Healthwise

For previous articles in the healthwise series visit 'More Healthwise' 

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE WORLD OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

We should all be delighted at the advances now being made by scientists, researchers and the medical profession. For 2011 we continue to highlight some of the latest developments in health and medicine. 

PROGRESS ON TREATMENT FOR LIVER CANCER

Liver cancer is not one of the most talked about cancers but it is in fact the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

Research at the American Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has now discovered a mechanism in mice than appears to trigger inflammation in the liver which then transforms the normal cells into cancerous ones.

This has led to further research and the Institute has now published findings that describe for the first time a micro-RNA that is able to help prevent and treat liver cancer.

A clinical trial is due to start next year.

ON-LINE MEDICATION

A warning has been given that spam marketing is now affecting pharmaceutical products.

A report in the International Journal Business and Systems Research also indicates that the direct advertising of pharmaceutical products on line in some countries can attract purchasers who do not fully understand the medical implications of what they are buying.

The general advice is to always discuss any medication fully with your doctor before you buy it.

REDUCING BAD CHOLESTEROL

In a joint project between the University of Leicester and the University of California in Los Angeles, two patents have been applied for to develop drugs that act as a catalyst for lowering levels of “bad” cholesterol”.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol is linked to a number of medical problems such as clogged arteries, heart disease and stroke.

The scientists have identified an enzyme called IDOL that plays a key role in regulating the amount of LDL receptor that binds LDL and removed it from the blood. The drugs are to increase the levels of LDL receptors in order to lower cholesterol levels.

Professor John Schwabe, the Head of Biochemistry at the University of Leicester, said: "Development of a drug that interferes with IDOL's activity could help lower levels of LDL. Our research has greatly enhanced our understanding of this important process."

REGAINING THAT SENSE OF SMELL

More news from America where neuroscientists at the University of California in Berkeley have discovered a genetic trigger that can help renew the smell sensors in a nose to help people who through trauma or old age have lost their sense of smell.

Anosmia is the term used for the absence of smell and this can be a problem with older people and can even discourage them from eating and taking in adequate nutrition.

The gene in the research helps inform the olfactory stem cells (the adult tissue stem cells in the nose) to mature into sensory neurons which detect odours and in turn relay that information to the brain.

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