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Author: Sima

Published on Leave a comment on New Technique Being Developed For Vision Correction
Human eye Credit: Wikipedia

Scientists are now working on a treatment for vision problems that would avoid the need for lasers or surgery (e.g., LASIK). This would be an amazing development.

The new technique called electromechanical reshaping (EMR) is still experimental, but very promising. Instead of carving away tissue, which is done in LASIK, the new method temporarily softens the cornea so it can be gently molded into a new shape.

But studies need to be done in animals (only rabbit eyeballs tested so far), and only then can it be tested in humans. Stay tuned...

From Science Daily: Forget LASIK: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

Millions of Americans live with blurry vision, nearsightedness, or more severe sight problems. While glasses and contact lenses help many people, millions have turned to corrective procedures such as LASIK to sharpen their eyesight. But scientists are now exploring a very different approach that could someday reshape the eye without lasers, cutting, or invasive surgery. ...continue reading "New Technique Being Developed For Vision Correction"

Published on Leave a comment on High Dose Vitamin C As Part of Cancer Treatment?
Vitamin C pills Credit: Wikipedia

Researchers are studying high dose vitamin C as part of treatment for several cancers, including pancreatic cancer. These high doses of vitamin C (pharmacologic ascorbate) are not taken orally (by mouth), but in IVs (taken intravenously). It is always given alongside chemotherapy.

The intravenous vitamin C doses are 150 to 190 times larger than ordinary vitamin C tablets that are taken orally. This is because orally taken vitamin C cannot reach the blood levels needed to produce a pharmacologic effect.

Some of the results are amazing. For example, persons with pancreatic cancer it doubled survival compared to chemotherapy alone (from 8 months to 16 months) , and those receiving vitamin C used alongside standard chemotherapy had fewer side effects than when using chemotherapy alone. It is still unclear for which cancers the vitamin C treatment works and for which it doesn't.

The only problem is that pharma companies may not be interested because it can not be patented, and can't be developed as a new drug that they can make big profits off of. It's plain old vitamin C - but not as a nutritional supplement, but used as a medical drug (pharmacologic ascorbate).

Click on the link for the full story and dosing details. Excerpts from Medscape: Vitamin C’s Potential Use in Cancer Is Getting a Second Look

When Garry Buettner, PhD, who has been studying the chemistry and biochemistry of vitamin C for at least four decades, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), he applied his research to his own life — reviewing the data and designing a protocol for his treatment. ...continue reading "High Dose Vitamin C As Part of Cancer Treatment?"

Published on Leave a comment on Good News For Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Cancer cells forming a lump in pancreas Credit: Wikipedia

The pancreatic cancer treatment field is on fire. This is very good news because pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer that is typically diagnosed at late stages, and with a low survival rate (5 year survival rate of 15%).

There are a number of different treatments now undergoing clinical trials - from several vaccines, immunotherapy, the drug daraxonrasib that doubles life expectancy in those with pancreatic cancer, to other interesting treatments such as high dose vitamin C (given via IV).

The most exciting are pancreatic vaccines that are now undergoing clinical trials. They are meant to be used after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis - the goal is to prevent a recurrence of the cancer and to kill any remaining pancreatic cancer cells. They involve a person's own immune system attacking or suppressing the pancreatic cancer. Amazing research and progress is being made.
Some articles about some of the promising treatments:

The National Cancer Center's write-up: Are New Immune-Based Treatments for Kidney and Pancreatic Cancer On the Horizon?

Another type of vaccine (a mRNA vaccine) being developed in NYC, at Columbia's Pancreatic Center: Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer Enters Phase II of Clinical Trial: Here’s What to Know

Medscape (reputable medical site) is also writing about the promising pancreatic vaccines:  Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer and CRC Sparks Early Hope. An easier to read summary of that same study: New Vaccine May Help Stop Deadly Pancreatic Cancers From Coming Back

High-dose vitamin C (in ascorbate form, given in an IV) alongside chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer doubled survival rate and made the regular chemo drugs more tolerable for the cancer patient. From Medscape: Vitamin C’s Potential Use in Cancer Is Getting a Second Look

The drug daraxonrasib, which is awaiting FDA approval, probably this year. From NY Times: How an ‘Impossible’ Idea Led to a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough

Published on Leave a comment on Humans May Be Able To Grow New Teeth In A Few Years
Human teeth Credit: Wikipedia

The idea of regrowing lost teeth is fabulous. A study focusing on a tooth regeneration treatment came out last year, but I just read about the study in Popular Mechanics and Dentistry Today.

The Japanese scientists pointed out that humans already have a third set of teeth available in their mouths as buds, and these have the potential to grow as needed. Some people with hyperdontia can already grow more than one full set of teeth (about 1% of the population). The scientists are now working on how to promote tooth regrowth by using an experimental drug.

Human trials are now ongoing. They hope to have a tooth-growing treatment available for general use by 2030. Stay tuned...

From Popular mechanics: Grow New Teeth Within Just 4 Years

    • While bones can regrow themselves when they break, teeth aren’t so lucky, and that leads to millions of people worldwide suffering from some form of edentulism, a.k.a. toothlessness.
    • Now, Japanese researchers are moving a promising, tooth-regrowing medicine into human trials.
    • If the trial is successful, the researchers hope the drug will become available for all forms of toothlessness sometime around 2030.

