Human Stem Cells Fight Parkinson’s Disease in Monkeys

Scientists have successfully used “reprogrammed” stem cells to restore functioning brain cells in monkeys, raising hopes the technique could be used in future to help patients with Parkinson’s disease.
 

Since Parkinson’s is caused by a lack of dopamine made by brain cells, researchers have long hoped to use stem cells to restore normal production of the neurotransmitter chemical.

Now, for the first time,researchers have shown that human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) can be administered safely and effectively to treat primates with symptoms of the debilitating disease.

So-called iPS cells are made by removing mature cells from an individual—often from the skin—and reprogramming them to behave like embryonic stem cells. They can then be coaxed into dopamine-producing brain cells.

The scientists and a world-leader in iPS technology, said their experiment indicated that this approach could potentially be used for the clinical treatment of human patients with Parkinson’s.

In addition to boosting dopamine production, the tests showed improved movement in affected monkeys and no tumors in their brains for at least two years.

The human iPS cells used in the experiment worked whether they came from healthy individuals or Parkinson’s disease patients, the  team reported in the journal.

“This is extremely promising research demonstrating that a safe and highly effective cell therapy for Parkinson’s can be produced in the lab,” said a researcher who was not involved in the research.

The next step will be to test the treatment in a first-in-human clinical trial, which researcher told that he hoped to start by the end of 2018.

Any widespread use of the new therapy is still many years away, but the research has significantly reduced previous uncertainties about iPS-derived cell grafts.

The fact that this research uses iPS cells rather human embryonic stem cells means the treatment would be acceptable in countries such as Ireland and much of Latin America, where embryonic cells are banned.

Excitement about the promise of stem cells has led to hundreds of medical centers springing up around the world claiming to be able to repair damaged tissue in conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.

While some treatments for cancer and skin grafts have been approved by regulators, many other potential therapies are only in early-stage development, prompting a warning last month by health experts about the dangers of “stem-cell tourism”.

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First Gene Therapy Treatment For Cancer

Kymriah, which scientists refer to as a "living drug" because it involves using genetically modified immune cells from patients to attack their cancer.

The drug was approved to treat children and young adults suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of blood and bone marrow that is the most common childhood cancer. About 3,100 patients who are 20 and younger are diagnosed with ALL each year.

"We're entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer,".

"New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold out the potential to transform medicine and create an inflection point in our ability to treat and even cure many intractable illnesses," he said.

The treatment involves removing immune system cells known as T cells from each patient and genetically modifying the cells in the laboratory to attack and kill leukemia cells. The genetically modified cells are then infused back into patients.

"Kymriah is a first-of-its-kind treatment approach that fills an important unmet need for children and young adults with this serious disease," he said.

"Not only does Kymriah provide these patients with a new treatment option where very limited options existed, but a treatment option that has shown promising remission and survival rates in clinical trials," he said in the statement.
 
The treatment, which is also called CTL109, produced remission within three months in 83 percent of 63 pediatric and young adult patients. The patients had failed to respond to standard treatments or had suffered relapses. Based on those results, an advisory panel recommended the approval. 

The treatment does carry risks, however, including a dangerous overreaction by the immune system known as cytokine-release syndrome. As a result, it is requiring strong warnings.

In addition, the treatment will be available only at hospitals and clinics that have been specially trained in administering the therapy.

Patient advocate groups have expressed concern that the treatment could be the most expensive drug ever sold in the United States. One group, Patients for Affordable Drugs, said the group met Tuesday to discuss the price.

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Statins 'strikingly' lower rate of breast cancer and mortality

A 14-year study involving more than one million women has found that those with high cholesterol have strikingly lower rates of breast cancer and improved mortality, a phenomenon the researchers have linked to the use of statins. Many people take the drug to lower their cholesterol.

"Showing that patients with high cholesterol have a lower risk of developing breast cancer and subsequent mortality in a longitudinal study like this provides the strongest evidence for a protective effect, which is likely related to statins", said  a senior author of the study.

The link between high cholesterol and breast cancer has been "fascinating researchers for the last few years", he added.

The lead author of the study, added: "Our research confirms that women with a diagnosis of high cholesterol have strikingly lower rates of breast cancer with improved death rates and survival.

"The results of this study provide the strongest justification to date for a clinical trial evaluating the protective effect of statins in patients with breast cancer, and this is what we intend to do.

