10 of the Greatest Medical Discoveries of 2019
The end of the year 2019 is less than a month away, and it’s high time to
sum up what the year has brought us other than environmental issues and
scandals. Luckily, there are plenty of positive things we can and should focus
on, and innovations in the field of medicine and health are definitely on the
top of the list. All 10 of these medical breakthroughs, starting with a drug to
restore bone density in osteoporosis to medication capable of reducing
cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s promise to be life-changing for the prevention
and treatment of a wide range of dangerous diseases.
1. New Osteoporosis Drug Promises to Restore Bone Density
Osteoporosis is a degenerative condition that makes bones weaker and more
prone to fractures, and it is typically more common among older adults and
especially postmenopausal women. This is because menopause brings about a
decrease in estrogen production, with the latter playing a significant role in
protecting bone health.
As a result, postmenopausal women are at a greater risk of fracture, and a
recently approved drug called Evenity is the first of its kind that can help
prevent fractures by promoting bone building. This means that millions of
osteoporosis sufferers may soon be able to improve their bone health with the
new medication.
2. Aging May Soon Become a Thing of the Past
Even the healthiest of humans are susceptible to one detrimental process -
aging, as well as all those chronic conditions that go along with it, such as
heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and renal failure. The sad truth is
that our cells are programmed by our genes to age, no matter how well we eat or
how much we exercise and shield ourselves from the sun. Luckily, researchers at
Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering may
have cracked the code behind aging.
In this seminal research, the scientists showed how they are capable of
slowing down the aging process and reversing all of the above-mentioned
diseases in mice by injecting them with a serum that urged the production of
certain proteins in the liver. Incredibly enough, the same treatment helped
with all the issues, suggesting that chronic health issues may soon be a thing
of the past.
3. The First 3D Printed Mini Heart Made of Human Tissue
In late April, scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel managed to
create the first-ever human heart copy using a 3D printer and human cells. As
of now, the researchers learned how to print only a mini version of the heart,
but it does share many of the structural and functional elements of a real
human heart. Hopefully, the team of scientists will soon learn how to print a
transplantable version of the heart and the long lines for heart transplants
will cease to exist.
4. Drug Makes Peanuts Safe for People Allergic to Them
Allergies are among the most dangerous health conditions, as there is no
known cure for them and the only way people with extreme allergies can protect
themselves is through complete avoidance of the allergen. This is especially
difficult for people who are allergic to products so widespread that trace
amounts of them are nearly ubiquitous, such as peanuts, one of the most
widespread allergies there is.
However, this may soon change, at least in the case of peanut allergy
patients, as a new pill called Palforzia has been submitted for FDA approval in
September 2019. This treatment is an immunotherapeutic medication that contains
measured out doses of peanut proteins that are gradually increasing, which can
help patients build up an immunity to the allergen and can ultimately make
peanuts safe for the patients who successfully complete the treatment.
5. A Novel Way to Diagnose Early Stage Liver Disease
Liver disease detection can be tricky, as the only current reliable method
of doing so is through a biopsy, an invasive and painful process. A novel
method developed at Georgia State University is the first noninvasive screening
technique of liver fibrosis is by using the MRI imaging and a new safe and
effective dye called ProCA32.collagen1, which will hopefully soon make liver
disease screening a pain-free and more effective procedure. The authors suggest
that their method will provide early detection of various liver conditions,
such as chronic liver disease (CLD), cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC).
6. Simple Blood Test to Diagnose Breast Cancer 5 Years Before First
Symptoms Appear
Breast cancer is the most widespread cancer in women, and the only way we
can make sure it doesn't take any lives is through early detection and treatment.
Mammograms are the most widespread screening technique used nowadays, and they
are 87% accurate at detecting breast cancer, but these can be really
uncomfortable and painful, so doctors have been trying to find a more
convenient way of doing so for years.
One such method may be a blood test recently developed by British
researchers, which, as the authors promise, is capable of preventing breast
cancer up to 5 years before the first symptoms ever emerge. Apart from that,
the blood test is much cheaper to produce, which means that it will be more
widely available.
7. New Treatment of HIV
Autoimmune diseases like HIV are among the trickiest to treat, and
unfortunately, we don't have a widely available cure for HIV. The good news is
that a new effective treatment may be soon underway, as an American gene
therapy company filed an FDA application to allow human trials for a
therapeutic treatment that replaces immune cells affected by the disease with
lab-made healthy ones.
These healthy immune cells, in turn, help the body fight against the
disease and promise to improve the symptoms of the disease. The manufacturer
suggests that the treatment may be available in 2020 if everything goes as
planned.
8. 'Smart Inhalers' Save Asthma Patients' Lives
Inhalers are a necessity for certain patients suffering from asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). As a matter of fact, they can be
life-saving, given that you're using them correctly.
To ensure patients' safety
and optimize the experience of using an inhaler, Teva Pharmaceuticals developed
a smart inhaler capable of measuring the user's respiratory flow and their use
of the device. The inhaler connects to a smartphone app that shows the data
from the inhaler on your phone. The device is available on the US market.
9. First Drug Capable of Reducing the Progression of Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease is one of the most debilitating and difficult
conditions to deal with, with no current drugs being able to improve patients'
memory loss and related symptoms. Fortunately, this soon may change, as the
first-ever treatment of Alzheimer's clinically proven in trials to improve
memory and increase patients' independence and functionality may soon get FDA
approval.
In October of 2019, a drug called Aducanumab was admitted for approval. The
way the treatment works is by helping to remove amyloid plaques that build up
in the brain of Alzheimer's patients and are known to contribute to the adverse
symptoms of the disease.
10. A Novel Way to Mend Genetic Abnormalities
Researchers have established long ago that many of the most dangerous
diseases on the planet, such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and multiple
sclerosis, just to name a few, all have a significant genetic component. Well,
soon we might be able to cure or minimize the risks of developing
genetically-inherited diseases by the use of a novel gene-editing tool called
'prime editing'.
This incredible technology is being developed by MIT researchers, and the
authors suggest that their method is capable of searching for the abnormal part
of the genome and replacing each such section with a 'healthy' version of the
gene sequences with an 89% accuracy.