Category Archives: Science

Puzzle, Science

Sleuth: ‘The reinvention of Hyperbolic acid’

DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MODERATE

VIKTOR SEREBRIAKOFF, International President of the World Scientific Society, once made up a poem about hyperbolic acid, a substance so corrosive that it would eat its way through anything.

One day Sir Clive Sinclair, the inventor and British Chairman of the Society, phoned his old friend with some stunning news: “Victor, you’ll never believe this, but I have actually invented your hyperbolic acid! Stay where you are, and I’ll dash round to your house with a flask of it right now.” Victor replaced the phone and chuckled to himself. How could he tell Sir Clive wasn’t being genuine?

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Health, Medical, Research, Science

Inoculation that protects against all strains of flu for 10 years

FLU-v JAB

A SINGLE jab which protects against all strains of flu for up to a decade could be available on the NHS in just two years.

The results of a UK human trial suggest the jab is more effective than existing vaccines which target only a few types of the virus.

Its creators claim it will end the scourge of flu globally, turning it into a mild illness rather than a killer.

The FLU-v jab, which is the work of British company Imutex, is said to fight off every strain, from the yearly winter virus to virulent strains such as swine flu and the recent Aussie flu. It is likely to cost between £20 to £50 per person but will need to be given only every five to ten years.

Current vaccines target proteins on the virus surface, but regions of these proteins constantly change in a bid to fool the immune system.

This means the virus is always one step ahead of the vaccine, which is why it must be remade each year. The new jab has been created to target unchanging regions of the virus proteins by boosting the immune system’s T-cells that recognise and attack foreign invaders.

The trial involved 123 participants aged 18 to 60 being infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus and spending eight days in a room. Eighty per cent were prevented from getting flu after having the jab. The vaccine was also twice as effective as limiting flu-like symptoms, with 60 per cent of those given the jab developing fewer than two symptoms. This suggests that even when people catch the flu virus, the vaccine can reduce the impact of its symptoms.

And a less severe infection for the elderly would slash the likelihood of complications and hospitalisations. After participants received FLU-v, their immune cells were tested against a range of flu strains. In all instances, the cells recognised and killed the virus.

It is hoped the results give the vaccine “breakthrough designation” from the US Food and Drug Administration – fast-tracking it through the approval process and paving the way for it to be available on the NHS within two years.

The new study was part of the collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the world’s largest medical research establishment, the National Institute of Health in Washington, USA. The UK’s most senior influenza expert John Oxford, emeritus professor of virology at Queen Mary University of London, said: “I am enthusiastic about universal vaccines. It is recognised as being a good way forward.

“If one should have an effective universal flu vaccine, people could relax because you could have a dose of it and it would give years of protection against whichever virus is circulating.”

Dr Ed Schmidt, from the Universal Influenza Vaccine Consortium at Groningen University, Holland, said the vaccine could be “a game changer”, adding: “It would lead to a serious reduction in deaths and have a major impact.”

This winter, the annual jab worked in just a quarter of the population in what was deemed as the worst epidemic in seven years.

The NHS spends more than £100million annually on its flu vaccination programme alone.

A universal jab could save the NHS around £27,000 per person over the course of their lifetime from less illness, absences and reduced pressure.

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Medical, Research, Science

Research suggests HRT can boost brain health

HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

TAKING hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to cope with the menopause may benefit the brain and stave off memory loss, new research suggests.

A seven-year study has found women who take HRT experience fewer age-related changes to the brain.

Detailed scans suggest HRT may help preserve the structure of the prefrontal cortex, that part of the brain linked to memory and thinking.

The US researchers also found women taking the treatment had lower accumulations of amyloid plaques, toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr Kejal Kantarci, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said: “We found one form of menopausal hormone therapy taken soon after menopause may preserve brain structure in the portion of the brain responsible for memory and thinking skills.

“It may also reduce the development of amyloid plaques that can… lead to memory loss.”

The menopause, which commonly strikes women in their late 40s and early 50s, can cause symptoms including hot flushes, headaches and night sweats. HRT tackles these by providing oestrogen as the body stops producing it.

But the recently released research suggests that the treatment may also benefit the brain.

Experts believe this is because oestrogen can protect the connections in the brain when natural hormone production stops, this protection disappears. Replacing it artificially could restore protection.

The findings are significant because many women go without HRT after studies in the early 2000s raised fears of side effects. The new paper, published in the medical journal Neurology, reports on research involving 75 healthy women with an average age of 53 who had gone through the menopause within the previous three years.

Twenty women were given HRT pills, 22 received HRT patches and 33 received placebo pills or patches that contained no hormones. The women were kept on the treatment for four years, then tracked for a further three years after the therapy ended. They had MRI brain scans every few months.

The researchers found that in those on HRT patches, there was less shrinkage in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – a part of the brain that assists with memory, thinking, planning and reasoning. There were also lower accumulations of amyloid plaques among these women.

Those on HRT pills did not experience as much benefit while taking the therapy, but when they stopped a difference started to appear.

There was no difference between HRT treatment and placebo in thinking and memory tests, but the scans suggest that HRT influenced the structure of the brain and, that over a longer period, a difference might be seen.

Dr Sara Imarisio, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This small study found no link between HRT and memory and thinking, but women who had taken the hormone estradiol via skin patches showed some signs of better brain health.

“More studies are needed to piece together the effect of hormones on the brain and how different forms of hormone therapy might impact brain health in later life.”

. Appendage 

 

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