Finding new drugs on the bottom of the ocean

In the search of new drugs to treat diseases, scientists often resort to nature in order to find new compounds with useful biological activity. We have found a lot of medicinal compounds in plants, and used them as the foundation for new drugs by modifications and enhancements through chemistry. As we are constantly looking for novel, interesting compounds, the search sometimes takes us to peculiar places. Such is the case with scientists from the Oregon Health & Science University, who proposed to go look for new drugs on the bottom of the ocean.

New drug may cure deafness

Being able to hear is governed by the nervous system, by gathering input from the ears and turning it into information regarding our surroundings in the brain. Because we need the nervous system to hear, any damage to the ear or the hearing process can be permanent. The delicate cells of the ear and the nervous system are hard to repair, which is why deafness can rarely be cured. However, a new drug may change that, by allowing for repair of the sensory cells in the ear.

New drug promising for treatment of Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease affects the part of the brain that takes care of muscle control. Because the brain part responsible for these functions is dying in patients with Parkinson's, the symptoms slowly progress from slight tremors to all kinds of problems that also affect cognition and behaviour. Our ever-increasing knowledge of the brain and its pathology has resulted in several interesting and novel treatments, such as electrical stimulation. In addition, scientists have recently uncovered how vitamins, diet and genes affect symptoms in Parkinson's. However, there is still no proper cure, but a novel drug that is currently being tested has shown very promising results.

Smart pill bottle helps patients adhere to drug regime

Patient compliance to medication is an important topic, because it is known that a rather significant percentage is not very strict with the drug regime laid down by their physicians. Naturally, it is possible to forget to take your pill, especially if you take them daily, but some patients downright refuse to adhere to the medication schedule. Luckily the latter group is quite small. In order to tackle the problem of adherence, a company known as AdhereTech developed a pill bottle that automatically checks whether medication is being taken. And it even has the capability to send the data to the doctors through a cellular network.

Smartphone app helps patients sort out pills

There is an app for almost everything nowadays. Smartphones have also steadily been finding their way into the world of healthcare and medical science. A recently released app from the US National Institutes of Health helps patients identify drugs by taking pictures of pills. By comparing the images with a database, this system ought to help patients taking the right type of pill, should they be taking multiple medications.

A quick way to relieve symptoms of depression

Depression is the clinical manifestation of a 'bad mood'. It is characterized by feelings of negative emotions, including sadness, anxiousness, hopelessness, emptiness and worthlessness. A depressed patient is having more than just an occasional bad mood, and it has been associated with lower levels of certain brain chemicals in areas that regulate mood. There are several drugs on the market that try to correct this neuronal imbalance, but there is no definite cure. Now, scientists from Yale University have shown that a well-known substance called ketamine diminishes symptoms of depression within hours. This could be a breakthrough for depression treatment.

Millions of cancer patients suffer unnecessary pain

Cancer is one of the worst diseases known to man, especially because many forms are hard to treat and are often lethal. Additionally, the disease itself, or even the treatment, can cause a lot of pain. Fortunately, pain can almost always be treated due to a vast arsenal of analgesics. A recent study has shown that despite the availability of painkillers, many cancer patients worldwide suffer from pain as a result from their cancer. According to the lead researcher, the study "paints a shocking picture of unnecessary pain on a global scale".

Predicting drug effect by 'putting the patient in a tube'

Some patients are easy to treat, while others can be very difficult. Even for patients that have the same disease, it is sometimes necessary to opt for a different treatment because of specific indicators that result in a lack of drug efficacy. In such cases, it is worthwhile to explore the use of other drugs, though it is not always clear which ones would work best, and it is of course unethical to use the patient as a guinea pig. A new method, used in oncology, works by taking some of the patient's healthy and diseased cells and putting them into a laboratory culture system. This allows for free drug testing without potentially harming the patient, and a first case study shows such lab predictions can aid treatment decisions by testing and selecting the right drug.

Beneficial effect of autism drugs still unproven

One of the biggest concerns in healthcare these days is overmedication. That means a patient is taking unnecessary or excessive medications. This is partly fuelled by our attitude of trying to solve everything with a pill, but the pharmaceutical industry also plays a large role by trying to promote use of medicine for indications that do not require drugs at all. Most of this discussion takes place in the realm of psychology and psychiatry. Especially treatment of disturbances in behaviour, such as in autism, has been found questionable. A recent study from the Vanderbilt University reveals that medicating adolescents diagnosed with autism is indeed not proven to be favourable, casting doubts on the current clinical practice in autism treatment.

'Birth defect' drug thalidomide useful for lung disease

One of the biggest scandals in the history of medicine is that of thalidomide, or softenon as it is known in some countries. It was developed in the 50's as a drug for morning sickness, pain and to aid sleep, but it was later discovered that there are severe side effects. Pregnant women taking thalidomide gave birth to horribly deformed children, and the drug was consequently pulled from the market. However, the damage was already done, as thousands of babies were born with birth defects. Despite these horrible side effects, the drug has seen some renewed interest, as it has been shown useful in several conditions. A recent study shows that thalidomide might come in handy to treat a severe lung disease.