"I don't think at the moment we can give statins to prevent or reduce mortality from breast cancer per se. But a positive result in a clinical trial could change this and it is an exciting and rapidly progressing field."

The study examined 1,220,024 women over the age of 40 between the years 2000 and 2013. They looked at patients who had been diagnosed with high cholesterol and those with lower levels to gauge the occurrence of breast cancer in the two groups as well as the resulting mortality rates.

After adjusting for factors which may affect mortality – such as, sex, age and ethnicity - the team found that the women with high cholesterol were 45% likely to develop breast cancer than those without. 

Furthermore, those with high cholesterol that did develop the disease were 40% less likely to die than those with lower levels of cholesterol.

The author added: "If a diagnosis of high cholesterol leads to lower breast cancer rates this must either relate to something inherent in the condition or affected patients, or more likely, to treatment with widely used cholesterol lowering interventions such as statins."
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WANT TO KNOW WHY HEART ATTACKS ARE MORE IN WINTER?

The risk of suffering a heart attack is more likely to peak in the winter season and decline in summers because air temperature acts as an external trigger for the life threatening disease, an analysis has shown. The findings revealed that the average number of heart attacks per day was significantly higher during colder temperatures as compared to warmer. When the daily temperature dropped to less than zero degree Celsius, the average rate of heart attacks a day peaked to four, as compared to when it was above 10 degrees. Furthermore, the occurrence of heart attacks increased with higher wind velocities, limited sunshine duration and higher air humidity.  “There is seasonal variation in the occurrence of heart attack, with incidence declining in summer and peaking in winter,” said lead author .
 
“Our results consistently showed a higher occurrence of heart attacks in sub-zero temperatures. The findings were the same across a large range of patient subgroups, and at national as well as regional levels, suggesting that air temperature is a trigger for heart attacks,” the author added. The body responds to cold by constricting superficial blood vessels, which decreases thermal conduction in the skin and subsequently increases arterial blood pressure. Other responses are shivering and increased heart rate, which raise the metabolic rate and in turn increase body temperature, the researchers explained. “In the majority of healthy people these mechanisms are well tolerated. But in people with atherosclerotic plaques in their coronary arteries they may trigger a heart attack,” the author noted. Respiratory tract infections and influenza are also known risk factors for heart attack that have a clear seasonal variation. “In addition, seasonal-dependent behaviours such as reduced physical activity and dietary changes could also play a role in the increased occurrence of heart attack during colder weather,”the author said.  For the study, the team investigated the association between heart attack incidence and weather conditions such as air temperature, sunshine duration, precipitation, and air pressure in more than 2,80,000 patients. 

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Why Excess Salt is Bad for You!

In a recent study it was found out that high intake of salt may increase one’s risk of a heart failure.  In fact the risk can double up if your intake of salt is too high. If you love eating fries, nuts, wafers and any processed foods that have salt in it, it increases the risk of heart failure by 2 times.  The researched mentioned that people who consumed salt less than 6.8 grams are at a lesser risk in comparison to consumption of 13.6 grams of salt every single day. The study was conducted by taking the urine sample of more than 4630 people that includes both men and women. Their salt intake was analyzed based on this. That’s how they came to the conclusion that more than 13.6 grams of salt per day can be very dangerous fro your heath. Now this study only spoke about high risk of heart failure. We will give you 5 more reasons that show why excess salt is bad for you.

Bloating

If you have ever faced chronic bloating that may be because you are eating foods with high salt content. Salt sucks out most of the water from your body that causes bloating and water retention.

Coronary heart disease

Coronary heart diseases occur when the blood flow to the heat is reduced or blocked. And this happens when there is too much salt in your body.  And if you cut your salt intake, you will have a healthy heart.

Asthma

There have been several studies conducted in the past that suggested that asthma can also occur because of a high salt intake. If you already have asthma it is better that you choose healthier options for food.

Obesity

Now salt is not directly linked to obesity or weight gain. When you have anything that has a high salt content in it, it makes you thirsty and you end u drinking sugary or fizzy drinks. This can lead to weight gain.  Apart from this if you have French fries and wafers too often, then that can cause obesity.

Kidney stone

High salt diet causes a high production of calcium by the kidney which then goes to the urine. The calcium content is stored and with time it leads to kidney stones.  Kidneys usually control the fluids in your body to be balanced. And excess salt will only make it worse.

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