World Medicine looks back at 2013

What did 2013 bring to medicine and health and what areas were illuminated? Was there a radical change affecting a particular area or did the whole medical profession take a huge step forward?

Let's join the medical community in reviewing the major changes that have taken place and looking into the world of tomorrow:

Manufacturing body parts

Using 3D printing technology and a mold made of an injectable gel made from living cells, a team of biomedical engineers and physicians at Weill Carnell Medical College reported in February 2013 that they had created an artificial human ear that looks and functions like a real ear. This invention will help thousands of babies born without an external ear.

If we go back to 2003, would anyone have imagined the reality of 3D printing technology ten years later, let alone thought that it could help create an artificial human ear.

Another area that is showing promise for tissue engineering (and many other benefits) is stem cell research. But, beset by scientific difficulties and ethical controversies, stem cell development has not been smooth sailing over the past 10 years.

However, 2013 marked a memorable moment, when for the first time in history, body cells were successfully converted into embryonic stem cells.

This has made possible the prospect of cloning human tissue to “fix” bodily malfunctions – and also reminded us of the fear that someone might somehow clone a human being.

Computers and electronic equipment

Medicine can be viewed as a technology like any other area of ​​human advancement, and it is amazing to stop and think about how far we can go.

Take touchscreen technology, for example. It has become so ubiquitous and integral to phones and tablets that it’s hard to imagine a world without it. But it’s not hard to remember how far this brilliant idea has come.

Electronic devices themselves are changing rapidly, and they are wasting no time in changing the way we live. But can they really change our bodies?

The answer is YES – by changing health behaviors and helping us manage disease.

Computer algorithms are beginning to appear on wearable devices that can provide instantaneous data about the body that was previously unimaginable. People’s enthusiasm for mobile devices may be what drives the rise of these medical devices.

A wearable device that reads your body’s vital signs. The amount of data collected could have an unprecedented impact on disease management, not just your health behaviors.

In an era of obesity and its attendant factors, “tracking” technology is poised to completely transform the way we relate to physical activity – with a glance at a watch we can check our heart rate, movement, sweat and skin temperature – and there is huge money being pumped into further developing this technology.

What do we eat and drink?

Being proactive about your health and preventing future illness is a concern for many people and hardly a week goes by without the newspapers being filled with the latest findings about the good and bad things in food and drink.

One of those topics – the hottest beverage of 2013 – was coffee. Three of the four new reports of 2013 suggested benefits. One study found that there were risks associated with drinking more than four cups a day. While the risk of death from all causes was higher in heavy coffee drinkers, the study also found that those who drank such a large amount of coffee were also more likely to smoke and have poorer cardiovascular health.

Meanwhile, three other studies in 2013 gave coffee a positive review. These studies looked at data from different groups of people to analyze coffee drinking habits and compare them to health. The results showed that coffee was associated with a lower risk of liver cancer, prostate cancer, and suicide.

However, it is often difficult for scientists to come to a real understanding of the risks and benefits of many of the different things we happily enjoy every day – especially when drawing on data in this way.

Producing an effect that scientists can test directly, one food that really surprised us was peanut butter – but not in the eating sense.

A small study has found that the distinct smell of peanut butter may help diagnose Alzheimer's disease - as, curiously, people with the dementia-causing disease had a reduced ability to detect the smell of peanut butter in their left nostril (the right nostril is better).

Medical priorities

Also on Alzheimer's: dementia in general, along with other neurodegenerative diseases, has become one of the major health priorities, with the US government issuing a plan and many organizations around the world taking action in the face of the growing burden of the disease in older people.

Doctors and experts are placing dementia on the same level as cancer and calling for financial support to fight the disease effectively. The G8 summit in the UK in 2013 discussed this topical issue.

The possibility that future changes might make dementia a less serious problem has loomed large in the news over the past year.

A breakthrough in drug research has been the success in stopping brain cell death in mice, preventing neurodegeneration in the animals. Another important development in understanding neurodegeneration in the brain has led to the discovery of 11 new genes behind Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer's disease and dementia

- Other findings include that the onset of dementia may be slower in people who speak a second language.

- The link between lack of sleep and plaque formation in the brain in Alzheimer's disease, Another study found a link between sleeping more than 9 hours and faster decline in brain function.

