Managing medical data has proven to be a challenge in any place, but in China, mastering the system is a step more challenging given the current state of its data management in hospitals. In some of the hospitals in the country, patient records are still handled in paper, making it easy to create redundancies. It also makes it difficult to track patient history and discern whether Western or Chinese medicines work best.

At a group of hospitals in China’s southern Guangdong province, IBM has deployed technology to standardize patient records and use it to create statistical analyses of traditional Chinese medicine treatments. Through the technology, the company aims to provide a solution for doctors to identify treatment using both Western and Chinese medicine. This treatment would be drawn from the standardized patient records. The team behind this system, the IBM Healthcare Solutions Lab, is a finalist for the Wall Street Journal’s Asian Innovation Awards.

Using this innovative technology, IBM aims to provide evidence for the effectiveness of non-Western remedies. If the developed technology proves successful, it could be replicated in other parts of the world that still hold fast to their own form of medical treatment, such as in India.

According to Janet Chiew, an analyst for the research firm IDC, China’s healthcare IT market will see remarkable growth in five years, triggered in part by the three year healthcare reform program.

As a brand new market, the healthcare infrastructure of China poses as an area ripe for new things in the data storage and solutions industry. I believe this is a good opportunity for businesses there. Creating a system that can handle the large mass of patients daily while working with a unique set of treatment that covers both Western and traditional methods opens up a chance for innovation that can benefit healthcare infrastructures all over the world.

While quitting the stick is still the most important and effective way to decrease lung cancer risk, H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita of the Netherlands-based National Institute for Public Health and the Environment says that consuming a mix of different types of fruits and vegetables may also reduce risk, independent of the amount.

After observing more than 450,000 people residing in Europe, 1,600 of whom were diagnosed with lung cancer, Bueno-de-Mesquita and his team concluded that it wasn’t so much the quantity of vegetables and fruits that mattered, but rather, the variety. The researchers studied 26 commonly eaten vegetables and 14 commonly eaten fruits, including fresh, canned, and dried products.

Fruits and vegetables contain various bioactive compounds. To ensure the body contains a rich mix of these substances, Bueno-de-Mesquita suggests that one consume a variety of their sources. It is not enough to simply eat the recommended dietary amounts.

The study concludes that diversifying one’s vegetable and fruit consumption substantially decreases the risk of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), a common skin cancer that may also affect the lungs, mouth, esophagus, urinary bladder, or genital area.

Despite this, I wouldn’t advise smokers to simply load up different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Of course, the only sure and proven way to reduce the risk of cancer remains to be the avoidance of tobacco in all its forms.

As always, be sure to consult a physician or nutritionist before making drastic changes to your diet.

A team of researchers from Tel Aviv University, led by Dr. Dan Peer and Prof. Rimona Margalit, have found a way to eliminate these debilitating side effects. Setting their sights on finding a solution to narrow down the attacking scope of chemotherapy, the team has developed a nano-sized vehicle that can deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into cancer cells while avoiding interaction with healthy cells. With this breakthrough technology, not only will side effects greatly be reduced, but the efficiency of chemotherapeutic treatment will also improve.

Dr. Peer explains that the nano-vehicle is similar to a cluster bomb. Inside the tiny module are tiny particles of chemotherapy drugs. When the vehicle comes into contact with a cancer cell, it automatically releases the drugs into it. Because the attack is contained within the cell, the cytotoxic substances can be more potent without seriously affecting neighboring healthy cells, even if their behavior is similar to that of cancer cells.

This new form of nano-device-assisted chemotherapy can be used to treat numerous types of cancer, including that of the breasts, lungs, colon, and even cancers of the brain or blood. Clinical trials are already underway, with Dr. Peer and Prof. Margalit working with ORUUS Pharma in California. The company recently licensed the “cluster bomb” platform from the Israeli university. With further fine-tuning, the treatment may prove to be one of the best improvements for modern cancer treatment in recent history.

A person with metabolic syndrome runs a higher risk of developing a heart problem or diabetes. To combat these unhealthy effects, patients are advised to go on low-fat, low-sugar diets and maintain an exercise regimen. A number of drug supplements may be added to further minimize the risk factors. A new study suggests that metabolic syndrome can be fought with a more organic type of oral medication: fish oil capsules.

The idea of fish oil as an effective supplement for lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease is not entirely new. As early as 1775, a fish oil supplement was produced in England, but its recent popularity has caused modern scientists to conduct new research studies.

Fish oil is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which are largely believed to help lower cholesterol levels. According to Dr. Jose Lopez-Mendoza, a professor of medicine at the Reina Sofia University Hospital and the University of Cordoba in Spain, adding Omega-3 to a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet can battle the long-term adverse effects induced by a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains.

