The year 2022 was marked by important scientific advances in the field of health. Oncology patients and those with neurological diseases were filled with hope with the advancement of studies on treatments that were seen as promising.
The world followed the first transplant with a genetically modified pig heart into a human being, and the launch of a new generation of vaccines against Covid-19, more effective in preventing the Omicron variant.
We have gathered the nine health news of 2022 with the greatest global impact, identified by specialists as the future of medicine. Check out!
Cancer
Researchers at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, announced in May the start of testing an experimental vaccine against lung, prostate and ovarian cancers. The study currently has 35 volunteers diagnosed with the disease. All received three doses of the immunizer, with an interval of two weeks between each one.
The vaccine was created to attack survivin, a protein released by cancer cells to trick the immune system and prevent the body from attacking them. The expectation is that the technology can be used in other types of the disease.
Melanoma
Pharmaceuticals Moderna and MSD are advancing in the development of a vaccine against melanoma skin cancer. Preliminary results of clinical tests, released this month, show that the vaccine is capable of reducing the risk of disease recurrence by 44%.
The immunizer was developed with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, the same used in Moderna’s vaccine against Covid-19. In the case of the injection against melanoma, the dose is customized for the patient. Scientists collect tumor-specific genetic material, isolate the proteins in the laboratory, and create the vaccine that instructs the immune system to destroy cancer cells.
Melanoma is considered the most aggressive type of skin cancer, due to the high possibility of spreading to neighboring tissues and organs.
Pharmaceuticals intend to start the final phase of clinical trials soon, with large-scale tests. The use of the vaccine is expected to be approved by regulatory agencies as early as 2023.
Alzheimer’s
Research on Alzheimer’s has taken an important step in the last year. Partner companies Eisai and Biogen announced in September the results of a phase 3 study of the experimental drug lecanemab against the disease.
The monoclonal antibody designed to remove deposits of beta-amyloid protein from the brain – one of the possible causes of the disease – was able to improve the clinical conditions of the volunteers by 27%, reducing the cognitive decline of patients with the disease in an early stage.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder manifested by cognitive and memory deterioration.
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease caused by the death of brain cells that can appear decades before the first symptoms appear.PM Images/ Getty Images
***Photo-doctor-looking-tomography.jpgBecause it is a disease that tends to get worse over the years, early diagnosis is essential to delay the progression. Therefore, when presenting any symptoms of the disease, it is essential to consult a specialist. Andrew Brookes/Getty Images
***Photo-woman-with-hand-on-head.jpgAlthough the symptoms are more common in people over 70 years of age, it is not uncommon for them to manifest in young people around 30. In fact, when this “premature” manifestation occurs, the condition is called early Alzheimer’s.Westend61/ Getty Images
***Photo-elderly-with-hands-on-head.jpgIn the initial phase, a person with Alzheimer’s tends to have changes in memory and starts to forget simple things, such as: where he kept his keys, what he had for breakfast, someone’s name or even the season of the year.urbazon/ Getty Images
***Photo-person-walking-in-a-maze.jpgDisorientation, difficulty remembering the address where you live or the way home, difficulties in making simple decisions, such as planning what you are going to do or eat, for example, are also signs of the disease.OsakaWayne Studios/ Getty Images
***Photo-elderly-with-hands-on-head-2.jpgIn addition, loss of desire to perform routine tasks, change in behavior (making the person more nervous or aggressive), and repetitions are some of the most common symptoms.Kobus Louw/ Getty Images
***Photo-doctors-looking-tomography.jpgAccording to research carried out by the Alzheimer’s Drugs Discovery Foundation (ADDF), the presence of damaged proteins (Amyloid and Tau), vascular diseases, neuroinflammation, failure of neural and genetic energy (APOE) may be related to the onset of the disease.Rossella De Berti/ Getty Images
***Photo-hands-on-the-table-holding-medicine.jpgAlzheimer’s treatment is done with the use of medications to reduce the symptoms of the disease, in addition to being necessary to perform physical therapy and cognitive stimulation. The disease has no cure and care must be taken until the end of lifeTowfiqu Barbhuiya / EyeEm/ Getty Images
0
Covid-19
The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved, in November, the emergency use of the first bivalent vaccines against Covid-19 in Brazil. Pfizer/BioNTech immunizers combine the original coronavirus virus and Omicron variant sublines.
The new generation of vaccines aims to offer greater protection against the disease that has spread across the world over the past three years and continues to claim lives. The hope is that the new immunizer will prevent infections and reduce the circulation of the virus.
The first doses of Comirnaty Bivalente BA.1 and Comirnaty Bivalente BA.4/BA.5 arrived in Brazil this month.
Transplants
American David Bennett was the first person in the world to undergo a genetically modified pig heart transplant. The procedure was performed in January of this year by doctors at the University of Maryland, in the United States.
The 57-year-old agreed to receive the pig’s organ as a last resort after being rejected on several waiting lists to receive a human heart. Despite the surgery being a novelty that could revolutionize the field of transplants, the patient ended up not resisting and died two months later.
The technique, known as xenotransplantation, is hailed as a major breakthrough in medicine and hope for patients waiting in line to donate organs.
HIV
Researchers at the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center announced, in February, the cure of a woman with HIV. The patient, who also had cancer, underwent a stem cell procedure to try to treat both diseases.
The procedure was made possible thanks to a bone marrow donor with a rare mutation that made him resistant to HIV. The technique raised controversy among the scientific community for being considered unethical in people who are not in a terminal state of cancer, since it can lead to the death of the patient.
In addition to the American, three other people were considered cured of HIV throughout the year. One was a man from the United States who had been living with the virus for approximately 30 years. He underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia and, according to doctors, the donor was also naturally resistant to HIV.
movement recovery
This year, three people with paraplegia were able to walk again with the help of a device implanted in the spinal cord. The unprecedented feat happened thanks to the work of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
The mechanism is controlled by artificial intelligence software that reactivates the neurons and is triggered by a pacemaker installed in the abdomen region. Italian Michael Roccati, 29, was the first person in the world to be able to walk after suffering a serious injury and having his spinal cord completely severed.
Communication
A 36-year-old man has regained his ability to communicate 16 years after suffering a stroke. The feat was possible thanks to an implant in the brain with unprecedented technology.
The device, devised by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, captures the electrical signals emitted by the vocal cords and translates them into words with the help of a computer. The translation rate is approximately seven words per minute.
drug addiction
Two people were considered cured of severe drug addiction after having a device implanted in their brain. The equipment developed by researchers at the Rockefeller Institute of Neuroscience, in the United States, helps to regulate the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that acts in the reward and satisfaction system.
It also stimulates the frontal cortex, linked to decision making. Both regions are damaged with long-term drug use.
Get news from metropolises on your Telegram and stay on top of everything! Just access the channel: https://t.me/metropolesurgente.
