Category Archives: Research

Britain, Health, Medical, Research, Science

A simple surgical operation to cure high blood pressure…

CLINICAL TRIALS START FOR TREATING HYPERTENSION

British scientists believe they could cure millions of patients with hard-to-treat high blood pressure and hypertension.

A simple operation would involve removing a small cluster of nerves in the throat linked to blood pressure regulation.

Researchers from Bristol University are extremely hopeful the measures could help some 2.5 million individuals with hypertension that cannot be controlled by medication.

While scientists have already started a clinical trial on 20 people with high blood pressure – following successful laboratory tests on rats – if the trials prove to be successful and is given the go-ahead, the surgical procedure could be available within three years as a ‘relatively simple’ day treatment for adults. The novel approach successfully ‘cured’ the condition in laboratory rats.

The carotid body is one of the body’s smallest organs but acts as a sensor that detects changes in gas levels in the blood. Sometimes, however, it can become overactive.

The carotid body is one of the body’s smallest organs but acts as a sensor that detects changes in gas levels in the blood. Sometimes, however, it can become overactive.

Known as the silent killer, high blood pressure or hypertension affects a third of adults and significantly raises the odds of heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal conditions if left untreated.

At the moment, there is no effective remedy for individuals who do not respond to conventional drug therapies.

But scientists at Bristol’s School of Physiology and Pharmacology identified a key organ in the development of high blood pressure – the carotid body.

It consists of a tiny cluster of nerve cells that sit on the side of the two branches of the carotid artery in the neck, each the size of a grain of rice.

Despite being one of the body’s smallest organs, it has the highest blood flow of them all – reflecting its importance as an early warning device for the brain if there is any change to oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood.

In some cases, it is thought the carotid body becomes overactive and sends a message to the brain to keep blood pressure high. Scientists involved in removing the organs in rats with hypertension found that blood pressure fell and remained low.

The study, which was funded by the British Heart Foundation, and first published in the journal Nature Communications, said the animals suffered no adverse side-effects either.

In human trials, only one carotid body would be removed in order to reduce blood pressure while maintaining the organ’s vital regulatory function.

Professor Julian Paton who is the lead researcher on the study, said:

… We know that these tiny organs behaved differently in conditions of hypertension, but had absolutely no idea that they contributed so massively to the generation of high blood pressure; this is really most exciting.

… It certainly has the potential to be a very novel interventional approach to drug-resistant hypertension (high blood pressure).

An estimated 16 million British adults have high blood pressure; a third of whom may be unaware they have the condition.

Patients are often at first advised to alter their lifestyle by taking more exercise, stopping smoking, cutting down on drinking and limiting the salt and fat in their diet.

GPs can also prescribe medication – often a combination of pills – but many patients skip doses because of the side-effects caused by most treatments. Up to 15 per cent of patients – 2.5 million people – also struggle to control their condition using drugs.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said:

… This potential new treatment has real promise to help this hard-to-treat group of patients … Many patients can control their blood pressure adequately by lifestyle change and medication so they would not be offered this kind of treatment.

… It is therefore unlikely this treatment will ever be tested as an alternative to standard medication – only as an extra procedure when current drug treatment fails.

A consultant cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospital referred to the breakthrough as an ‘exciting and innovative approach’ and added that current treatments for high blood pressure have serious drawbacks, such as no-one likes taking multiple tablets and that medics are often guilty of not explaining properly why treatment is needed and what benefits might be expected.

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Health, Medical, Research, Science, United States

Eye tests may detect early onset of Alzheimer’s…

AMYLOID PLAQUES

Two new eye tests in America are being trialled that one day may help doctors to detect the very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Newly released research has revealed that non-invasive retinal testing is now being trialled by scientists in the U.S. that could help flag up the condition by alerting clinicians to the presence of amyloid plaque deposits, a known biological marker of the disease.

Early stage testing could mean that patients are diagnosed or registered as high-risk up to twenty years before noticeable symptoms begin, helping patients get treatment before memory loss develops.

Scientists generally accept that amyloid plaques (a type of residual protein deposit) in the brain are a key marker of the disease.

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This site incorporates a science and biology page. Click the image icon to view it.

Neurologists have believed for a long time that there is a correlation between the amounts of amyloid in the eye and residual protein deposits in the brain. The argument for this correlating factor is a strong one because the retina is formed from the same tissue as the brain when a foetus is developing in the womb.

To confirm this theory, two tests have been developed and trials are currently underway. The tests are known as the Retinal Amyloid Index (by NeuroVision) and the Sapphire II (by Cognoptix).

Ocular based examinations through the years have been used to detect and diagnose Alzheimer’s at any early stage through methods such as optic nerve cupping, pupillary response to tropicamide dilation and ocular muscle movement. However, all have failed to withstand the test of time in terms of sensitivity and specificity.

Professor Keith Black is chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, and co-founder of NeuroVision. He says that if people are going to get Alzheimer’s they begin to develop the hallmarks, such as amyloid deposits, in their 50s.

Professor Black said:

… The key for having an effective treatment for AD is early detection. You want to prevent those brain cells from being killed or dying in the first place.

The Sapphire II test works by measuring the amount of photons (i.e. light particles) captured when scanning the eyes. The amount of photons captured directly correlates with the amount of amyloid in the eye.

Experts state that the Sapphire II is currently in phase one of two in clinical feasibility trials, and that phase three is expected to begin in 2014.

Approximately 800,000 people in Britain suffer from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The number of cases is predicted to double within a generation.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and existing drugs can only alleviate symptoms. The condition is diagnosed by memory tests and, in some cases, through brain scans.

Presently, the disease can only be confirmed by a post-mortem examination, which reveals the presence of harmful amyloid plaques in the brain.

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Health, Medical, Research, Science

British scientists unlock the secret DNA genetics of 30 cancers…

MUTATIONAL SIGNATURES

Scientists in the UK have achieved a ‘profound’ and major breakthrough in the fight against cancer that could lead to new treatments and possibly even its prevention.

Despite significant advances, very little is known about what triggers cancer, which kills around half the 325,000 Britons diagnosed with it each year.

But British scientists believe they have unlocked the DNA secrets of 30 of the most common forms of the disease. This will now bring us closer in understanding their causes.

In the biggest analysis yet of its kind, the researchers compared DNA from more than 7,000 cancer patients around the world. The cases included the most common forms, including breast, bowel, lung and prostate, which account for more than half of those diagnosed in Britain.

Cancer is caused by mutations in DNA. These mutations are caused by such things as tobacco in the case of lung or throat cancer, and excess ultraviolet light in the case of skin cancer. Researchers looked for patterns in the genetic code of the tumours made by these mutations.

Analysis of the 7,000 DNA samples revealed 21 patterns that between them were responsible for 30 cancers. Working out which food, drink, habit or other external factor causes them could lead to new ways of preventing the disease.

Knowing more about the genetics of cancer should also speed the search for new treatments – and some existing drugs might also work better in those whose tumours are caused by particular patterns.

Certain patterns in the tumour DNA were expected, such as the one caused by smoking; but others were surprising, including one believed to be caused by a protein that helps us fight infections.

Some of the patterns were only found in one type of cancer, while others, such as the marks left by ageing, were found in many different tumours.

Although further research may reveal more patterns – or ‘mutational signatures’ – the scientists, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, believe they have found most of them.

Professor Mike Stratton, the lead researcher, said:

… This compendium of mutational signatures and consequent insights into the mutational processes underlying them has profound implications for the understanding of cancer development, with potential applications in disease prevention and treatment.

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