The most important medical achievements in 2018

We will review the most important scientific discoveries in the field of medicine in the development of diagnostic methods and techniques and the latest methods of treatment in order to lead a healthy life.

– anti-cancer vaccination

> Vaccination against cancer. This year, scientists from Stanford University in the United States have announced cancer vaccination experiments in a patient with lymphoma as part of clinical trials in humans, after successful experiments on mouse.

Vaccination eliminated the cancer without any side effects and almost 97% of mice infected with various cancers were cured.

Vaccination is done by injecting immunostimulatory substances into the cancer itself. The scientists explained that their main goal was to inject very small amounts of immunosuppressants into the cancer cells, their effect extending to all of the body's cells in the mouse and ultimately, all the cells cancerous were eliminated in the animal. And hope that the same effect will occur in the human being in the near future. The word vaccination is supposed to be the way to take and feed the immune system, not to prevent infection because it is closer to the treatment of vaccination.

> Short-term cancer treatment. There is no doubt that cancer is the first concern of all the world's health departments in the hope of finding a cure for patients.

This year, an American scientist and a Japanese scientist won the Nobel Prize for their research on why the body can not resist cancer cells and defeat them. They also discovered that some kind of protein inhibited the immune system and prevented it from attacking cancer.

In case of inhibition of these proteins, the immune system regains its strength and can defeat the cancer cells by putting an end to the blockage of immune immunity. Clinical trials of patients with advanced type of skin cancer have shown improvement in patients. There are other tests on the types of lung cancers. The importance of this discovery is that in the short term, it will pave the way for the eradication of the disease by eliminating the proteins that cause it.

Blood test for cancer. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Cancer Research Center in the United States announced this year that they were testing a blood sample to predict a healthy person with no symptoms of cancer.

The test includes 8 of the most common cancers such as cancers of the lung, liver, colon, pancreas, breast, stomach, ovaries and esophagus.

Once tested, the results obtained concerned up to 40% of patients with early-stage cancer stage 1 cancer.

"This is not a bad result," he said. "On the other hand, it is a major achievement that, of course, requires additional efforts until this test is released and can then become a routine procedure for the prevention of cancer." the disease at its beginnings ".

– Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

> Know the cause of Alzheimer's disease. This year, American scientists were able to extract stem cells from patients with Alzheimer's and healthy volunteers and use them to study and form brain cells. All patients with Alzheimer's disease possess two versions of a particular gene, apoE4, which increases the chances of developing the disease. This gene secretes a particular protein that destroys the neuron.

Scientists have come up with a specific way to modify the structure of this protein: when the structure was changed, the analysis was similar to all traces of the disease from the damaged nerve cell and the cell became in better health and lived longer. Scientists have explained that the importance of this discovery insofar as it paves the way for a curative treatment of the disease and also shows the mechanism of the infection and the moment when the possibility of change in the patient himself can cure.

> New treatment for Parkinson's disease. This year, clinical trials have been initiated on a new treatment for Parkinson's disease, in which the patient is suffering from involuntary movements at the extremities. These experiments were performed by scientists from the University of Arizona, United States.

It is known that the current and fundamental treatment of the disease, namely Doba Levodopa fiber, treated the disease effectively and reduced the intensity of movements that resembled shivering. However, despite the effectiveness of treatment, about 40% of patients have serious side effects, such as uncontrollable movements. The trials showed that these patients with symptoms improved considerably and did not suffer any movement. Again.

Medical research

Genetically modified embryos born to two mothers of the same sex. Scientists in China have succeeded through genetic modification, or genetic engineering, and the use of stem cells to reach the fetus of the same sex. Scientists have observed that fetuses from mice born to women were healthy and able to actively move and survive, while fetuses of male mice born could only survive 48 hours.

Although scientists have explained that these experiments are unlikely to occur or succeed in the short term, especially for many ethical and social factors, these results constitute a very important development in the field of genetic modification and open the door to new attempts in the future. Scientists published the results. These experiments are in the Journal of Stem Cells.

> Return of sight to the blind. This year, scientists were able to restore sight to two patients who were losing sight of the effect of aging (the age of several months is the cause of age-related macular degeneration due to their treatment with They gradually lost their sight and could no longer read … What looks like a slide behind a damaged eyeball was implanted by simple surgery.

This process has restored the patient's ability to read but also close vision. This is a major scientific breakthrough that may become familiar in the short term, such as cataracts, for example, which will bring hope to millions of patients each year around the world.

– therapeutic and diagnostic innovations

Infection of migraines. This year has been good news for migraine patients suffering from millions of people (39 million in the United States alone) where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new treatment for injectable disease and a new treatment that inhibits CGRP pain receptors. receptor, thus reducing the severe pain episodes that may occur and sometimes last for several days.