- Exercise may stave off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, according to a study in mice. And stress in midlife is linked to dementia risk.

- People over 55 with high blood pressure also have biological markers of Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that high blood pressure may be a predictor of dementia.

- At the same time, high blood sugar is also a risk factor that each person can adjust to prevent cognitive decline.

- Finally, in elderly patients who have undergone major surgery, statin use may help protect against cognitive decline that is common after surgery.

- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

- The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reports a number of reports of hyperactivity diagnoses, and researchers have found higher rates of hyperactivity in children with a history of asthma or allergies.

- Diagnosis of hyperactivity has become somewhat clearer after the FDA approved a test based on EEG waves to detect behavioral disorders.

Breast cancer

- Mammography is not targeting the right age group, as a study of breast cancer cases in Boston, USA found that women dying from breast cancer are getting younger.

- Peanut butter is back in the news – a cancer expert says peanut butter may reduce women’s risk of breast cancer. The authors’ analysis compared diet and exercise information from 9,000 elementary school girls with their cancer risk in their 20s and 30s.

- In another study of breast cancer, laboratory studies showed that breast tissue “aged about two to three years older than the rest of a woman’s body” – aging even faster when cancer is present. Genetic studies of stem cells may provide clues about our body’s biological clock.

Hereditary

- The “creation” of human embryonic stem cells from normal body cells, mentioned above, was a major achievement in 2013.

- One story that has gotten a lot of attention is that genes may play a role in whether people drink too much alcohol. Another study reported that differences in test scores may be due more to genetics than learning.

- And here is the most curious story: Research on mice: The more "flirtatious" the mother, the more "attractive" the son.

Heart disease

Heart disease has been a major area of ​​health concern over the past year, despite reports that there has been a shift away from dealing with aging and away from cancer and heart disease.

HIV and AIDS

- Research published in the journal Science has presented findings about an HIV envelope protein that is hindering vaccine development.

- While a weakness in the HIV virus has been found, another study suggests the virus could become stronger through genetic recombination. The study discovered a new strain of the virus that is a “hybrid” of two common strains and causes AIDS more quickly in infected people.

- Overall HIV infection rates show two new findings about who is infected. At similar rates, bisexual men are “no more likely” to have HIV than heterosexual men. And a large study found that the number of children under 1 year old infected with HIV has fallen by 850,000 since 2005.

Infectious diseases – malaria

- Mosquito repellent patches, funded by the Gate Foundation, have been introduced in Uganda. The patches are attached to clothing and use non-toxic compounds to prevent mosquitoes from attaching to the body for 48 hours.

- Meanwhile, a study in The Lancet reported on a rapid and simple test to detect drug resistance, helping to better understand the mechanisms of drug resistance in malaria.

Nutrition and diet

- We've seen a lot of reports about coffee drinking as mentioned above – and tea was no exception in the news in 2013. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published 12 scientific articles by a variety of experts showing the different benefits of drinking tea – from black tea to green tea.

- What about food? There is growing evidence of the benefits of a “Mediterranean” diet, and a large study of 120,000 people found that eating a handful of nuts a day could prolong life.

Personal tracking devices and medical devices

Examples of wearable personal monitoring devices mentioned above capture more comprehensive imaging for health monitoring. Personal monitoring technology is also continuing to be developed as a means to manage and prevent specific diseases.

- A smartphone-based “albumin tester” can detect this biomarker of kidney damage by taking a photo of urine stains at home with the phone, and could be useful in self-monitoring of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

- Not limited to tracking by handheld devices or phones with cameras, 2013 saw the development of “tracking” sensors installed right in the teeth.

- And how will monitoring patients in hospitals change? It is possible that a new technology called “electronic skin,” consisting of patches on the skin embedded with the latest sensor technology, will one day replace all the wires that connect patients to machines to monitor heart rate and brain waves.

People of the Year

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three American scientists, James Rothman, Randy Schekman and Thomas Südhof, for their discoveries in neurology and endocrinology. Their research has shed light on how cells transport “raw materials”, such as hormones and neurotransmitters.

2013 also saw the passing of Robert Edwards, who won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on in vitro fertilization. He passed away in April 2013, leaving behind a great legacy for 21st century medicine.

According to dantri