Low-cost phone-based device fights anaemia

A $20 device called HemoGlobe could offer a “prick-free” system for detecting and reporting anaemia, a disease responsible for the death of 1 lakh mothers and 6 lakh babies annually
 

An illustration of the anaemia detecting device, HemoGlobe, that uses a cellphone and will cost less than Rs 1,200 to mass produce Could a low-cost screening device connected to a cell phone save thousands of women and children from anaemiarelated deaths and disabilities? That's the goal of Johns Hopkins engineering undergraduates who've developed a noninvasive way to identify women with this dangerous blood disorder. The device, HemoGlobe, is designed to convert the existing cell phones into a “prick-free” system for detecting and reporting anaemia at the community level. The device's sensor, placed on a patient's fingertip, shines different wavelengths of light through the skin to measure the hemoglobin level in the blood. On a phone's screen, a community health worker quickly sees a colour-coded test result, indicating cases of anaemia, from mild to moderate and severe. If anaemia is detected, a patient would be encouraged to follow a course of treatment, ranging from taking iron supplements to visiting a hospital for lifesaving measures. After each test, the phone would send an automated text message with a summary of the results to a central server, which would produce a real-time map showing where anaemia is prevalent. This data could facilitate follow-up care and help health officials to allocate resources where the need is most urgent. Soumyadipta Acharya, the project's principal investigator, said the device could be important in reducing anemia-related deaths. International health experts estimate that anemia contributes to 1,00,000 maternal deaths and 6,00,000 newborn deaths annually. Anaemia occurs when a person has too few healthy red blood cells, which carry critical oxygen throughout the body. This is often due to a lack of iron, and therefore a lack of hemoglobin, the iron-based protein that helps red blood cells store and release oxygen. Anaemic mothers face many complications before and during birth, including death from blood loss associated with the delivery. In addition, a baby that survives a birth from an anaemic mother may face serious health problems. Health officials in developing countries have tried to respond by making iron supplements widely available. According to Acharya, however, the problem of anaemia remains intractable. “This device has the potential to be a gamechanger,” Acharya said. “It will equip millions of health care workers across the globe to quickly and safely detect and report this debilitating condition in pregnant women and newborns.” The HemoGlobe student inventors have estimated their phone-based systems could be produced for $10 to $20 each.

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IS THERE A SIMILAR METHOD FOR BLOOD SUGAR? 

A single pill could treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's AND multiple sclerosis

• A Phase I trial assessing the drug's safety in human patients is under way

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 21:00 GMT, 24 July 2012 | UPDATED: 09:51 GMT, 26 July 2012

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Early results from animal studies suggest new class of drug could be very effective against brain diseases

One pill with the potential to treat conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and strokes has been unveiled by scientists.
Given early enough, it may even be able to stop full-blown Alzheimer’s from taking hold.
It works by dampening down the inflammation thought to be at least partly to blame for many degenerative brain conditions, as well damage caused by head injuries and strokes.
Animal tests have been encouraging and the pill has been given to humans for the first time, although the results have yet to be released.
Early results from animal studies suggest it could be effective against a plethora of devastating brain conditions.
They include Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), motor neurone disease, frontotemporal dementia, and complications from traumatic brain injury.
Two of the drugs, known as MW151 and MW189, have been patented by US scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago.
They work by blocking excess production of damaging immune system signalling molecules called pro-inflammatory cytokines.
New research published today in the Journal of Neuroscience showed how early treatment with MW151 prevented the development of full-blown Alzheimer's in laboratory mice.

Scientists say the drugs offer a completely different approach to treating the disease to others currently being tested.

These target the accumulation of beta amyloid protein deposits in the brain which are a key feature of Alzheimer's.

HOW A KNOCK ON THE HEAD CAN INCREASE YOUR RISK OF DEMENTIA

Being knocked unconscious could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, research shows.

Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from accidents that result in a loss of consciousness disrupt proteins that regulate an enzyme associated with the disease.

New research identifies the complex mechanisms that result in a huge increase in the enzyme BACE1 in the brain after an accident.

