Biology & Medicine News and Discussions

[firestar464]

If Opiates Are Killing Americans, Why Won't the FDA Let Us Try an Alternative?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... r-BB1oBsK9

[weatheriscool]

New antibiotic nearly eliminates the chance of superbugs evolving
By Paul McClure
July 24, 2024

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/m ... esistance/

Researchers have combined the bacteria-killing actions of two classes of antibiotics into one, demonstrating that their new dual-action antibiotic could make bacterial resistance (almost) an impossibility.

Pathogens such as bacteria threaten human health, so we dole out antibiotics. The bacteria then develop resistance to the antibiotics. While bacterial threat remains the same, our treatment arsenal is less effective, if it’s effective at all. In essence, that’s the problem caused by antibiotic resistance.

But now, researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) may have replenished the arsenal with a new antibiotic, one that could make it nearly impossible for bacteria to develop resistance to.

“The beauty of this antibiotic is that it kills through two different targets in bacteria,” said Alexander Mankin, distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences at UIC and the study’s co-corresponding author. “If the antibiotic hits both targets at the same concentration, then the bacteria lose their ability to become resistant via [the] acquisition of random mutations in any of the two targets.”

[weatheriscool]

First Robot-Assisted Dual Kidney Transplant in the US Deemed a Success
The robot adds flexibility, visibility, and post-surgical comfort to what is otherwise considered a major procedure.
By Adrianna Nine July 29, 2024

https://www.extremetech.com/science/fir ... -a-success
Four months out from the actual surgery, the United States' first robot-assisted dual kidney transplant has been deemed a resounding success. The patient's health and comfort after the procedure lend robot-assisted transplant surgery an extra dose of credibility among those sitting on organ waiting lists.

Joanne Kukula, a 70-year-old Ohio native, underwent the procedure at Cleveland Clinic in March 2024. In 2021, Kukula was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that takes shape in bone marrow. Chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant eventually put the disease in remission. But Kukula began to experience "myeloma kidney," a form of kidney failure seen in at least 20% of multiple myeloma patients. Kukula was placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant list, after which she awaited a viable donor kidney.

Donor kidneys are in fairly high demand, forcing patients in need of a transplant to sit on the waitlist for three to five years. Depending on the severity of a patient's kidney failure, they might experience extreme health complications or die while awaiting a viable organ. To provide transplants to as many patients as possible, doctors occasionally utilize two "marginally effective" kidneys from a deceased donor to perform or exceed the duties of a single healthy kidney. The downside of such an approach is the potentially invasive nature of a dual-kidney transplant: Rather than making a small incision on one side of the abdomen, conventional surgery requires incisions on both sides.

Maybe this is the way the womb transplants will be done?

[weatheriscool]

Fully-automatic robot dentist performs world's first human procedure
By Loz Blain
July 31, 2024

Nightmare fuel? Maybe – but in a historic moment for the dental profession, an AI-controlled autonomous robot has performed an entire procedure on a human patient for the first time, about eight times faster than a human dentist could do it.

The system, built by Boston company Perceptive, uses a hand-held 3D volumetric scanner, which builds a detailed 3D model of the mouth, including the teeth, gums and even nerves under the tooth surface, using optical coherence tomography, or OCT. Here's an example:

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/r ... rld-first/

[Time_Traveller]

UK shortage of drug used to prevent brain damage in alcoholics

Fri 9 Aug 2024 14.02 BST

Doctors have warned that a severe shortage of an “essential” medicine used to help protect alcoholics from degenerative brain conditions could disproportionately affect “some of the most vulnerable” in society.

Pabrinex, a multivitamin injection, is used to protect heavy drinkers from conditions such as Wernicke’s encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome, which can have symptoms similar to dementia. Doctors are concerned the incidence of these debilitating conditions may increase as a result of the shortages.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) warned in April that Pabrinex intravenous injections were likely to be in short supply until August 2025 at the earliest and intramuscular injections were being discontinued.

Dr Marcus Bicknell, a GP who specialises in addiction, described the situation as “an absolute disaster”. “This is an inexpensive, highly effective drug we’ve been using for over 50 years but next year it won’t be available to us at all. If this was a cancer drug there’s no way that discontinuation would be accepted.”

Bicknell said his centre had already begun rationing the drug and reducing the doses of the “essential” medicine that were given to patients, which he called “scandalous”.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/art ... alcoholics

[weatheriscool]

FDA approves first nasal spray to treat dangerous allergic reactions

Source: AP

By JONEL ALECCIA
Updated 5:15 PM CDT, August 11, 2024

U.S. health officials on Friday approved a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions, the first needle-free alternative to shots like EpiPen.

The Food and Drug Administration said it approved the spray from drugmaker ARS Pharmaceuticals Inc. as an emergency treatment for adults and older children experiencing life-threatening allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis occurs when the body’s immune system develops a sudden, unexpected reaction to a foreign substance, such as food, insect stings or medications. Common symptoms include hives, swelling, itching, vomiting and difficulty breathing.

The device, marketed as Neffy, could upend treatment for the 33 million to 45 million Americans with severe allergies to food and other triggers. Anaphylaxis sends more than 30,000 people to emergency rooms and results in more than 2,000 hospitalizations and more than 230 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/epipen-nasal ... ec44bbaf10

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[weatheriscool]

Lyme disease early detection could get boost from simpler, faster testing technology
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08- ... mpler.html
by Wayne Lewis, University of California, Los Angeles

For some unlucky people, time in the great outdoors leads to Lyme disease, an illness causing head, joint and muscle pain, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, and sometimes a rash. Left untreated, those effects can turn debilitating and expand to include paralysis, inflammation of the brain and heart, and problems with memory, hearing and vision that can last for years.

