Amazing health news you probably missed due to COVID

If it seems like the past year’s headlines have consisted of nothing but COVID-19, take heart; medical researchers around the world have continued to work on the bigger picture and produced plenty of good news on the health front. Here are some of the breakthroughs you might have missed.



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Reversing cognitive decline

The past year has seen several exciting advances in reversing cognitive decline due to aging, injuries or diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. A new drug used in a promising animal study appears to restore cognitive function within hours by rebooting normal cell function, with no observed side effects. Other new approaches to restoring cognition explore compounds that block inflammation, stimulate nerve growth, inhibit harmful enzymes and restore neural connections.



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Alzheimer’s blood test

A new blood test may soon allow Alzheimer’s disease to be detected before symptoms of dementia develop. By looking for a specific protein associated with the disease, researchers say they may be able to detect the disease up to 20 years before symptoms appear.



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Hyperbaric youth

Scientists may have found a way to turn back the biological clock. Subjects given oxygen in a pressurized chamber over a three-month period not only showed improved cognition—their cells appeared 25 years younger. The treatments also reduced the accumulation of dead or malfunctioning cells, another key component of the aging process.



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Bioprinted kidneys

Bioprinting—using 3D printing to create human organs—is a cutting-edge field that has made astonishing advances in the last couple of years, but producing functional kidneys has been an elusive goal until recently. Australian researchers have now printed working miniature kidneys from a paste of stem cells; the kidneys were then successfully used to test antibiotics known to cause kidney damage. The advance puts within reach the promise of kidney tissue for human transplant.



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Magic mushrooms for depression



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Wild polio eradicated in Africa



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Beating back breast cancer

New research shows that a compound in honeybee venom is remarkably effective in killing an aggressive type of breast cancer that is typically difficult to treat. The compound helps to shrink tumours when used in combination with chemotherapy, and doesn’t appear to harm normal cells. In related news, early detection of breast cancer may soon be easier, thanks to a 23-year-old Spanish engineer’s prototype of a home breast cancer urine test.



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Potential diabetes cure

A breakthrough transplant technique in mice suggests there may finally be a cure for diabetes on the horizon. Using stem cells made from the animal’s own blood to avoid rejection, Canadian scientists were able to give diabetic mice new insulin-producing cells and reverse both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, effectively curing the disease. Fundraising is now underway to bring the research to the human trial stage, and eventually make it available to the roughly 422 million people with diabetes around the world.



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Fresh sight

Science has taken major strides in the quest to restore lost vision. An Israeli man regained his sight after receiving the first successful artificial cornea implant; this could be a game changer for corneal disease, the second-leading cause of blindness in the developing world. Australian scientists are also preparing human trials of a wireless brain implant that carries signals from an external camera to the brain, potentially curing blindness in those with damaged optic nerves.



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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.

Microbes block mosquito disease

Recent studies confirm microbes may be the key to the global fight against mosquito-borne diseases. Dengue infections plummeted 77% after Indonesian researchers infected mosquitoes with a bacteria called Wolbachia, while researchers from the UK and Kenya found that mosquitoes infected with a microbe related to fungi were unable to pass on the parasite that causes malaria. Globally, the WHO estimates up to 400 million are infected with dengue and more than 400,000 die from malaria each year.



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Treatment for dwarfism

An experimental drug may offer new options for children born with achondroplasia, a rare genetic disorder and the most common cause of dwarfism. Roughly 250,000 people worldwide have the disorder and until recently, few treatment options existed beyond surgeries to lengthen or adjust bones. The new drug—which has met with some controversy—can accelerate growth up to 50%, which may help reduce chronic pain and paralysis, and increase independent living.



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Sickle cell disease therapy

A new experimental treatment that uses gene editing to spur healthy red blood cell production appears to be successful, giving hope to the tens of millions suffering from sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia. The painful, sometimes fatal genetic disorders are the result of a defective protein in red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen around the body. More than a year after a single injection of modified bone marrow cells, patients have shown dramatic improvements in healthy red blood cells and quality of life.



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Antibacterial wound dressing

With antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the rise, the need for wound care management is critical, and a new textile developed by Swiss scientists may be the key to preventing infection before it takes hold. The unique structure of the fine-spun cellulose membrane allows it to bind to special peptides that can kill even resistant staphylococci bacteria, making it ideal for wound dressings and surgical meshes like those used in hernia repairs.



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Migraine relief

Existing treatments for debilitating migraines often come with some nasty side effects of their own, but new medications coming to market promise all of the relief with none of the downsides. The new class of drugs works by preventing molecules involved in migraines from attaching to receptors in the brain, which can stop a migraine in its tracks and prevent its recurrence. While not universally effective, the drugs’ mechanism of action has pointed the way to targeting other molecules in the brain that may also be involved in migraines.



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Wearable seizure detector

A new device can detect seizures up to an hour before they occur, which could radically improve quality of life for those who suffer from epilepsy. Anti-seizure medication does not work in about 30% of cases, leaving sufferers vulnerable to unpredictable, often damaging seizures. The wearable prototype monitors electrical brain activity and computer algorithms are trained to recognize the patterns of impending seizures.



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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.

Brain chatter

A new brain interface can now decode brainwaves and translate them into speech. A study involving epileptic subjects with electrodes already implanted directly onto their brains used those electrodes to monitor tiny changes in voltage as the subjects read stories aloud. The brain activity was fed into computer models that learned how they correlated with the text, with the help of a simulated vocal tract. Scientists hope to develop the technology further to help people with conditions like cerebral palsy that interfere with speech.



Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.


Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.


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