Medicine
From advancements in the fight against malaria to new cancer treatments, to novel medical technologies, find all positive news about incredible medical breakthroughs and life-saving technology from all corners of the globe.
Why the poo taboo has held back a killer disease, and what's changing
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There is a disease that kills more than one million people a year, nearly half of them children under five, and it rarely breaks through in global health coverage. Researchers have a name for that gap: the "poo taboo." People, including journalists and Read More...
Bioengineered gum could expand treatment options for oral cancer patients
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A bioengineered chewing gum cut HPV levels by 93 percent in oral samples from head and neck cancer patients, in new research from the University of Pennsylvania. The same formulation, when loaded with an antimicrobial peptide called protegrin, brought two Read More...
Bullfrog protein could be antidote to shellfish poisoning
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Paralytic shellfish poisoning, a severe and potentially fatal foodborne illness, has no specific antidote. The neurotoxin responsible, saxitoxin, is classified as a chemical weapon under international law. It causes nausea, tingling, and in bad cases the Read More...
3D-printed bone implants that release drugs as they heal
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Czech researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague are building titanium joint implants with a porous internal structure designed to hold medication and release it gradually after surgery. The project is a collaboration with surgeons at Read More...
How inherited genetics shape the way cancer forms and evolves
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A study published in Nature provides the first experimental evidence that inherited genetics shape not just whether cancer starts, but how it evolves once it does. Researchers led by Duncan Odom at the CRUK Cambridge Institute exposed four genetically Read More...
Scientists trial a painless brush test for oral cancer that returns results in 60 minutes
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A brush swab of the mouth. Four genes. Results in under an hour. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, working with partners in India, have shown that this simple approach can match the diagnostic accuracy of a surgical biopsy, without a scalpel Read More...
Could this popular gym supplement strengthen cancer immunotherapy?
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Cancer immunotherapy has transformed treatment for some patients. For the 60 to 80 percent who don’t respond, the problem often isn’t the killer T cells at the end of the immune chain. It’s the cells responsible for training them. A new UCLA study Read More...
A cheap, homegrown catnip lotion could replace DEET for millions of Ugandans
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A lotion made from catnip oil matched DEET in field trials in Uganda, according to research presented at the Society for Experimental Biology conference in Florence last week. Catnip (Nepeta cataria), a common herb in the mint family, contains Read More...
Copper compound targets Alzheimer’s at the blood-brain barrier
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Most Alzheimer’s research goes after the toxic proteins directly. This study asks a different question: what if the brain’s own clearing system could be fixed instead? Research from Monash University’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, published Read More...
Exosome therapy heals burn patient’s face in world first
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Kaitlin Jeffrey was 18 when her face and hair caught fire at a fraternity party at Western University last December. She ended up at the burn unit at Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, where her surgeon had an approach he’d never been able to try on a Read More...