The placebo effect occurs at an unconscious level

One of the most peculiar treatment effects in medicine is that of a placebo. It is not supposed to work, but somehow patients receiving therapy based on a non-efficacious compound do seem to benefit from it. Placebos do not have any so-called bio-active components, and are often used for comparison with a 'real' drug. Nevertheless, the placebo effect is an interesting phenomenon and it tells us something about how the body itself facilitates and improves treatment. Many scientists have suggested that being aware of the fact that you are going to get treated adds to the placebo effect, but a recent study shows that patients do not have to be conscious about it for a placebo to work.

Herbal tea as a drug to fight breast cancer

There are lots of old wives' tales and folklore when it comes to herbs or other natural products and their medicinal effects. Lots of the attributed effects are not scientifically proven and mostly rely on the so-called placebo effect. Of course, it would be too easy to just write all of them off as rubbish, which is why some scientists have taken a keen interest into scientifically analysing the effects of certain herbal treatments. As it turns out, some components in herbal tea may actually help to fight breast cancer.

Folding DNA like a trojan horse

DNA is normally shaped like a double helix, which basically looks similar to a spiralling staircase. By building DNA in this particular way, it is possible to form endless chains of genetic material, suitable for read-out by cellular machinery, in order to derive the required information for protein production. However, by changing chemical properties, it is possible to give DNA a different shape, and fold it in ways similar to the way proteins are folded into their unique shape. DNA folding has been used by a group of scientists to create something similar to a trojan horse, in order to help kill cancer cells.

Side effects from chemotherapy can be greatly reduced

Treating cancer with chemotherapeutics is a double-edged sword. While it is proven to be very effective in killing cancer cells, it also harms healthy tissue, which means clinicians have to balance between an effective dose and the associated side effects. Despite our best efforts, getting rid of chemotherapy and replacing it with more specific treatments will take a while. That is why some scientists instead look at improving chemotherapy instead of finding replacements. Scientists from KU Leuven found that it is possible to greatly reduce the side effects by providing patients with an additional treatment.

Chemotherapy can sometimes increase cancer growth

Therapies for cancer are never very pretty. Scientists struggle with creating treatments that specifically target cancerous cells and leave healthy tissue alone. Radiation therapy, for example, can be targeted directly onto a tumour, but surrounding tissue suffers from it as well. Chemotherapy is another example: basically, it is poison that just kills malicious cells a bit faster than healthy cells. However, a recent study shows that chemotherapy can actually increase growth of tumour cells. Disturbing, but knowing the mechanism helps us to improve therapies.

Scientists banned after deadly probiotic treatment

Recently, scientists have begun experiments with bacteria as a new form of treatment. For some diseases it is hypothesized that administering bacteria can improve health, for example by providing patients with probiotic drinks. Despite a lack of conclusive evidence for its efficacy, scientists have been experimenting with probiotics for new patient groups, of which brain cancer is perhaps the most peculiar example. Needless to say, things can go wrong with experimenting. Two scientists that experimented with infecting patients suffering from brain cancer found their results a little off: instead of treating the tumour, the patients died from the supposedly beneficial infection.

New drug has the potential to eliminate HIV infection

When it comes to viral infections, HIV is the most well-known. It causes AIDS, resulting in the death of many cells of the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to secondary infections. It is hard to treat, even though recent years have seen the development of various anti-viral drugs. AIDS is still not curable, and while the progress of the disease can be delayed, patients still die relatively young because of secondary infections. A new drug could possibly be the answer, as scientists have shown that it has the potential to kill all HIV-infected cells.

Pharmaceutical company fined $3 billion after fraud

We rely on pharmaceutical companies, and, in lesser extent, academics, to get new drugs onto the market. They fulfil an important role in society, because their efforts can save lives by curing diseases. However, much can be said about the conduct of such companies, as they need to invest a lot of money in development, meaning they want to earn as much as possible when bringing a drug to the market. There is a thin line between securing much-needed profits and unethical conduct, which sadly sometimes leads to companies crossing the line of what is deemed fair and reasonable. GlaxoSmithKline, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, was ordered to pay 3 billion dollars after the company was found to be guilty of fraudulent conduct.

Scientists successfully treat autism, in mice

Autism spectrum disorders cover a wide array of brain malfunctions, that predominantly lead to impaired social skills, problems with communication, and, in severe cases, cognitive impairment. A proper treatment for autism does not exist, and patients often need special attention and care. Because scientists are constantly improving their knowledge of the brain, new treatment options have become available over the last couple of years. Some of them are currently under investigation, and a scientific group from the University of Cincinnati found a way to treat autism by reversing the cognitive impairment. So far, they have seen success in a mouse model.

Possible cure for deadly Ebola virus

We have been quite successful in fighting 'invisible' threats such as viruses and bacteria over the last fifty years. The discovery of antibiotics fuelled many cures for infectious diseases that until then remained untreatable. Viruses are a little harder to kill, mainly because they are built in a much more simple fashion, rendering them with less vulnerabilities to exploit. Nevertheless, scientists have been able to develop some anti-viral drugs, even though some viruses remain extremely dangerous. The Ebola virus is an example, which causes haemorrhagic fever and is deadly in most cases of infection. It remains a potential threat to mankind, but luckily scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada have developed a vaccine that seems to function as a cure.