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Inexpensive Oxford COVID Vaccine Proven Effective

On By ModernMedia

A vaccine developed by the University of Oxford has shown to be effective, according to the BBC. The vaccine trial was conducted with over 20 000 volunteers in the UK and Brazil.

The vaccine conferred 70% protection, compared to the 90% and above level from the other two vaccines. However, a small dose followed by a large dose however, conferred 90% protection.   

At £3 (R60) a dose, the Oxford vaccine is less costly than the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines which cost £15 (R300) and £25 (R500) respectively. The Oxford vaccine is also easier from a logistical perspective as it can be stored at higher temperatures. In an encouraging sign for controlling the pandemic, it appears that there were fewer asymptomatic infections with the low-dose-then-high-dose vaccine administration. 

The UK government has four million doses already prepared, and if the vaccine is authorised, the government will roll out an immunisation program on a vast scale. Care home staff, health care workers and the elderly will receive the vaccinations first. Meanwhile, Oxford’s manufacturing partner AstraZeneca is preparing to produce three billion doses. However, logistical challenges remain.

Prof Peter Horby, from the University of Oxford, said, “This is very welcome news, we can clearly see the end of [the] tunnel now. There were no Covid hospitalisations or deaths in people who got the Oxford vaccine.”

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Tinnitus reduced by electric stimulation of Tongue

On By ModernMedia

Science reports that a serendipitous discovery by Hubert Lim, a biomedical engineer at the University of Minnesota has led to a new treatment of tinnitus: using electrical shocks in other parts of the body.

It’s “really important” work, says Christopher Cederroth, a neurobiologist at the University of Nottingham, University Park, who was not involved with the study. The finding, he says, joins other research that has shown “bimodal” stimulation—which uses sound alongside some kind of gentle electrical shock—can help the brain discipline misbehaving neurons.

The experiment involved 326 people with tinnitus receiving electrical shocks to their tongue whilst listening to background noise on headphones.

Over the 12 weeks of treatment, the patients’ tinnitus symptoms improved dramatically. More than 80% of those who complied with the prescribed regimen saw an improvement. And they saw an average drop of about 14 points on a tinnitus severity score of one to 100, the researchers report today in Science Translational Medicine. When the team followed up after 12 months, 80% of the participants still had lower tinnitus scores, with average drops of 12.7 and 14.5 points.

The results are “quite impressive,” Cederroth says. The reduction in symptoms is larger than other studies have found for bimodal stimulation, he says, and it’s the first evidence of such long-term effects. A 2018 paper that stimulated the skin on the neck and cheek over a shorter time improved patients’ tinnitus, but there was a smaller dip in severity scores, he notes, of only about seven points. And cognitive behavioral therapy, a kind of talk therapy that is currently the only clinically validated tinnitus therapy, improves severity scores by about 10 points on average.

Still, University of Oxford neuroscientist Victoria Bajo notes there was no control group in the trial. Without that, she says, it’s impossible to know how much patients would have improved on their own or with a placebo. The work is good, she says, “but this is the beginning.”

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Electromagnetic fields treat diabetes in animal models

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According to Medial Express, electromagnetic fields (EMF) may be a new way to modulate blood glucose levels. Scientists found that when drawing blood from mice borrowed from an experiment which had them to low level EMF, the typical high blood sugar in these animals was found to be lowered. 

Carter and Huang are energized by the possibility of translating the findings to human patients with type 2 diabetes. In terms of safety, the World Health Organization considers low energy EMFs safe for human health. The UI study also found no evidence of any adverse side effects in mice.

The team is now working on a larger animal model to see if the EMFs produce similar effects in an animal that has a more similar size and physiology to humans. They also plan to conduct studies to understand the redox mechanism underlying the effects of EMFs. Their ultimate goal is to move into clinical trials with patients to translate the technology into a new class of therapies. With that goal in mind, Carter, Huang, and Carter’s twin brother, Walter, have created a startup company called Geminii Health, with help from the UI Office for the Vice President of Research.

“Our dream is to create a new class of non-invasive medicines that remotely take control of cells to fight disease,” Carter says.

The multidisciplinary research team also included scientists from the UI Departments of Radiology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Physics and Astronomy, as well as colleagues from Vanderbilt University.

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Tinnitus Severity Measured with Non-invasive Brain Imaging

On By ModernMedia

Tinnitus, experienced by about 20% of people, has long been a complaint without any overt signs to measure. Recent bran imaging techniques showed that tinnitus was related to increased neural firing and changes in connectivity in certain brain regions.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), researchers in 2014 were able to map anomalous activity in the right auditory cortex of tinnitus sufferers, and in 2018, researchers showed that signals there were related to both the presence and intensity of the tinnitus.

fNIRS measures the absorption of near-infrared light shining into the head to measure oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin levels, which are associated with cerebral activity.

