Lung cancer: Cheap blood test detects tumours at an early and treatable stage

Lung cancer screening has always been expensive, but a simple blood test that detects lipids associated with tumours may offer a cheaper alternative Health 2 February 2022 By Alice Klein Blood samples can now be used to search for early signs of lung cancer Medicimage/Alamy A blood test that can detect lung cancer before people … Read more

New Treatment Helps Frogs Regenerate Limbs With Functioning Nerves in Just 18 Months

Our bodies connect us to the world. When people lose parts of their bodies to disease or traumatic injury, they often feel that they’ve lost a part of who they are, even experiencing a grief akin to losing a loved one.   Their sense of personal loss is justified because unlike salamanders or snarky comic … Read more

Cancer Drug Flushes Out Latent HIV, Exciting New Study Finds

A widely-used cancer drug that works on the immune system could push HIV out of hiding, potentially leaving the virus open to being attacked and eliminated, according to promising results from a small new study.   HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) almost needs no introduction: the virus is notorious for its ability to evade the immune … Read more

Regenerative medicine: Frogs regrow amputated legs after treatment with a chemical cocktail

Adult frogs can’t usually regrow a lost leg, but they can after treatment with a regenerative cocktail – and the new leg even contains functioning nerves Health 26 January 2022 By Carissa Wong Regenerated frog tissue Nirosha Murugan/Algoma University), Hannah Vigran, Kelsie Miller/Tufts University in Levin lab Adult frogs can gain the ability to regrow … Read more

New Immunotherapy Study Gives Encouraging News For Children With Peanut Allergy

Children who are highly allergic to peanuts stand a significant chance to reduce the risk of adverse and potentially life-threatening reactions to the food, new research suggests.   In a clinical trial of young peanut-allergic children aged between one and three years old, the majority of participants who underwent an oral immunotherapy regime saw marked … Read more

Special Phage Therapy Clears a Patient’s Resistant Infection After 798 Days

After 700 days of antibiotic treatment, the infection of a 30-year-old bombing attack victim still raged. Tragically, the patient had suffered life-threatening injuries during the attacks at Brussels airport on 22 March 2016. Over the next three years, she faced numerous medical complications, as her fracture-related wound became infected with pan-drug-resistant bacteria, or what we … Read more

Phage therapy: Treatment for superbug infections is being tested in Belgium

Bacteria-killing viruses can be used to treat antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and the approach has been tried in more than 100 people in Belgium since a 2019 change in regulations Health 18 January 2022 By Michael Le Page Illustration of bacteriophage viruses attacking a bacterium iLexx/Getty Images The use of bacteria-killing viruses known as phages to treat … Read more

Ketamine Infusions Seem to Help People Quit Alcohol, Scientists Find

An infusion of the widely-used anesthetic ketamine could represent “new hope” in the treatment of millions of people with alcohol problems, scientists studying the drug said. People with severe alcohol problems who were given ketamine infusions alongside psychological therapy quit drinking for longer than those who received a standard treatment for alcoholism, according to the … Read more

Endometriosis Drug Shows Promise in Preliminary Phase 3 Trial Results

A new drug with the potential to treat endometriosis-associated pain with very few side effects is getting closer to official approval. Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition and the leading cause of pelvic pain worldwide. With no known cause or cure, many patients have run out of options and are living with chronic and unrelenting symptoms.   … Read more

2022 news preview: mRNA tech behind covid-19 vaccines could get new uses

By Michael Le Page A BioNTech worker tests the procedures for making mRNA Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images 2022 could be the year when we find out whether mRNA vaccine technology can be used for a lot more than just making vaccines. The hope is that it can also get our bodies to produce drugs that … Read more