Top 10 Modern Health Discoveries

When we think of medical breakthroughs, most of us think back to the early twentieth century to discoveries like penicillin and the polio vaccine. We should be giving credit to the more recent breakthroughs in medicine; the problem is nobody really knows what they are. We’ve assembled what we think are some of the most important modern medical breakthroughs for you in no particular order. They are all equally important and most will likely have a direct impact on disease treatment and patient care in the near future.

1.  Cloning Cells Cures Melanoma

In 2008, a man was cancer free for two years when doctors used cloned cells from his own body to kill the cells infected by melanoma. Scientists made five billion copies of the man’s cells and then put them back. Researchers specifically selected CD4+ T cells that had been primed to attack a chemical found on the surface of melanoma cells.

Source:  BBC News

2.  HIV Vaccine Close to Human Trial

Researchers at the University of Western Ontario have developed a vaccine for HIV that is only months away from human trials. It has been tested in monkeys and rats with no side effects. It has been submitted to the United States to go through the process for approval of new vaccines. It will also be easier to go through human trials in the US since the US has a higher HIV positive population than Canada. Despite the breakthrough nature of the discovery, the scientist in charge of the development, Dr. Kang, states that it will still take years before results from the human trials are conclusive enough to pronounce the vaccine a success. A South Korean drug company and its subsidiary, Sumagen Canada, have already obtained patents for the vaccine in 70 countries. 

Source:  National Post
3. Viagra and Nitric Oxide

While it can’t really be argued that Viagra is a life-saver in any sense but a metaphorical one, it has drastically changed the quality of life for men who would have previously suffered from erectile dysfunction in silence. The scientist who discovered the effects of nitric oxide on the body was lauded with a Nobel Prize for the discovery, since it also led to advances in many fields of medicine, including cardiovascular health.

Source:  Diet Pixie, The Independent
4. First Human Vaccine Against Bird Flu

In 2008, a vaccine was developed against avian flu. The vaccine is not commercially available; the government is stockpiling it in order to protect the population in the event of an outbreak. The drug was created from the cells of monkeys which are lain in chicken eggs. The eggs are used to grow the virus. The vaccine is 78% effective against the avian flu.

Source: Voice of America

5. New Diabetes Gene Discoveries

Ten genetic variants on diabetes genes determine whether you get diabetes from your diabetic parents or not. This will assist doctors in drilling down on who is more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. Heredity accounts for 50% of the factors associated with Type 2 diabetes, and the predictive genetic testing that these discoveries will allow may reduce the development of diabetes through prevention.

Source:  Time Magazine, The Medical News

6. Fibromyalgia Treatment with Lyrica

Before Lyrica, fibromyalgia patients suffered through a disease of the nerves that did not respond to conventional painkillers.  It is an anti-convulsant drug used for neuropathic pain, and it is also prescribed to epilepsy sufferers. Better yet, it has a very low potential for abuse, unlike many conventional painkillers, and is not addictive. Other drugs have since been developed for fibromyalgia treatment, but Lyrica stands out as the first.

Source:  Time Magazine, Wikipedia

7. Treating Cancer Patient Nausea With Seasickness Patches

In 2008, doctors began using patches that had traditionally been reserved for people at sea who were seasick to relieve nausea in chemotherapy patients. The FDA approved the product, Sancuso, which performs a timed release of the drug granisetron, for cancer patients. While the drug is already available in injected or pill form, the timed release of the patch makes the delivery much better for the purpose of relieving nausea which may arise long after other methods of delivery have worn off. 

Source: Telegraph, Get Inside Health

8.  Five-In-One Vaccine for Children

Pantacel vaccine inoculates against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hepatitis B, and polio. The vaccine was approved by the FDA in 2008. In the short time since its introduction, the vaccine has already increased the percentage of children who have received proper vaccinations on schedule. Parents like the fact that it reduces the number of shots per visit, making the visit to the doctor that much more pain-free for our kids.

Source: Fox News, Medical News Today

9.  First US Face Transplant

Connie Culp was left without lower eyelids, a nose, or a palate after a shotgun blast to the face in 2004. In 2008, the Cleveland Clinic hosted a procedure that would give her an entirely new face. Maria Siemionow, the director of plastic surgery at the clinic, said “was the most complex functional restoration in the world today”. 

Source: Fox News, AFP

10.  Non-Invasive Down’s Syndrome Test

In 2008, a non-invasive blood test was developed that allows for prenatal screening for the potential of Down’s Syndrome in the fetus. The blood test specifically targets the chromosomes that lead to Down’s and other potential birth defects. Right now, the only definitive test for Down’s Syndrome is done through invasive diagnostic procedures such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS). The non-invasive test, which requires only a sample of blood from the mother, was developed by Stanford University, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Source: ABC News, Science Daily
Do you have more discoveries that you would like us to write about? Send us in your comments and we’ll see what we can do!

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