India Has Polio Free Year

Polio is one of the world’s most dreaded diseases and in the past it has been a big deal in developing countries like India for quite some time but today we got some good news regarding the disease. India has officially gone one full year without and recorded or suspected cases of Polio which is absolutely great news for the dozens of organizations working to wipe out the disease.

Of course doctors in the area say that the fight is not over, continued immunization is required as the disease is far from eradicated but for now they’re definitely happy to see the significant decline in the number of new cases. Children in particular are much more at risk for contracting polio which is why much of the humanitarian efforts were focused on children and it definitely seems like it has worked as the number of cases is down to the record low of 0 reported cases.

Doctors and medical professionals alike are still working to develop new vaccines and cures for polio despite the significant decline in cases just in case a future flare up would happen. For now though it is great news to see that yet another major developing country has managed to win the fight against polio, this clearly means that other major diseases are likely to be dealt with in the near future as long as the development continues for the next few years.

A medical study released today by the National Cancer Institute shows some of the biggest advancements in cancer treatment in a number of years. The research was specifically targeting breast and ovarian cancers and according to researchers the trial vaccine is actually showing some serious promise in terms of slowing the growth.

The research was not specifically dealing with actually preventing the cancer, it focused primarily on slowing or stopping the spread of cancerous cells. In nearly all cases the patients given the trial drug showed significantly less cancerous growth than untreated women which is a significant result for any type of cancer research.

Obviously it is still too early to say for sure that this vaccine is functional or will become a true vaccine for the cancer but for now researchers are incredibly hopeful that the information will go on to help future development. If the vaccine becomes more successful and passes multiple safety tests it will likely become the standard treatment in the next few years; down the road it would likely be adapted for other cancers as well.

In general this is great news for all breast and ovarian cancer patients as well as the health world in general. An advancement such as this has not been proven in years and it could very well be one of the final steps toward a successful and effective cancer treatment that has until now been so elusive to researchers and doctors around the world.

Miracle Drug Could Kill All Viruses

This week a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that they may have successfully designed and created the world’s next miracle drug. According to initial reports the drug identify cells that have been affected by a virus and immediately kill those cells; in theory this should mean that the drug can effectively and efficiently kill any and all viruses within the human body.

The report was published this week in MIT’s medical journal and according to many experts in the medical field the results are very promising. Unlike current medication that can only treat or kill bacteria this miracle drug is reportedly able to kill viruses; that alone could make this drug the cure to the common cold and the flu.

During the initial testing of the drug the MIT research team tested the drug against a variety of viruses including the flu, polio, various strains of the common cold, and others; after extensive testing the group concluded that the drug was highly effective against each of these viruses. This is quite an accomplishment as no other drug has even been able to combat any of these viruses well let alone all of them. As always much more testing is being conducted in order to determine if this drug is safe or practical for human use; until then it will obviously not be available. Fortunately experts say there is lots of hope for this miraculous drug.

World’s First Person Cured of HIV

A cure for HIV and AIDS has been a major research goal for many many years and unfortunately it seemed for the longest time that very little progress was being made. Today however the world got news of a potential break in the story as a man was functionally cured of his HIV infection through a series of treatments.

Timothy Ray Brown, who was 45 at the time of treatment in 2007, was treated using a series of stem cell transplants through bone marrow. The treatment was meant to prolong his life because he was suffering from both leukemia as well as HIV at the time. According to doctors involved with and doctors studying the case the transplant apparently carried the incredibly rare HIV immunity gene which has essentially cured Brown of his HIV infection.

Obviously all sorts of investigations have been planned and initiated into the case of Brown’s HIV cure but at this time a variety of medical experts say this is nothing short of a functional cure. The process used to treat and essentially cure Brown however might not ever develop into a truly widespread cure for a variety of reasons. To begin with the immunity gene is incredibly rare and as such there is an extreme shortage of donor stem cells to test.

Either way doctors say this is a good step in the right direction for finding a cure for HIV and AIDS. More research will undoubtedly be conducted based on this story for years to come and a cure may eventually become reality thanks to Brown’s incredible luck.

HIV Vaccine in the Works

Researchers have been working to find a cure or vaccine for HIV and Aids and according to some doctors the efforts may be getting close to a break through. A report published this week by a group of US medical researchers indicates that the vaccine being developed is actually quite effective on test monkeys.

As always the vaccine is undergoing significant testing and observation before being used on humans; surprisingly the doctors say it seems to be working on the monkeys. According to the study the vaccine was created using a slightly altered version of the HIV virus which would allow the body to fight HIV on its own.

Originally researchers had low hopes for the vaccine due to a variety of reasons but after nearly a year of study it seems they may have made a significant breakthrough. Over half of the monkeys treated with the vaccine were protected from HIV even a full year after being given the vaccine. Furthermore, researchers went on to say that the vaccine made some serious breakthroughs when it came to actually treating HIV in monkeys that were already affected.

No word on how these breakthroughs will translate to human vaccination but many doctors close to the project are very hopeful. Some of the results obtained in this study are completely new and very important to a possible vaccine for HIV so dozens of follow up studies are obviously being planned; no word on when these will take place or when more results will be released.