Medicine & Healthcare

Our bodies could be inducing mutations in the COVID-19 virus that activate immune cells to increase the production of pro-inflammatory molecules.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (10 November 2020) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has partnered with leading healthcare knowledge provider, the BMJ, to launch a new online coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Information Centre for healthcare professionals tackling the pandemic.

Testing for mutations in RNF43, a protein that affects key cancer cell-growth pathway Wnt, gives clinicians actionable insights to tailor treatments better.

Research shows that Japan’s noncompulsory state of emergency generally succeeded in reducing human movement. A study from The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science used mobile phone location data for January–April 2020 to record and plot movement of people in metro Tokyo during the emergence and first wave of COVID-19. They found a movement reduction of over 50%, which in turn limited social contact and slowed infection spread.

Innovative research by scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School has shed light on the mysterious role of long non-coding RNAs in the development of pancreatic cancer and suggests potential new targets for precision cancer therapies.

Residents of Kabwe Town, Zambia, have very high blood levels of lead and cadmium, to such an extent that the symptoms of toxicity have been clinically observed.

Professor Hyug Moo Kwon, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has published a review paper at 'Nature Review Nephrology'.

The two-day online summit, scheduled to be held on November 24-25, 2020 will offer unique insights into the role of digital technologies in helping stakeholders, particularly across the Asia-Pacific region, navigate the new normal and shape the future of mobility in a post-COVID scenario.

Regular training enhances your strength, but recovery is equally important. Elastic bandages and compression garments are widely used in sports to facilitate recovery and prevent injuries. Now, a research team from Tohoku University has determined that compression garments also reduce strength loss after strenuous exercise.

Maternal antibodies primed to react to specific allergens can cross the placenta, passing on transiently allergic reactions to offspring, according to new preclinical research from a collaborative study by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. The finding hints at why infants exhibit allergies so early in life and suggests possible targets for intervention.

Scientists have revealed the molecular mechanism regulating the trafficking of lysosomes that increases the invasiveness of radioresistant cancer cells following radiotherapy.

Study confirms bats adopt multiple strategies to reduce pro-inflammatory responses, thus mitigating potential immune-mediated tissue damage and disease. Findings provide important insights for medical research on human diseases.

Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, November 18-20, VIRTUAL - from 2.30pm SGT

Although most people are likely to accept a future vaccine against COVID-19 if one is proven safe and efficacious, the hesitancy of those who refuse vaccination could stall global efforts to achieve community immunity, suggests a study published in Nature Medicine.

Osaka City University detects cancer cells in 2ml blood samples and connects them back to their origin tumor – creating a new diagnostic tool that may aid in quicker and more accurate anti-cancer measures.

Published: 15 Oct 2020 Institution: Horizon Journals Contact details: Prof. Nayan Kanwal 6121 W.J. Voaz Road, Fort Worth, TX 76169, Texas. USA [email protected] +1(209) 302 9591 News topics: Covid-19 Economic Effect Education Health History People Academic discipline: Social sciences Content type: Announcement Website: https://horizon-jhssr.com/index.php Horizon Oct. 2020 Issue

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Nature Communications the mechanism making some lung-cancer patients resistant to the drug osimertinib. In addition, they suggest a combined drug treatment resolving osimertinib resistance in the case of cancer cells expressing low amounts of AXL, a protein belonging to the class of receptor tyrosine kinases.

Scientists found out why people with Zellweger syndrome also get sick with genetic disorders linked to dysfunctions of the cilia or the cell’s “antenna.”

Scientists have identified key molecules that mediate radioresistance in glioblastoma multiforme; these molecules are a potential target for the treatment of this brain cancer.

A high incidence of tooth-related ‘periodontal’ diseases among a sample of Malaysian children with diabetes suggests these conditions should be given more attention, as is the case with other co-morbidities. Periodontal disease is the sixth most common co-morbidity in people with diabetes. Researchers at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) examined 64 children, finding a high prevalence (96.8%) of periodontal disease in those with diabetes compared to those without. More than 6% of the children with diabetes who had periodontal disease were found to have untreated or a severe form of periodontal disease.

Supported by the donation of over HK$35 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) announced the results of the early phase of the CUHK Jockey Club Multi-Cancer Prevention Programme (the Programme) today. Since the commencement of the Programme in 2018, it has already provided screening services to over 3,000 eligible citizens. More than 70% of the participants were diagnosed either with adenoma or advanced adenoma through colonoscopy, while ten persons were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. For those who underwent colorectal cancer screening, almost all of them were willing to be screened for another type of cancer. Subsequently, 15 participants were diagnosed with breast cancer and another 37 participants were diagnosed with prostate cancer. The research team believes that the screening results demonstrated the effectiveness of the “one-stop multi-cancer screening” model and advocates the implementation of this model to the cancer screening programme in the future.

Researchers from the University of Tsukuba demonstrate that the hypnotic and teratogenic effects of thalidomide are separable. Thalidomide is a medication with several different effects, one of which is promoting sleep in the context of insomnia. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba have discovered that thalidomide exerts its hypnotic effects through mechanisms distinct from those for the drug’s notorious teratogenicity. These are striking results showing how thalidomide induces sleep independently of its known effects on the teratogenic cereblon pathway. These findings could be helpful in developing novel thalidomide-like hypnotic drugs without thalidomide’s teratogenic effects. The study was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Testing self-collected saliva samples could offer an easy and effective mass testing approach for detecting asymptomatic COVID-19.

Deaths and major complications from diabetes have declined in older people over the last sixteen years but not at all in younger age groups, according to researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine). They analysed the data of 770,000 people with diabetes and found that over a 16-year period, the incidence of major complications such as coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke declined by up to 80%, and deaths declined by 50%. The declines were mainly among older people with diabetes. There were no improvements seen for those under the age of 45. Given the rising number of young people with diabetes and their high risks of complications and death, the research team calls for focused efforts to meet the needs of this group. Results of these studies have been published in medical journals including Cardiovascular Diabetology, Diabetologia, PLoS Medicine and Annals of Internal Medicine.

A comprehensive search of genetic variation databases has revealed no significant differences across populations and ethnic groups in seven genes associated with viral entry of SARS-CoV-2.

Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has launched a unique Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme for COVID-19 which aims to deliver comprehensive recovery care to discharged COVID-19 patients by integrating cardiorespiratory and resistance exercise training with the use of Chinese herbal medicine.

Researchers offer first proof that Ultraviolet C light with a 222 nm wavelength -- which is safer to use around humans -- effectively kills the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) held the online international symposium “COVID-19 and Beyond, Culturally Speaking” on 15 and 16 September, and over 1300 participants from all over the world gathered to examine and reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic from a cultural perspective.

Drugs tackling chronic myelogenous leukemia have completely transformed prognoses of patients over the last couple of decades, with most cases going into remission. But drug resistance can occur, leading to relapses. Targeting the lipids involved in regulating part of a leukemia stem cell’s life span offers a potential second route to defeat the disease—and solid tumorous cancers as well.

Applying cutting-edge experimental and computational tools to basic science, researchers in Australia and Singapore have discovered a technique that could enable future cell therapies for placenta complications during pregnancy.