Using machine learning which compared 25 patients with tinnitus to 21 healthy patients, the researchers were able to isolate two distinct areas of 

The algorithms were able to diagnose tinnitus with 78% accuracy and gauge intensity with 87% accuracy.

The imaging showed higher connectivity in the temporal-frontal lobe, linked to tinnitus duration and stress, and higher connectivity in the temporal-occipital lobe, which is linked to sound intensity. It opens the possibility of measuring both loudness and annoyance with fNIRS, and also supports preliminary research showing that by making the brain process other information, the tinnitus intensity can be reduced.

Source: Science Alert

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Algorithm-driven Treatment Lowers LDL-c, Blood Pressure

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Clinicians working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US treated patients with the aid of digital tools and an algorithm which calculated the titration of medication for pharmacists.

Over 5000 patients were enrolled into the study, entering either the cholesterol control program, the hypertension program, or both. Of those in the cholesterol program, 35% had established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); 25% had diabetes without ASCVD; and 31% had a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) >190 mg/dL. 

Study lead author Benjamin Scirica, MD, MPH, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Medicine, said, “To better control cholesterol and blood pressure, both of which are major cardiovascular risk factors, we need new end-to-end treatment solutions that improve patient identification, data collection, education and care delivery, including standardizing medication regimens. We are redefining treatment pathways to address persistent gaps in health care, overcome clinical inertia and address the problems of limited access to physicians by expanding remotely-delivered care.”

Patients with high LDL-c and/or hypertension were identified using electronic patient records, and received a digital blood pressure cuff for at-home monitoring. With the aid of the algorithm, pharmacists and support staff initiated and titrated medication.

For patients who completed the titration phase of the program, a 52mg/dL (42%) decrease in LDL-c was observed, while for all patients, LDL-c levels dropped by 24mg/dL (18%) and 14mmHg systolic and 6mmHg diastolic blood pressure drops were recorded. Patients in high-risk categories saw significant drops in LDL-c.

The research showed that efficient, effective care was possible, while simultaneously reducing the need for physical consultations. Such enabling technology allows access to care delivery to be significantly expanded.

Source: Science Daily

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Assisted Hyperventilation: A New Way to Treat Alcohol Intoxication

On By ModernMedia

Alcohol impacts just about every bodily function, from brain function and circulation to nail growth. At high levels, alcohol intoxication can damage organs and lead to death.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately three million people around the world die due to alcohol intoxication each year. 

About 90% of alcohol is processed through the liver at a constant rate, and the only way to speed this up is dialysis. Thus, the only treatment for alcohol intoxication thus far has been to supply oxygen and intravenous fluids, and medications for cardiac support as needed.

The new approach simply adds the lungs to the process: simply by hyperventilating, three times more alcohol could be excreted via the lungs than the liver. 

“But you can’t just hyperventilate, because in a minute or two you would become light-headed and pass out,” explained Dr Fisher, anaesthesiologist and senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI). The decrease in CO2 in the bloodstream is what causes the sensation of light-headedness, as well as tingling in the extremities.

To get around this, the researchers created a simple device which returns the same amount of carbon dioxide to the lungs as was exhaled, no matter the volume of air.

“It’s [a] very basic, low-tech device that could be made anywhere in the world: no electronics, no computers or filters are required. It’s almost inexplicable why we didn’t try this decades ago,” said Dr. Fisher.

Source: Medical Xpress

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Dis-Chem Continues to Grow, Eyes Medical Insurance Sector

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According to Moneyweb, the JSE-listed Dis-Chem group has announced that it is seeking to acquire an as yet unnamed medical insurance group, withholding the payout of dividends to pay for the expansion.

Earlier this year, it also announced plans to acquire Baby City for R430 million. It is also apparently “investigating” the acquisition of a community-based pharmacy group. In justifying the motivation for the deal, the group said: “Covid-19 has highlighted that individuals and companies are more prepared than ever to spend on healthcare and has also led to a deeper understanding of the importance of mental health, accelerating the need for companies to provide support to employees and their families.

“Through this transaction, the group will benefit from vertical integration into the health value chain, with access to a unique set of assets, in a sector of the healthcare market that is experiencing rapid and sustainable growth,” the group continued.

“All this at margins that are significantly higher than those in the core retail business. This investment also provides access to segments of the population who have historically not been covered by the private healthcare sector. In so doing it will assist in providing deeper access to healthcare to a wider and under-served community,” Dis-Chem concluded.