If the feet are warmed up with hot water bottle then its easier to fall asleep . When the feet are cold the foot blood vessels are closed and the body finds it difficult to lose heat and that causes insomnia . telegraph.co.uk Sept 2
A dna solution has been found effective in taking vaccines into the body by just applying on the skin without the need for injections . DNA however tends to get into the cell .
High dose Vit c and e have been found to cut pre-eclampsia in high risk patients by 70%
July 99
Scientists have discovered a vaccine against the brain protein which causes Alzheimers (dementia) the commonest affliction of elderly people and has succeeded in protecting mice and halts it in those which have the disease . It will be test marketed by Elan the Irish drug company next year ..Nature
A South Asian lady has become the first person in the world to have a succesful IVF pregnancy after many repeated miscarriages due to lupus antibodies . Normally aspirin is given for this condition during the second three months . However she was given aspirin and heparin at the time of implantation and throughout the pregnancy in Cambridge .
Fidgeting can make you fit
Doctors report that people can lose 600 calories a day -or 1 kg every 10 days by fidgeting . The ones who gained weight on an extrra 1000 calories a day were the ones who were still most of the time.
Jan 99
Copies of chromosome 3 which can produce an enzyme which can turn off telomerase another enzyme which causes cancer cells to become immortal by switching off the suicide machinery of the cell , when introduced into breast cancer tissue made the cells normal again.
A needle which uses doppler sound waves to target veins has been found very useful in locating veins especially the subclavian vein to put catheters in -more info on times.co.uk Dec 13
Dec 98
Cure for cancer ?
Xcyte Technologies of Seattle have pioneered a way of killign canceer cells. They removed stem cells from the patients marrow and then destroyed the marrow with radiation. The stem cells were then primed with antibodies of CD3 and CD28 and injected them back into the patients . The stem cells formed T cells which attacked the cancer - Hodgkin's lymphoma and in four people it was completely cleared. More info on yahoo.com science update. They are trying the same therapy for Aids.
A woman has become the first person to receive an islet cell only transplant . It is hoped that it will end need for insulin injections. She has also been given drugs to stop rejection.
A combination of PPI, bismuth salt, metronidazole and tetracycline has provedd over 90% effective in eradicating H Pylori a cause of stomach ulcers - medscape.com
Cure for blindness!
Mr Wong a surgeon in London has taken the retina and pleated it to cover the damaged part at the macula the spot where we can see most details and which is damaged in many people to restore perfect vision .It will benefit a million blind people in UK alone.
Antibiotics for gum disease
Information at medscape.com Dec 3 for news that flagyl can cure gum disease long thought to be a cause of heart attacks , In the same edition there is news that Vitamin can stop the formation of fat in heart blood vessels. During heart attacks a new hormone can be infused which causes blood vessels to be formed and by pass the blockage. In other news giving insulin and glucose in heart attacks can cut the death rate by 70%.
Non invasive heart scan
Electron beam computerized tomography -EBCT - takes only five minutes and costs less than $500 . It takes fast Xray pictures about 30 of them with minimal radiation , of the heart which show any blockage of the heart arteries with fat deposits which have calcium in them . People can keep their clothes on while under the scanner. It could save millions of lives due to premature heart attacks now rampant in South Asians . More details at Colorado Heart Imaging or email info@coloradoheart.com
Millenium is a new water jet device in Britain which painlessly and noislessly drills teeth using lasers to split the water molecules . It is made by Biolase in California.
Nov 98
Herpes Virus cause of Multiple Sclerosis
The Herpes 6 virus has been found to be the cause of MS and antiviral drugs taken once a day stop the progression of the illness.
Doctors have found that the diet eaten by the people of Crete- olive oil , a pound of fresh fruit a day , wine and fish can cut the risk of heart attacks by 75% more than a straightforward low fat diet.
The rapid development of anti rejection drugs and newer techniques such as irradiating the patients bone marrow and replace them with embryo stem cells , have allowed the transplant of an arm in a patient who had lost his 10 years ago. It is expected to take him a year to get the full sensation back . This has enormous implications in areas such as Afghanistan where thousands have lost limbs due to mines.
Sep 27 98
Dr Kopke at the Washington Spatial Orientation centre has developed techniques to get a small catheter into the inner ear to supply anti oxodants to hair cells which reverses the damage caused by loud noise. He can also kill certain cells there with antibiotics to cure Menier's disease .