Dr. Lopez-Medina and his team conducted the study on 117 patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Each of the patients was assigned to follow one of four diets for a minimum of 12 weeks. The diets were: high saturated fat (e.g. meat loaded meals), high monosaturated fat (e.g. fish and olive oil), low fat and high carbohydrate, and low fat and high carbohydrate supplemented with fish oil capsules. All four diets had around the same amount of calories and the patients underwent blood tests before and after eating to measure blood fat levels.

At the beginning of the study, all participants had similar post-meal blood fat responses. By the end of the three-month period, those who followed the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet with fish oil showed better responses.

It looks like the fish oil phenomenon is here to stay. The low-fat, high-carbohydrates combination is often assigned as a diet for weight loss. While it can be effective in that field, it may induce a spike in cholesterol and blood sugar after a meal. Now with scientific backing, fish oil can mitigate these effects, allowing patients to enjoy a healthy diet without encountering too many adverse effects.

Lipid concentrations in the blood are one of the key risk factors for coronary artery disease. This disease, also known as CAD, is currently the leading cause of death in the world. The goal of the study was to find new biomarkers to serve as indicators of risk to this disease. These findings could serve as a foundation to the development of new drugs. By targeting the key genes involved in metabolizing the lipids, heart disease could possibly be prevented.

The consortium assembled for the study brought in researchers from a variety of institutions, including some from the UK and the US. Among the institutions represented were Stanford University, the University of Cambridge and the University of California in Los Angeles.

In the study, researchers analyzed the genome-wide association results for serum lipids in more than 100,000 individuals of European ancestry. Through this intensive study, the consortium was able to identify 95 regions of the human genome, including regions identified in previous studies and the 59 novel regions involved in lipid metabolism.

Although the study was conducted on subjects with a European ancestry, the consortium demonstrated that some of these genetic locations were shared by non-European populations. This raised the significance of the subject to global relevance.

According to Massimo Mangino of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, they are hopeful that this study will provide a basis for further research into CAD biomarkers and enable new drugs to combat it.

With the number of those suffering from heart disease growing yearly and the expected boom in population aged over 65, I believe that the study conducted by the consortium is a timely one. And perhaps, more research can be put into this to develop more effective drugs against the coronary artery disease.

Although Dr. Eger had drawn his idea from ancient texts, his findings were backed by scientific proof. His Arab neighbors concurred with the health benefits from olive oil. At that time, while the oil had been featured prominently in the diet of Arab Israelis, Jewish Israelis hadn’t picked up on it. And so Dr. Eger had to get the unrefined oil from his neighbors. This oil was low in quality since it was prepared the traditional way. Yet, he consumed it, prescribing himself a spoonful a day until, within six months, it increased to eight spoonfuls a day. Due to this self-made prescription, Dr. Eger found that his arrhythmia, which used to make him black out, had disappeared.

Thirty years ahead into the future, Dr. Eger has invested money in science to create products which would hopefully put Israel’s olive oil on a competitive footing in the world market. Together with Prof. Ishak Neeman of the Technion Institute of Technology in Hafia, Dr. Eger developed the technology for the solidification of oil which was free from water, preservatives and trans fatty acids.

The resulting spreadable olive oil could then be used as a margarine substitute, and could also be used for the creation of various other goods. With his own brand, Dr. Eger Olive Oil Products, he manufactures health products with the oil as the main ingredient.
Despite modern medicine paving the way to finding new cures by matching DNA barcodes and such, it seems to me that traditional remedies still have much to offer. Traditional remedies are usually composed of naturally occurring ingredients, making them more practical than some modern counterparts, especially in developing countries.

While most research in the field of regenerative medicine had focused on the use of stem cells, immature cells that could develop into any needed cell, the team paid attention to how regeneration naturally occurs in other beings. What naturally happens can be observed in some animals with adult cells at the site of a wound. These cells then revert to a stemlike state so they can grow and divide.

This function, seen in newts, has been suppressed in mammals as a way to guard against cancerous tumors. While newts and fish only have the Rb gene that naturally inactivates to regenerate tissue in order to prevent the proliferation of cancer, mammals also have a backup called the Arf gene which closes down a cancer-prone cell if the Rb gene fails to do so.

In the experiment, the team was able to inactivate these two genes, thus enabling muscle cells in mice to revert to a younger state, start dividing and help repair tissue. According to Dr. Pomerantz, with the right dose of drug, the genes will only be inhibited for a short period of time. And when the drug’s effects have lapsed, the anti-tumor defenses would be restored. This way, the Stanford team had taken the step towards mimicking the natural process of regeneration cautiously.

