Welcome back! Last week, we talked about Phantom Bug Bites. If you missed that blog and would like to catch up, click HERE.
Are you wondering if 2023 has brought with it any new breakthroughs in medicine? I was wondering that as well! This week, let’s look at what’s in store for us!!
Let’s start with breast cancer
Sheffield Hallam University reports that a team of their scientists has successfully developed a pioneering non-invasive method for detecting breast cancer from fingerprints, with 98% accuracy!
The researchers found that technology called Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (MALDI MS) can be applied to enhanced fingerprints for the detection of breast cancer. The technology is normally used to map drugs, pharmaceuticals, and biological molecules within tissue sections.
The research team is led by Sheffield Hallam’s Professor Simona Francese who says, “These are exciting findings and, given the potential impact, we must pursue validation for a future rollout. It would be reckless not to fund this follow-up work.”
Restoring loss of smell
UCL News reports that people living with long Covid who suffer from loss of smell show different patterns of activity in certain regions of the brain, a new study led by UCL researchers has found.
Published in eClinicalMedicine, the observational study found that people with long Covid smell loss had reduced brain activity and impaired communication between two parts of the brain that process important smell information: the orbitofrontal cortex and the pre-frontal cortex.
The findings suggest smell loss, known as anosmia, caused by long Covid is linked to a change in the brain that stops smells from being processed properly. Because it’s clinically reversible, as shown in some subjects, it may be possible to retrain the brain to recover its sense of smell in people suffering the side effects of long Covid.
Dr Jed Wingrove (UCL Division of Medicine) the lead author of the study, said: “Persistent loss of smell is just one way long Covid is still impacting people’s quality of life – smell is something we take for granted, but it guides us in lots of ways and is closely tied to our overall wellbeing. Our study gives reassurance that, for the majority of people whose sense of smell comes back, there are no permanent changes to brain activity.”
Joint senior author, Professor Claudia Wheeler-Kingshott (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), said: “Our findings highlight the impact Covid-19 is having on brain function. They raise the intriguing possibility that olfactory training – that is, retraining the brain to process different scents – could help the brain to recover lost pathways, and help people with long Covid recover their sense of smell.”
Researchers say their findings also suggest that the brains of people with long Covid smell loss might be compensating for this lost sense by boosting connections with other sensory regions: their brains had increased activity between the parts of the brain that process smell and areas that process sight (the visual cortex).
“This tells us that the neurons that would normally process smell are still there, but they’re just working in a different way,” said Dr Wingrove.
Does body odor soothe us?
An interesting study out of the Karolinska Institutet covers the idea that we can promote social interactions through emotional body odors.
A preliminary study was designed to examine the different effects of human chemosignals when administered during mindfulness treatment.
The subjects of each diagnosis group are randomly allocated to an odor group (clean air, happiness, or fear chemosignals) at the beginning of the trial. The study is conducted over two consecutive days and with an online follow-up after a week.
During the trial days, after completing baseline questionnaires, subjects undergo the mindfulness intervention while they are exposed to the odor corresponding to the group to which they have been randomized, after which they complete the same questionnaires as at baseline.
Preliminary results on a subsample of 32 patients show a trend of deeper reduction of anxiety symptoms at post-treatment among odor-exposed groups compared to clean air. The final results of the complete sample will be published once the study is complete.
Giving babies peanut butter can reduce peanut allergies
King’s College of London is reporting that peanut allergies could fall by 77% if babies are weaned early on peanut products, specifically peanut butter mixed with breast milk or formula at four to six months of age.
Previous research led by Professor Gideon Lack from King’s shows that eating peanut products from an early age during infancy can reduce the risk of allergy. A new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Now, identifies a clear ‘window of opportunity’ between four and six months of age depending on the child’s health. Most peanut allergies have already developed by the time a child turns one year of age.
The modeled approach showed it was best to introduce peanut products to babies at four to six months of age. For babies with eczema, four months is recommended.
This should be in the form of smooth peanut butter or other peanut snacks suitable for babies – not whole or broken peanuts. The baby should also be developmentally ready to start solids.
Researchers advise mothers to breastfeed for at least the first six months of their child’s life as well as introduce peanut butter to their diet from four to six months.
Waiting to introduce the peanut products until 12 months of age would lead to only a 33% reduction.
Professor Graham Roberts, from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Southampton Biomedical Research Centre and the University of Southampton, said: “Over several decades, the deliberate avoidance of peanuts has understandably led to parental fear of early introduction.
“This latest evidence shows that applying simple, low-cost, safe interventions to the whole population could be an effective preventive public health strategy that would deliver vast benefits for future generations”.
Sepsis detection breakthrough
The AAMC reports “Blood clots, leaking blood vessels, and organ damage all are possible outcomes of sepsis, the body’s extreme reaction to an infection. Each year in the United States, 1.7 million U.S. adults develop sepsis, and at least 350,000 either die in the hospital or are sent to hospice because of it.
“Sepsis survival depends on rapid detection. That’s problematic because there is no one test for sepsis, and its symptoms mimic those of many other conditions.
“Now, an artificial intelligence-driven program developed at Johns Hopkins Medicine detects sepsis nearly six hours sooner on average than traditional methods.
‘Hundreds of lives likely have been saved by the system,’ says Albert Wu, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research.
“To create the process, called TREWS — Targeted Real-time Early Warning System — experts fed the AI algorithm thousands of previous patients’ health records so it could recognize signs of sepsis, explains Suchi Saria, Ph.D., director of the Machine Learning, AI and Healthcare Lab at Johns Hopkins”.
That’s all folks
Well, for today, anyway. There have been many more breakthroughs in the first six months of 2023, but alas, this blog must end for now. See you next time!
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As always, this blog is not a replacement for sound medical advice. I am not a doctor. Please make an appointment to see your healthcare provider and put a good plan in place that works for you and the needs of your body.
That’s all I have for you this week, dear reader. I’ll see you back here next Wednesday to share another cup of coffee. Until then, be good to yourself and each other.
Mind, Body, Spirit…Osteopathic Doctors treat the whole person, not just the ailment. Is your PCP a DO? Would you like to learn more about Osteopathic Physicians? Click HERE!