Aug 17 98
Antibiotic for Alzheimer's
Alzheimers or senile dementia is an affliction that can rob people of their memory . Now news that researchers have found evidence of infection of the brain by Chlamydia Pneumonia a bacterium in 17 out of 19 brains they checked. This bug also appears to be responsible for heart attacks . It can be treated by antibiotics like tetracycline and erythromicin.
Xenical is a new drug a lipase inhibitor which cuts the digestion of fat and leads to weight loss.
July 26 98
Galentmine a new drug which will be licensed in the USA shortly has shown complete halt to the deterioration of brain functions like memory loss over a year.
July 5 98
Paul Rainsbury a doctor who runs a fertility clinic in Roding Hospital in Essex has asked the govt to legalise sex selection . A laser allows the heavier female sperms to be separated from male ones and these can be injected into eggs. A test on the four day embryo confirms the sex before implantation into the mother.
June 7 98
Insulin via inhaler
Final trials are taking place in the USA of an inhaler which can deliver insulin directly to the lungs. Diabetics can now end the need for painful injections. In the elderly who rely on tablets at the moment , inhaled insulin may provide better control. Diabetes is a dangerous disease which can lead to blindness and kidney damage and Asians are very prone to it. The best way to prevent it or cure it is to get fit by excercise. The extra muscle mass usually burns up the surplus sugar in the blood.
Flu vaccine
Flumist used as a nasal spray cut down the incidence of flu and even middle ear infections in children by 93 % and will be on the market next year. Flu is one of the biggest killers and a vaccine could end all that.
May 10 98
End of tooth decay
Doctors at Guy's hospital in Britian have made a protein which can be grown in genetically engineered tobacco plant which when painted twice on the teeth ( after all the bacteria have been eliminated by a mouth wash) stops the deadly strep mutans which causes tooth decay from sticking to the teeth . Protection lasts for six months. More details on bbc.co.uk
Lymphoedema due to blockage of lymph vessels is a difficult condition to treat . One method which seems to work is to massage the trunk to open the lymph vessels , then the arm to drain it and then wrap the arm in a cotton multilayered bandage. Finally excercise this arm to force the lymph through. Then sleep overnight with the bandage on.
April 26 98
Finnish doctors have found that inserting the contraceptive IUD Mirena which releases a progestrone cuts down the need for hysterectomy for heavy bleeding by more than 60%. Mirena can be used for 5 years at a time. From British Medical Journal
Steroids can save in asthma
Review of trials by Cochrane group have shown that oral prednisolone tablets 30-60 mg per day for a week or so in adults during a bad attack cuts down the admission to hospitals by 70% . Oral steroids do weaken bones and have other side effects if used for many months but a new type called Deltacort is claimed not to have these side effects.
Autism treatment
This is a very difficult condition of children who tend to retreat into their own inner world and do not interact socialy with the parents , to treat , but doctors are reporting great success with Carbamazapine - a drug used to treat epilepsy. More details later this year.
Common Cold is Dangerous
Finland doctors -Anne Pitkaranta and others-using reverse transciptase PCR techniques have found that the cold virus is implicated in large number of cases of middle ear infections, sinus problems , asthma and chest infections. It makes the body vulnerable to harmful bacteria. Monoclonal nasal spray of intercellular adhesion molecules -ICAM -prevent the cold virus from attaching to the nose and can prevent a lot of these problems. Other things that helped were zinc and vitamin C and regular saunas. More info on www.medscape.com. The May 98 issue of PC Advisor has a free copy of the excellent Dr Scheuller's Medical Advisor CD Rom
End of Asthma
Scientists found that when they put just a drop of BCG vaccine on the tip of noses of mice they did not go on to develop asthma. Asthma is increasing rapidly in developed countries.
Mar 8 98
Scientists have found that commonly used spices have bacteria and fungal killing properties and that these would have produced an evolutionary advantage to those who preferred spicy foods especially in hotter countries . They would have survived longer and born more offspring .
Spices 90% effective in killing bacteria and fungii are garlic , onion, allspice, oregano , thyme, cinnamon, taragano, cumin. 50% effective were capiscum, chillis, and 25% effective were ginger , ainseed, lemon and lime juice and white and black pepper (telegraph.co.uk Mar 5 98).
Doctors in America are placing electrodes in the brain which can transmit electric impulses in the thalamus to control the tremors in Parkinosn's disease. It is marketed by medtronics and should be useful in chronic pain and epilepsy as well.