It is known that migraines do not respond to normal painkillers, and most often the pain is accompanied by nausea, vomiting and eye pain. The new treatment allows the patient to self-inject more tightly during insulin injections.

Clinical trials showed a significant improvement in patients tested for placebo (a fully therapeutic tablet but without an effective substance) and the new treatment has already been introduced under the brand name Aimovig.

> Contact lenses for diabetics. For diabetic patients, it is necessary to know the level of glucose in the blood to control the treatment and increase or decrease the dose, which gives an idea of ​​the possibility that the patient has coma due to hypoglycemia , and sometimes a coma resulting from an increase in carbohydrate hyperglycemia rate. Occurrence.

The method used to determine the level of glucose in the blood has always been irritating, either by taking a sample of the vein and analyzing it in the laboratory, or by hand pricking and analyzing it by machine. This year, a Korean company produced smart contact lenses capable of measuring blood sugar in tears and the journal Science Advances was published. The manufacturers explained that these lenses were a great development because they gave a precise, continuous and fast image of the glucose level in the blood without mother acupuncture.

> Pills for men too. This year, US scientists from the University of Washington and Seattle have been able to produce contraceptive pills for male birth control, similar to those of women. "These pills have been shown to be very effective in preventing pregnancy.This is a mixture of different hormones that prevent the formation of sperm.These pills are administered daily, pill, clinical trials and laboratory tests have have been proven and their side effects are minor. "It will certainly take more future studies to monitor any side effect that may affect men's health, but the results are very promising.

> Parts for body members. The news may sound closer to sci-fi movies, but maybe in a few years scientists will be able to replace and fully produce human organs (different from organ transplants by scientists using d & rsquo; Other donor members). Full of a frog that had lost its tip in the same way as amputation in humans. The scientists explained that they were experimenting with humans and that nothing was preventing them, and that the success of these operations would help treat many health problems, from congenital anomalies to plastic surgery to plastic surgery and the possibility of an anticancer treatment where the missing limb can be reinstated. Regenerative medicine where cells are regenerated in a setting similar to that of the organ to regenerate and the use of hormone progesterone have contributed to the growth of the lost human frog .

Treatments and tests

> Replace the mitral valve without open heart surgery. This year, scientists have successfully replaced the mitral and tricuspid valves without fully opening the chest cavity in the so-called open heart process, through a small percutaneous wound through which the catheter is easily inserted and implemented, that takes less of time and does not require intensive care at the hospital unlike operations requiring the opening of the thorax. It is a major development that helps millions of patients with valvular problems. Scientists hope to be able to replace and modify the valve of the aorta in the near future.

> Simple test for the diagnosis of migraine endometrium. Endometriosis is a painful disease for all women. The name in Arabic can be very significant in describing the disease: the growth of the endometrium of the uterine wall, a difficult-to-diagnose disease that can only be discovered after a laparoscopy. Hospital and surgery.

This year, a company announced the design of a diagnostic test by taking a sample of blood or saliva and measuring some vital parameters in the diagnosis confirmed by blood. Although the announcement of this idea took place last year, it only came into force this year and is expected to be on the market and operational by 2020.

> New stroke treatment. Scientists at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States this year have been able to achieve definitive treatment of stroke by directly stimulating deep brain stimulation. The patient, aged 59, who had undergone this test, found many motor functions interrupted by a stroke. The idea of ​​this device is to stimulate nerve cells in the brain by directing low frequency waves of the cerebral cortex to help it regain its function and vital functions controlled by the movements of the limbs. However, the idea of ​​a treatment since last year, the clinical results obtained this year The first results on humans are achieving great success and are already restoring movement, which opens the door in the future to avoid cases of permanent paralysis caused by lesions of brain cells.

– Robot to help mothers

> The postpartum period is a difficult period in the lives of most mothers, especially to care for the newborn, who constantly cries as the only way to express his demands. During this period, there are already depressed mothers in what is called postpartum depression.

This year has been good news for these mothers. A company has developed a robot with the help of sleep doctors' consultants from the University of Kentucky in the United States, soothes the child during his tears and allows him to move as if the mother was kissing the child. He was a nurse or doctor.

– one hour for the ECG

> This year, an intelligent Apple wristwatch shows a portable ECG that mimics the normal ECG performed in hospitals. Clock manufacturers have explained that conventional wires in the normal ECG, connected to sensors glued to the skin in certain areas of the heart, would be replaced and present within one hour and wirelessly connect to the heart and would be able to monitor any changes in the heart level And irregular heartbeat frequency irregular or not, and the clock stores this data to go to the attending physician, and the clock is equipped with. a device that detects the rapid heartbeat and monitors the fall in case of fainting.