Medicinal Ice Cream Combat Cancer

Over 2 Million dollars spent on cancer project that might help cancer patients cope with their disease. The research study results was revealed last week at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

With the assistance of dairy giant Fonterra, the researchers developed whats called “medicinal ice cream” which has shown encouraging signs in combating the side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer sufferers. The Daily Telegraph reported today.

ReCharge, the name of the ice cream, shown to relieve diarrhoea, anaemia and lack of appetite in people undergoing chemotherapy. Participants ate 100 100 gram of strawberry-flavored ice cream each day. “The two bio-active milk components developed for ReCharge have the unique potential to assist the body in coping with the side effects of chemotherapy,” Fonterra’s chief technology office Jeremy Hill said in a statement.

There was not much information regarding the study, but the bottom line is that this kind of ice cream “ReCharge” helps cancer patients combat the side effects of chemotherapy treatments.

Turmeric Kills Cancer Cells

Every time my mother cooks rice, she adds at least a spoon or two of turmeric.  Turmeric has no taste but it adds color to the rice or meal. I honestly wasn’t aware of all the benefits that turmeric brings to your body. I remember few months back when I talked about a study that suggested that turmeric reduces your risk of getting a stroke. But A new study just published this week says that a molecule found in a curry ingredient kills esophageal cancer cells.

Scientists in at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland used Curcumin – the chemical compound found in turmeric spice – to kills esophageal cancer cells. The researchers reported that turmeric started to kill cancer cells within only 24 hours.

The lead author of the study Dr. Sharon McKenna said that they might use Curcumin as anti-cancer treatment for esophageal cancer.

The new study showed curcumin caused the cancer cells to die “using an unexpected system of cell messages,” McKenna said.

Via – RedOrbit.com

AIDS Vaccine Works Better With Electric Shock

Last week in my Health Psychology class we discussed the topic of HIV, and I was really amazed to know that for over 25 years scientist still puzzled of how this disgusting disease works. Its 2009 and there is no vaccine developed that works. However, researcher are still working hard to understand the mechanism of AIDS in order to come up with something to stop it and prevent it.

The recent exciting news about HIV treatment comes from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York, USA. A research group led by Sandhya Vasan revealed today that delivering AIDS vaccine along with three electric shocks or pulses works much better than delivering it the normal way. The reason is because the electric shocks open the cell membrane, and that way the vaccine gets into the cell in more efficient way.

The new technique called electroporation, and it may be particularly useful in delivering DNA vaccines, which use an infectious agent’s own genetic material to elicit an immune response.

“With a brief pulse of electricity, our cell membrane temporarily opens up and allows a lot more of the DNA to get inside. The reason why DNA vaccines by themselves don’t trigger A powerful immune response is because most of it (DNA) does not get inside our cells,” Vasan said.

Vasan and her team used an HIV vaccine that developed back in 2001 but didn’t work, but when the vaccine delivered with three electric pulses the participant’s immune system got stronger.

Her study is going to start phase 2 clinical trial delivering stronger DNA vaccine through electroporation.

Via – Reuters

Gene Therapy Makes People See Again

Many of the gene therapy research studies were halted few years back due to the death of Jesse Gelsinger. He was the first patient to die from Gene therapy two days after the beginning of the clinical trial. But many scientists believe that gene therapy is actually a promising way to cure many rare and chronic diseases.

The treatment using Gene therapy basically means that a “normal” gene is inserted into the genome to replace an “abnormal,” disease-causing gene. A carrier molecule called a vector must be used to deliver the therapeutic gene to the patient’s target cells. Currently, the most common vector is a virus that has been genetically altered to carry normal human DNA.

Scientist are continuing their studies to find ways to cure disease using gene therapy. The last successful clinical trial was conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They used gene therapy treatment on five children and seven adults with retinal disease called Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA). All of the patients showed great improvement in their sight.

One of the patients used to sit in the back of the classroom, relying on the large print on an electronic screen and assisted by teacher aides. But now, after a small injection that produce light-sensitive pigments in the back of his eye, he sits in front with classmates. Watch this miracle

“This study reports dramatic results in restoring vision to patients who previously had no options for treatment,” said Katherine A. High, M.D., co-first author of the study and the director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, the facility that sponsored the clinical trial at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “These findings may expedite development of gene therapy for more common retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration.”

Researchers in England also successfully restored eyesight for six patients with genetic diseases.

Via – ScienceDaily

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