breakthrough controversy about human cloning

It took 17 years and a scandal related to scams and scientific profiteers, but stem cell experts eventually found a way to clone human cells. Professor Shoukhrat Mitalipov from the University of Oregon (USA) has applied the cloning technology to Dolly sheep in 1996 for human skin cells.

However, Mitalipov's goal is not to create younger copies. Instead, he successfully implanted a fully developed skin cell into an empty human egg cell and then used chemicals and electrophoresis to stimulate the egg to begin dividing to produce embryonic stem cells. These stem cells act as a cellular platform for every organ and tissue in the body, creating a potential that could one day be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, diabetes to heart disease. .

5. Only one dose of HPV vaccine is sufficient to prevent disease

HPV vaccine is one of the best ways to prevent genital warts and cervical cancer. HPV vaccines are recommended for men and women before they start having sex, but a 2012 US study found that only 1/3 of girls and less than 7% of boys in adolescence 3 doses of vaccine are recommended as recommended. However, the latest study by an international team of scientists found that only one dose of vaccine helped the body produce 24 times more antibodies after the true HPV infection, in a group of women. Costa Rica. Although it is unclear whether such antibody levels are sufficient to prevent the disease and reduce the risk of cancer, initial results imply, even a single dose of HPV vaccine may be sufficient to provide. partial protection against HPV.

6. Prospects of hair regrowth

Researchers at Columbia University (USA) said that transplanting hair follicles containing new hair roots as well as cells surrounding them, upside down, may be the key to helping new hair grow. In the experiment, the scientists transplanted the removed foreskin of boys into mice. The foreskin is used because it does not have hair follicles in itself, so any follicles that are reversed, implanted and buried cannot intervene with the original tissue. As a result, new hair follicles have "rooted" and emerged, opening up the prospect of improving baldness or losing hair loss quite commonly in humans.

7. Submitting village medicine from . fertilizer

Scientists found that the human intestines are full of beneficial microorganisms, which not only help us digest food but also repel other pathogenic microorganisms. The balanced existence of these bacteria can also kill Clostridium difficile - the culprit causing diarrhea and potentially fatal bowel inflammation. The packaging of this beneficial micro-organism (derived from human feces) into a tablet is an initiative of Dr. Thomas Louie of the University of Calgary (USA). Of the 27 patients who tested the new pills, none had recurrent symptoms of Clostridium infection. They also welcomed this new treatment, because it is simpler than a manure transplant method.

8. Turn poor quality eggs into healthy eggs

Poor quality eggs are one of the reasons many women struggle to be pregnant. However, researchers at Stanford University (USA) have developed a technique to help women with ovarian defects can produce mature, healthy eggs.

The process called "in vitro activation" involves removing an ovary or part of the ovary tissue, then nourishing it in the laboratory with proteins and other agents to turn unborn follicles. The wall grows into perfect eggs. The cultured tissue in this test tube is then re-implanted near the fallopian tubes. So far, of the 27 women who volunteered to test the new technique, five had produced fertilized eggs, a pregnant woman and another had born a healthy child. strong.

9. Discover new genes related to Alzheimer's disease

More than 10 new genes have been linked to Alzheimer's disease, bringing the total number of recorded genes associated with the disease to 24. According to the researchers, newly identified "recruits" are involved. on the body's immune and stimulating reactions - processes associated with changes in the brain stemming from Alzheimer's disease. When more "culprits" of genes appear, researchers will have more goals to find treatment drugs, help control symptoms of decline and memory loss.

10. Detecting Parkinson's disease sooner

Scientists now believe that the two most common neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer's and Parkinson's can be better treated if patients can be identified at an early stage of disease and immediate therapeutic intervention. For example, at the time of the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease - tremor in the fingers or lips, loss of smell or facial expressions are not flexible.

However, in the first report on biomarkers specific to Parkinson's disease, the researchers declared a protein group in the cerebrospinal fluid that could help identify patients in the early stages of the disease. Experts hope, the discovery will pave the way for new studies to test whether the inactivated drugs in severe patients are more effective in controlling symptoms in new patients in the early part of the disease or not.