Lyme disease, expected to affect more than 600,000 people in the U.S. this year, is caused by a spiral bacterium that spreads to humans through bites from infected deer ticks. The microbe provokes a complicated immune reaction that can resemble the response to other dangerous tick-borne bacteria, often making it harder for doctors to initiate the correct antibiotic treatment.

[firestar464]

Personalized brain stimulation significantly decreases depression symptoms in pilot study

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08- ... ssion.html

[Powers]

Neuroscientists discover small group of dopamine neurons play critical role in controlling range of behaviors

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08- ... urons.html

[firestar464]

Uncovering the mechanics behind ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08- ... ssant.html

Treating depression with psilocybin or escitalopram found to result in different hierarchical brain reconfigurations

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08- ... hical.html

[firestar464]

Original study at https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-024-00298-y

GPT's take:

The results mentioned indicate that both psilocybin and escitalopram affect the hierarchical organization of brain dynamics differently. Specifically:

- Psilocybin treatment results in a decrease in the mean directedness hierarchy.
- Escitalopram treatment results in an increase in the mean directedness hierarchy.

The study suggests that these opposite changes in brain hierarchy could reflect different mechanisms by which these drugs exert their effects. However, the document does not explicitly state which treatment is "better" overall, as this depends on various factors, including specific treatment goals, individual patient responses, and side effects.

In terms of effectiveness, the document does note that the remission rates were higher for psilocybin (64%) compared to escitalopram (30%). Therefore, if the goal is higher remission rates, psilocybin may be considered better, but if the goal involves specific hierarchical changes in brain dynamics, the choice might differ based on the desired outcome.

[weatheriscool]

Wearable treats pain and depression in as little as one 40-minute session
By Michael Franco
August 29, 2024
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/w ... treatment/
University of Utah

A head-mounted ultrasound device has now completed two human trials. One showed how the targeted sound waves could improve pain symptoms, while another revealed a marked improvement in depression symptoms after just one session.

The device, known as the Diadem, was created by researchers at the University of Utah. The name refers to a jeweled headband worn by sovereigns and indeed, it looks like an intricate headphone-like band. It works through a technique known as neuromodulation in which beams of ultrasonic frequencies are sent to targeted areas in the brain. In this case, the device was used to target the anterior cingulate cortex, a region known for, among other things, pain perception and emotional processing.

During the pain study, 20 people suffering from chronic pain each received two sessions with the Diadem after undergoing a functional MRI scan to precisely identify the regions in their brains responsible for the pain signaling. When the study was over, 60% of the patients felt at least a 33% reduction in pain immediately following treatment. In the other study, 14 clinically depressed patients were treated with the MRI and Diadem procedure and 10 reported remission one week later after just one session with the device.

[Powers]

Wearable treats pain and depression in as little as one 40-minute session
By Michael Franco
August 29, 2024
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/w ... treatment/
University of Utah

A head-mounted ultrasound device has now completed two human trials. One showed how the targeted sound waves could improve pain symptoms, while another revealed a marked improvement in depression symptoms after just one session.

The device, known as the Diadem, was created by researchers at the University of Utah. The name refers to a jeweled headband worn by sovereigns and indeed, it looks like an intricate headphone-like band. It works through a technique known as neuromodulation in which beams of ultrasonic frequencies are sent to targeted areas in the brain. In this case, the device was used to target the anterior cingulate cortex, a region known for, among other things, pain perception and emotional processing.

During the pain study, 20 people suffering from chronic pain each received two sessions with the Diadem after undergoing a functional MRI scan to precisely identify the regions in their brains responsible for the pain signaling. When the study was over, 60% of the patients felt at least a 33% reduction in pain immediately following treatment. In the other study, 14 clinically depressed patients were treated with the MRI and Diadem procedure and 10 reported remission one week later after just one session with the device.

Important.

[firestar464]

Collaborative research cracks the autism code, making the neurodivergent brain visible

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08- ... brain.html

[firestar464]

'Silent' mutations found to have repercussions beyond their own gene

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-silent-mu ... -gene.html

[weatheriscool]

Injectable Hydrogel Shows Promise as an Early-Stage Arthritis Treatment

Researchers claim the hydrogel both cushions joints and delivers antibodies that slow the progression of osteoarthritis.

Scientists in China have developed an injectable hydrogel aimed at treating early-stage osteoarthritis. The biomaterial is said to relieve arthritis-related discomfort and slow the condition's progression using "hydrogel microspheres" and targeted antibodies. The therapy has so far succeeded in trials involving rats.

https://www.extremetech.com/science/inj ... -treatment

[Yuli Ban]

Engineers Gave a Mushroom a Robot Body And Let It Run Wild

Nobody knows what sleeping mushrooms dream of when their vast mycelial networks flicker and pulse with electrochemical responses akin to those of our own brain cells.

But given a chance, what might this web of impulses do if granted a moment of freedom?

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Cornell University in the US and the University of Florence in Italy took steps to find out, putting a culture of the edible mushroom species Pleurotus eryngii (also known as the king oyster mushroom) in control of a pair of vehicles, which can twitch and roll across a flat surface.

Through a series of experiments, the researchers showed it was possible to use the mushroom's electrophysiological activity as a means of translating environmental cues into directives, which could, in turn, be used to drive a mechanical device's movements.

You know this ties into "uplifting," even if it's a bit limited. I have always imagined "if you gave non-animal creatures, or very very non-mammalian animals a more advanced and capable body, what would they do? What if you put a slime mold into a spider robot?"

[firestar464]

Psychedelics show promise for treating PTSD by suppressing learned fear responses

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09- ... onses.html

[firestar464]

Anesthesia study unlocks clues about the nature of consciousness

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09- ... sness.html

New study reveals the signals in your brain that initiate spontaneous actions

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09- ... tions.html