Dose of hope: new vaccines and drugs created to fight deadly diseases

For two years now, the world has not been able to get out of the coronavirus trap. But covid is not the only problem that worries doctors around the world. Experts are conducting medical research on new drugs for the treatment of other deadly diseases that claim millions of human lives every year. Scientists have managed to achieve impressive success on the battlefield with cancer, asthma, infertility and other serious diseases. Find out what new medicines and methods have been created to combat the most common and terrible diseases from our material.

Despite the pandemic, scientists continue medical research in other areas. Cancer, Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other terrible diseases torment humanity in the same way as before. Fortunately, dozens of breakthroughs have been made recently in the field of their treatment and prevention. New drugs and treatment methods can save the lives of billions of people.

From asthma to infertility, here are new treatments, vaccines and drugs that can put an end to common dangerous diseases.

Hundreds of thousands of women around the world die from cervical cancer. The results of a new study may put an end to this terrible disease. Scientists at King's College London have found that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine reduces the risk of the disease by 90%. This virus is the main cause of cervical cancer.

HPV vaccination was first tested on teenage girls in 2008, and on boys in 2019. It turned out that 17,200 girls and 450 women over the age of 20 who were at risk at the precancerous stage did not get sick. Thus, it can be argued that the HPV vaccine protects women from cervical cancer.

A new antibody-based drug was created by British and German scientists. A unique vaccine can prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease. A degenerative disease occurs due to the gluing of a certain type of protein to brain cells. Experts were able to activate the immune system to produce antibodies that destroy this protein.

Thus, in the near future, an effective treatment regimen for Alzheimer's disease can be developed using antibodies and the introduction of a vaccine. In Norway, trials of a new method have already begun, when patients will be transfused with blood taken from runners. The method is based on the fact that during running, chemicals are released in the blood that have a rejuvenating effect and slow down the development of the disease.

Three new drugs to stop hot flashes during menopause are currently being tested. Hot flashes occur due to changes in hormonal levels, affecting body temperature. Substances such as fezolinetant, elinzanetant and pavinetant can block the receptors responsible for this unpleasant symptom.

New drugs will be available after testing their effectiveness and side effects. If their effectiveness and safety are confirmed, many women will be able to breathe a sigh of relief during menopause.

The new drug will enable patients with spinal injuries to walk again after four weeks of treatment. The vaccine was developed by a team of specialists from Northwestern University in the USA. It makes it possible for nerves to recover. The substance was tested on paralyzed mice, who, after its introduction, were able to walk again. Next year, there will be studies with the participation of people.

For many years, the problem of restoring the brain and spinal cord has been one of the most difficult in medicine. By themselves, these organs do not have a significant ability to self-renew after injury. Scientists want to improve the drug with which people will be able to move after injuries and diseases of the spine.

Dementia affects millions of people around the world. Scientists at Durham University have made a real breakthrough in medicine. They are working on a treatment method that can improve memory and muscle control in patients with this seemingly irreversible disease.

During experiments with healthy people, specialists use infrared light to stimulate the brain, which improves memory and thought processes. The next step will be to test the therapy on dementia patients. A special helmet was created for the procedures, which sends invisible light waves to the brain and accelerates the work of cells, improving blood flow to them. Scientists hope that their invention will make life easier for people with dementia.

Asthma is one of the most common diseases. The use of a new drug for it, created by British scientists, has already been launched in the country. It can change the lives of millions of people suffering from shortness of breath by reducing the number of seizures and making them easier.

"Dupilumab" is prescribed for the treatment of eczema and rhinosinusitis. This drug is part of a group of drugs used to combat coronavirus. Now only patients with severe asthma who are not suitable for other treatment can use Dupilumab as prescribed by a doctor, but it has already changed millions of lives for the better.

The new vaccine "Survivin" can radically change the sad statistics of cancer incidence. The first clinical trials of the drug are already underway. Vaccination improves the functioning of the immune system. It charges immune cells, helping them to detect and destroy harmful cancer cells, leaving only healthy ones.

The trials involve 36 terminally ill patients with cervical, prostate and lung cancer. If the research is successful, a new page will open in the history of the fight against cancer, and thousands of lives will be saved.

About 7% of men on the planet suffer from infertility. While most methods focus not on treatment, but on other ways to solve the problem, American scientists from the University of Georgia are trying to create a drug that will resume the male ability to procreate.

The researchers used primate stem cells taken from embryos. They are the basis for the creation of other cells of the body. Spermatozoa at an early stage of development were grown from stem cells in artificial conditions. They didn't have a head and tail to move, but they were able to fertilize a macaque egg in a test tube.

The experiment was a real breakthrough in stem cell-based therapies. With this method, it will be possible to overcome infertility, even if a man does not produce live sperm.

Brain cancer is one of the most severe forms of this disease, which is difficult to treat. But a group of scientists from Toronto found a way out using ultrasound beams. With their help, you can safely pass through the blood-brain barrier and ensure the flow of medicines.

This year, four women with breast cancer, whose metastases reached the brain, took part in the trials. They were treated with magnetic resonance focused ultrasound. Thanks to its waves, herceptin, an antibody—based drug, was delivered to the brain tissue. It was successfully absorbed by the body and contributed to the reduction of tumors without damaging healthy tissues.

Recently it became clear that a pill-shaped medicine to fight the most dangerous form of cancer already exists. The drug "Aucelicitslib" was used to treat brain tumors, but now scientists suggest that it will also be effective for fighting pancreatic cancer.

Specialists of the University of South Australia are working on new methods of diagnosing a deadly disease, which is most often detected in the last stages due to the lack of pronounced symptoms. Even after the removal of a malignant tumor, cancer cells spread to other organs, which leads to death. Scientists believe that the drug "Aucelicitslib" will be more effective, besides it has fewer side effects than the currently used therapy.

The British scientists who created the coronavirus vaccine did not stop there. A team of Oxford University specialists has created a malaria vaccine that can save millions of lives. The test results showed that 77% of the volunteers did not contract malaria within a year after vaccination.

Over the past few decades, more than a hundred varieties of malaria vaccines have been created. But the Oxford vaccine is the only one that has shown such high efficacy. Scientists are preparing for the third phase of testing, which will show the level of safety in conditions of a wide scale and confirm the data on effectiveness.

A drug that restores cells can radically change the methods of treating breast cancer. Patients who were given Olaparib during the two-year study were 42% less likely to relapse of cancer. They also have a 43% reduced risk of cancer spread.

Until recently, Olaparib was used to treat cancer patients in the last stages. The results of a new study suggest that it is also effective in the initial stages. Previously, there was no treatment that would reduce the frequency of relapses of the disease, except for surgical intervention.

Vaccinations against tuberculosis, smallpox, polio and other dangerous diseases continue to be done today. The composition of some of them is amazing.