While regrowing whole limbs is something invoked only by genes specific to certain species, this study has proven itself to be a useful contribution to the study of regenerative science. I think that with development, this kind of regeneration would open doors towards better ways of helping the body heal. As opposed to the introduction of medicine from the outside, these findings focus on healing from the inside, making use of the body’s own resources. Perhaps in time, the prospect is exciting not only for lost limbs, but also for diseased organs such as the liver or lungs. Perhaps a fountain of youth may not be as far off as once thought.

A study conducted by Dr. Paul Y. Kwo and his team of researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis shows that the current standard treatment for the liver disease draws out the desired virological response in just less than half of the patients.

Seeking to improve this rate, the Indiana team launched a two-phase trial involving 520 patients diagnosed with Hepatitis C. The subjects were taken from 67 sites across the United States, Canada, and Europe. A control group continued the interferon plus ribavirin treatment while other patients received one of several drug cocktails of various strengths for a period of 48 weeks. Some of the drug formulations included bocoprevir, while some did not.

Not counting other factors, such as attempting to reduce the amount of regular medication or the length of treatment given to patients, study reports show that the drug’s addition appeared to consistently improve viral response.

Unlike the two other medications, which are generally antiviral, Bocoprevir works by attacking the Hepatitis C virus directly. It may work on its own except that the virus quickly develops resistance to opposing agents. Standard treatment four weeks prior to the drug’s addition may help delay or avoid resistance. Indeed, patients who underwent this particular schedule were five times more likely to have a sustained viral response than those solely on standard treatment.

Since Hepatitis C is infectious and infamously hard to treat, it affects not only the lives of those who have it, but their loved ones and acquaintances as well. Treatment could potentially revive intimacy in couples and even allow infected mothers to breastfeed their children without risk.

To bring about this innovative device, Prof. Sobel and his team found a close link between the skill of sniffing and the braincase. Specifically, it is because sniffing is a motor skill controlled in part by the soft palate, which moves to direct air in or out through the nose or mouth. The soft palate then is controlled by several nerves that connect it straight through the braincase. The team’s theory then was that this motor skill might still be preserved even in the most acute cases of paralysis.

Their further findings also showed a link between a number of brain areas and soft palate control. This included a significant overlap between soft palate control and the language areas of the brain, which hinted to the use of sniffing to communicate.

In initial tests, both with healthy volunteers and the severely disabled, the device worked favorably. One of the most stirring results came from a test with patients with unimpaired cognitive functions but were completely paralyzed, thus ‘locked into’ their bodies. In the test, these patients found themselves able to communicate with the world and with their family, sharing thoughts and feelings after a long time of not being able to do so.

So far, this device that the disabled has found to be simple to learn has also been found relatively inexpensive to produce. Currently, Yeda Research and Development Company, the Weizmann’s technology transfer arm, is exploring the possibility of commercializing the device.

This amazing discovery is a breakthrough that can’t be ignored. As some have found that this device is more accurate than one controlled by blinking, I feel that researchers, scientists and technology developers are on their way to creating better methods for the severely disabled to reconnect with the world. It would allow great minds to flourish despite of acute paralysis.

The goal of the treatment is to lower the patient’s body temperature to about six degrees for 24 hours. “We know that cooling your body’s temperature slows everything down,” said Salvatore J. Cassano, the city fire commissioner. “It brings your body out of that panic mode, and it actually reduces your body’s need for blood. That buys us time.”

Since January 2009, about 20 city hospitals have begun to make use of this as a part of a project organized by the city’s Emergency Medical Service and the Greater New York Hospital Association. The therapy is administered through various means including the use of cold packs or injections of chilled saline solution into the vein or bone.

Now, the number of hospitals has grown to 43 out of the 50 hospitals participating in the 911 emergency system. Also, since the pilot project’s beginning, the survival rate for the patients that were taken in has increased 20 percent as compared with 2008.

Now that the project has entered its second phase, paramedics are being trained to administer this cooling therapy to better improve cardiac arrest survival in patients. This would play an important part in improving the survival of patients as city paramedics respond to about 15,000 calls per year from people suffering from heart attack syndromes. Half of these result in cardiac arrest, according to the city’s Fire Department officials.

So far, things have been looking up for the participating hospitals, who are “extremely encouraged” by the results. Although New York is not the only city to implement this treatment as part of standard procedure, it is one of the major ones that could launch the popularity of cooling therapy to the rest of the country and, perhaps, eventually the entire healthcare industry.