The results may lead to the development of a drug treatment that targets this mechanism to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Lead author Dr Kendall Walker at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston said: 'A moderate-to-severe TBI, or head trauma, is one of the strongest environmental risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.

'A serious TBI can lead to a dysfunction in the regulation of the enzyme BACE1.

'Elevations of this enzyme cause elevated levels of amyloid-beta, the key component of brain plaques associated with senility and Alzheimer’s disease.'

In contrast the new drugs are designed to stop inflammation disrupting wiring in the brain and killing neurons.
Pro-inflammatory cytokines cause the synapses, the connections between brain cells, to misfire. Eventually the whole organisation of the brain falls into disarray, like a failing computer, and neurons die.
'In Alzheimer's disease, many people now view the progression from mild cognitive impairment to full-blown Alzheimer's as an indication of malfunctioning synapses, the pathways that allow neurons to talk to each other,' said Professor Martin Watterson, one of the study leaders at Northwestern University's Feinberg School.
'High levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines can contribute to synaptic malfunction.'
Mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's were given MW151 three times a week starting at six months of age. A comparable stage in humans would be when a patient begins to experience mild mental decline.
At 11 months, by which time the mice should have developed full-blown Alzheimer's, cytokine levels in the brains of the animals were found to be back to normal. Their synapses were also working normally.
Untreated mice had abnormally high brain levels of cytokines and their synapses were misfiring.
Co-author Dr Linda Van Eldik, director of the Sanders-Brown Centre on Aging at the University of Kentucky, said: 'The drug protected against the damage associated with learning and memory impairment. Giving this drug before Alzheimer's memory changes are at a late stage may be a promising future approach to therapy.'
Harmful inflammation also plays a role in a wide range of other neurodegenerative disorders, raising the prospect of using the drug to treat many different conditions.
Earlier tests on mice showed that MW151 reduced the severity of a disease similar to MS in humans that strips nerve fibres of their insulating myelin covering.
In other mouse experiments, the drug prevented a surge of pro-inflammatory cytokines after traumatic brain injury.
'If you took a drug like this early on after traumatic brain injury or even a stroke, you could possibly prevent the long-term complications of that injury including the risk of seizures, cognitive impairment, and, perhaps, mental health issues,' said Professor Mark Wainright, also from Northwestern's Feinberg School.
Parkinson's, non-Alzheimer's dementia and motor neurone disease were other conditions that could potentially be tackled using the new approach.
A key advantage of the drug is that it can be swallowed as a pill, rather than being injected. It easily crosses the 'blood brain barrier', a physical and molecular fortress wall that stops toxic molecules entering the brain.
Results are yet to be released from the first Phase I trial assessing the drug's safety in human patients.
This is the first step in winning clinical approval for a new treatment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2178306/A-single-pill-treat-Alzheimers-Parkinsons-AND-multiple-sclerosis.html#ixzz21k31TU9J

Gene therapy to regenerate bones

LONDON: Scientists claimed to have developed a new method which can mimic real bone tissue and regenerate bones using gene therapy.

Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have developed a method of repairing bone using synthetic bone graft substitute material, which combined with gene therapy, can mimic real bone tissue and can regenerate bone in patients who have lost large areas of bone from either disease or trauma.

The researchers have developed an innovative scaffold material made from collagen and nano-sized particles of hydroxyapatite which acts as a platform to attract the body's own cells and repair bone in the damaged area using gene therapy. The cells are tricked into overproducing bone producing proteins known as BMPs, encouraging regrowth of healthy bone tissue, The method can be applied to regenerate tissues in other parts of the body.

"Previously, synthetic bone grafts had proven successful in promoting new bone growth by infusing the scaffold material with bone producing proteins," professor Fergal O'Brien, Principal Investigator on the project said in a statement.

"These proteins are already clinically approved for bone repair in humans but concerns exist that the high doses of protein required in clinical treatments may have negative side effects such as increasing the risk of cancer," O'Brien added.

"By the body to produce the bone-producing protein itself these negative side effects can be avoided and bone tissue growth is promoted efficiently and safely," O'Brien said.