...continue reading "Humans May Be Able To Grow New Teeth In A Few Years"

Published on Leave a comment on Egg Consumption Is Beneficial For Brain Health

Remember when health advice was to limit egg consumption, that they had too much cholesterol, and to only eat egg whites? Well.... studies in the last decade have proven that advice as being 100% wrong for a number of reasons. It turns out that eggs are a great source of a number of nutrients (e.g., choline) needed for brain health and memory function.

A recent study found that frequent egg consumption by persons (mean age 59 years at the start of the study) lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). The researchers found that there was a 27% decreased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease among persons who ate at least 5 eggs a week, but even eating fewer eggs was beneficial. The participants were followed for 15 years.

Other studies have also found a decreased risk of AD in persons eating eggs frequently - with one study finding that more than one egg consumed per week reduced the risk of developing AD up to 47%.

Some key nutrients necessary for brain health that are provided by eggs are: choline, the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, tryptophan, phospholipids, and an omega-3 fat known as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). The researchers viewed the nutrients in eggs as being "neuroprotective" (protecting neurological function).

From Medical Xpress: Egg consumption associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease

Consumption of eggs is associated with a lower risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease for those 65 years and older, according to researchers at Loma Linda University Health. Eating one egg per day for at least five days a week reduces the risk of Alzheimer's by up to 27%, researchers found. ...continue reading "Egg Consumption Is Beneficial For Brain Health"

Published on Leave a comment on Large Review Finds Alzheimer’s Disease Drugs Don’t Work

A large review found that the Alzheimer's drugs now available (very expensive!) actually do not slow down the disease. They don't work. In other words, they should never have been approved.

The authors of the study said it appears that the drugs result in little to no difference ("no clinically meaningful effect") in a range of measures, including reducing dementia severity. And their use increases the risk of bleeding and swelling of the brain.

A few years ago journalists uncovered that there was significant fraud involved in the research and drug approvals (not surprising when so much money is involved).

For decades, Alzheimer's research mainly (only) focused on abnormal protein deposits in the brain (amyloid plaques) and misfolded protein tau tangles in the brain. But many researchers are suggesting that other causes of Alzheimer's should be looked at, including viral causes and chronic inflammation.

Excerpts from The Conversation: Alzheimer's Drugs Offer Little Benefit, Major Review Finds - And the Reasons Go Deeper Than the Science

How is it possible to spend tens of billions of dollars developing drugs to treat a serious disease that affects millions of people, and yet end up with something that does not work? This is a mystery that has bedevilled Alzheimer’s research for years. ...continue reading "Large Review Finds Alzheimer’s Disease Drugs Don’t Work"

Published on Leave a comment on Chronic Wasting Disease Now Found In 37 States

Yikes! Another state has detected its first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer. It's Delaware!

This is worrisome because not only is this prion disease continuing its march throughout the USA and Canada in deer, moose, and elk, but scientists worry that it may cross species at some point and infect humans. Note that chronic wasting disease is always fatal. 100% of the time.

CWD is a neurologic prion disease similar to "mad cow disease" (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease in humans. There is no vaccine, treatment, or cure for the disease.

From CIDRAP: Delaware becomes 37th state to detect CWD within its borders

With Delaware reporting its first detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) yesterday, the fatal neurodegenerative disease has now been found in 37 US states. ...continue reading "Chronic Wasting Disease Now Found In 37 States"

Published on Leave a comment on Common Knee Operation May Be Unnecessary
Human knees Credit: Wikipedia

It is incredibly hard to change routine medical practice, even when new evidence says that it does not help, and may even harm. A new study shows that a commonly done surgery called partial meniscectomy for knee cartilage damage (meniscal tears) actually does not help and may harm long-term.

The research (just published in the New England Journal of Medicine) found that people with knee meniscal tears who underwent surgery had more symptoms, poorer knee function, and worse osteoarthritis after 10 years, when compared to those who did not have the surgery. The study (146 patients followed for 10 years, 5 hospitals participating) was well done - the control group actually had "sham surgery", but did not actually get the procedure.

The actual surgery group did not appear to benefit and scored worse on a range of measures designed to measure knee function, pain, and progression of symptoms.

The results (and other studies having similar results) should result in a medical reversal regarding how frequently the procedure is done. But it is very hard for the medical establishment to change course, and also all that lucrative $$ from doing the procedure.

From Medical Xpress: One of the world's most common knee surgeries does not help and may even be harmful

Partial meniscectomy does not improve patient symptoms or function, reveals a 10-year follow-up of the FIDELITY, a placebo-surgery controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine. ...continue reading "Common Knee Operation May Be Unnecessary"

Published on Leave a comment on Hormone Replacement Therapy Associated With Glaucoma
Human eye Credit: Wikipedia

Vision loss is a serious concern for people as they age. Recent research found that any kind hormone replacement therapy (HRT) used by postmenopausal women is associated with a 36% higher risk of developing glaucoma.

The study was conducted with 6576 Finnish women aged 50 years or older. The researchers also found that the longer a women used HRT, especially estrogen only HRT,  the greater the risk for glaucoma. All 3 types of HRT (estrogen only, progestogen only, or combined estrogen-progestogen) were associated with a higher risk for developing glaucoma:

From Medscape: Postmenopausal HRT Tied to Glaucoma Risk in Women

In Finnish women aged 50 years or older, the use of any postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was linked to a higher risk for developing glaucoma, with estrogen-only therapy specifically associated with the risk for primary open-angle glaucoma. ...continue reading "Hormone Replacement Therapy Associated With Glaucoma"