United States: Scientists are putting a lot of effort into raising the average life expectancy, and 2023 made several headlines for numerous medical breakthroughs, developing new vaccines and drugs to cure hard-to-treat diseases.
Here are enlisted seven major innovative discoveries in the health and science field developed last year.
RSV vaccines and immunization
For the first time ever, after many years of setbacks, there are now multiple vaccines and shots available for different groups to stop RSV, according to the reports by ABC News.
For people above age 60, who have a higher chance of contracting serious complications from RSV because of a weak immune system as they age, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two (2) vaccines.
The FDA also approved the maternal RSV vaccine, which is given to pregnant mothers in their third trimester, between 32 weeks and 36 weeks, aiming at providing antibodies to the baby in the womb before it is born.
And for babies under nine (9) months old, there are two (2) monoclonal antibody shots available. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in the laboratory that copy how the body fights against harmful pathogens. They are different from vaccines, which stimulate the immune system.
CRISPR Sickle-cell technology
According to ABC News, this month, the FDA approved two gene treatments for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), including the first CRISPR gene-editing therapy. SCD is a genetic problem where red blood cells bend like sickles, making them hard and sticky.
Dr Sharl Azar, medical director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, told ABC News that “It is a disease that really touches every organ in the body,” and added further, “A quarter of our patients will have had a stroke by the time they’re in their 40s. Many of our patients will have had their first joint replacement by the time they’re in their 30s. Many others will have had their first heart attack in their 20s.”
One of the two therapies, Casgevy, used CRISPR/Cas9 to genetically edit the stem cells to produce more fetal hemoglobin, which is then put back into the patient.
The other therapy, Lyfgenia, uses part of a virus to deliver a gene for fetal hemoglobin, which prevents blood cells from sticking together and constricting blood flow, which is delivered back into the patient.
Birth Control Pill
In July, the FDA allowed the first pill to control birth to be solved without needing a prescription. It was called Opill by the French drugmaker and its parent company, Perrigo; experts have said it would help millions of people in the United States, ABC News reported.
Opill is a pill that uses only progestin- also called the “minipill”; it doesn’t have estrogen, like some other birth control pills. As per doctors, progestin-only pills are safer than combination pills.
It is expected to appear on shelves at convenience stores and grocery chains and online in early 2024.
Morning Sickness
Morning sickness is a very common early sign of pregnancy. For most women who are expecting, around 80 percent of them feel it’s in their first trimester.
Now, researchers believe they have found out the cause of morning sickness.
A team made mainly from the US, UK, and Sri Lanka found out that a hormone called GDF15, made by the fetus in its placenta, is linked to morning sickness during pregnancy, as ABC News reported.
Earlier this month, results published in the journal Nature found that women who had strong nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy with blood levels of GDF15 during the first trimester were much higher than other ladies.
Furthermore, women reacting more to this hormone get very sick, which may explain why only a few ladies have severe morning sickness hyperemesis gravidarum, the main cause of early hospitalization in the early stage of pregnancy.
Researchers stated that this discovery could assist in treating women who get sick early in the morning, especially in severe forms, by lowering levels of the hormone during pregnancy.
Alzheimer’s fully approved drug by FDA
Earlier, Alzheimer’s treatment had several medicines that failed clinical trials. But, in July, the FDA granted full approval for a new drug called Leqembi.
Made by the medicine maker Eisai and Biogen, it is the first of its kind drug that showed slow cognitive decline in early Alzheimer’s patients.
The drug Leqembi acts by targetting amyloid beta, the main component of the amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and that affects memory and thought. It showed signs of the body’s defense system to remove, slowing down Alzheimer’s problems.
mRNA vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer
A special mRNA vaccine developed by a research team funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with partners at BioNTech against pancreatic cancer, one of America’s most deadly types of cancer, as per ABC News reported.
BioTech did gene testing for more samples to find neoantigens. These are special proteins found only in cancer cells that can provoke an immune system.
In the first tests, patients got a medicine that inhibit drug cells from stopping their body’s defense system. Then, they were given their personalized vaccine split into nine doses over many months.
As per NIH, 18 of the 19 patients successfully had vaccines created for them, and 16 were healthy enough to receive at least some of the doses. Half of the patients saw their vaccines trigger T cells, a kind of immune body that eliminates sick infected cells. These cells focused on specific cancer cells in each patient, ABC News reported.
Among the patients who had a strong response from their immune system, the cancer did not return after a year and a half of treatment, including chemotherapy. For those who did not have a good immune system response, the cancer came back within a year. This was reported earlier this year in Nature Journal.
Breast cancer detection by Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence has been increasingly used for scientific trials. A new tool made last year can find out breast cancer better than human screening.
A tool called Mia, made by Imperial College London and Kheiron Medical Technologies, found 13 percent more early breast cancers.
During the two pilot stages and the live rollout, Mia detected 24 more cancers, which led to 70 more women being recalled, according to a release from Imperial College London, ABC News reported.
Of the women who were recalled, additional cancers were found, which raised cancer detection rates by 13 percent.