Repetitive strain injury
RSI troubles a lot of people and has now been found to be due to minory injury to sensory nerves. A weeks course of 25mg Prednisolone tablets usually brings a quick cure.
Herbal hair cure
Jean Brown , a Leicester woman , has made a secret herbal potion made from goat's milk which restored hair to bald chimpanzee - Jambo , making him more attractive to female chimps -and in tests on bald men in Leiciester , England claims that it works on them too.
Psoriasis treatment
Photosensitive acid is painted on psoriatic plaques which are then exposed to red light via fibre optics for 16 mintues in a technique pioneered by Professor Griffiths of Hope Hospital , Manchester, England . It destroys the plaque without harming unaffected skin. The plaques do return after many many months and can be treated again.
End of Spectacles- Lasers for short and long sight
A new technique at Moorfields eye hospital in London involves first cutting a U shaped vertical flap from the lining of the eye over the colored part -the cornea , lifting it up and using lasers to cut off slices of the eye - the amount beneath this determined by 3D compuer modelling before and then letting the flap fall over the eye. As it is a vertical flap , it is held in place by just gravity . It takes only a few minutes and is a permanent cure for high short and long sight as well . The technique is so good that eye surgeons are having it done on themselves. It is not painful as the cornea itself is not harmed. Spectacles will soon be rare. More details on the BBC tomorrow's world web site www.bbc.co.uk
Asthma News
Once a day steroid inhaler taken at 3-5pm of 800 microgram is enough to control 80% of all asthmatics. In other news it was found that children who had pneumonia as a babies were much more likely to become asthmatic. The reluctance of doctors to prescribe antibiotics for childhood respiratory illnesses may be the cause of the rise in worldwide asthma.
Atherosclerotic heart receptor
Scientists at University of San Diego have found a receptor on the blood vessel wall which encourages macrophages to attach and start the process of fat build up in the walls . They bred mice which lack this receptor and found that these mice did not get atherosclerosis however much fat they ate in the diet. It maybe possible to build a protein to block this receptor in humans.
Milk diet
Teenage girls who drink a pint of full cream milk a day preserve their figures and have stronger bones - a surprising finding from a new study . In other news doctors have injected vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) via a virus directly into heart and leg muscles . This causes new blood vessels to be formed around any blockages . It has saved many patients from amputations.
Alzheimer's
This dementia in the elderly can be difficult to diagnose from normal depression or low thyroid or vitamin levels . Elevated levels of the protein AD7c-NTP were detected in 89% of Alzheimer's patients in the CSF , compared with just 11% of healthy individuals . Meanwhile, the MGH team isolated and examined the component DNA of the gene responsible for the production of AD7c-NTP. When the gene was mixed with nerve cells in the lab, the scientists noticed that the cells first grew long 'branches' and then eventually died, mimicking "the two principal... (brain cell) lesions correlated with dementia in Alzheimer's disease.
Asthma cause found
Doctors have found from lung tissue biopsies in asthmatic patients that many harbour mycoplasma bacteria . When this was treated by extended doses of antibiotics like tetracyclines over a few months it markedly decreased astmatic attacks ( abcnews.com) . The reluctance of doctors to prescribe antibiotics in coughs and colds due the fear of encouraging resisitance may have contributed to the increase in the cases of asthma and allergies by these bacteria.
Operating times time cut in half
Sometimes one I thinks , why did nobody think of it before?!! Such is the case with a new invention - a pair of scissors which pass an electric current through the tips only when closed. They cut and cauterises the tissues and blood vessels at the same time. On Tomorrow's world ( see BBC web site ) they showed a child's tonsils being taken out without any bleeding at all in under 4 mintues, less than half the previous 15 minutes. Assistants who there to swab the blood are no longer needed. All operations should now last just half as long.
New blood vessels by gene therapy
In a remarkable advance doctors injected VGEF ( vascular growth endothelial factor) genes directly into leg muscles which then caused the muscle cells to produce the protein vgef . This stuck to blood vessels beyond the site where there was a blockage and caused new branches to be formed here which then linked up to the preblocked section. In 90% of diabetics and others with severe blood vessel blockage this saved the limb from amputation. Doctors feel that the same genes injected into heart muscle will result in new heart blood vessels. This news if of immense significance for South Asians who suffer from heart disease and diabetes in epidemic proportions.