Tag Archives: treatment methods

Bee Stings Could Help Save People’s Lives!

Most people that have been stung by a bee would agree that it is a very painful and uncomfortable experience that they would not want to experience again. The pain takes days to go away, and the scar that a bee sting leaves may last weeks. Now though, it looks like a bee sting may not be as bad as it seems. Researchers at the Washington University School of medicine have found that a chemical found in the venom of a bee sting can destroy the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). What is extremely important is the fact that even though the chemical can kill the HIV virus, regular cells are immune to this chemical and are not affected by it in any way.

Image showing bee injecting venom. Taken from google images creative commons

Researchers believe that their findings will help them develop a vaginal gel that may help prevent the spreading of the HIV virus and be used for therapy. Although they don’t think that the gel may cure the disease completely, it may be used as a preventative measure in areas where HIV is particularly common. The active chemical that researchers believe is causing the observed effects is called melittin. This chemical works by poking holes in the nuclear envelope of the virus, causing large amounts of damage that cannot be easily repaired.

To obtain their findings, researchers loaded melittin into nanoparticles and administered them to patients. These kinds of particles have been found to very effectively treat tumors, so the scientists decided to test them to see if they would be affective in treating other types of diseases. The researchers saw that when the nanoparticles came into contact with HIV infected cells they were destroyed, while the nanoparticles simply “bounced off” the normal cells, which are much larger in size.

Nanoparticle incapsulating a chemical in the middle. This is the kind of mechanism the researchers used. Image from flicker user IBM Research

This is a major breakthrough in the world of science and medicine because HIV has been very hard to treat and prevent in the past. Also, HIV is a relatively common disease and many people suffer from it. It is approximated that about 36.1 million people around the world currently suffer from HIV. Furthermore, 21% of those that are infected in North America don’t even know that they are carriers of the deadly virus. Also, since the melittin loaded nanoparticles are so versatile, the researchers believe that this discovery could lead to the development of treatments for patients suffering from Hepatitis B and C.

Below is a short news report on this groundbreaking discovery:

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So the next time you get stung by a bee and are panicking, calm down and just remember that the venom that the bee just injected you with is being used right now to potentially save millions of lives around the world.

Gagandeep Gill

New Device Makes Cancer Detection Easier!

One of the most feared diseases in the world is cancer. This deadly disease is predicted to occur in about 42% of all North Americans. The mechanism of cancer development starts with damage to a cell’s DNA causing it to grow and divide uncontrollably. Eventually, these cells drain other tissue of nutrients and change how our body functions, leading to serious illness and in most cases death. Despite all this, if cancer is detected early enough, a full recovery is possible. Traditionally, the problem with cancer has been that it is very hard to detect, and that when it is detected, it has already started to spread to other parts of body through the blood. However, researches at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a device that can grab cancer cells from the blood.

Image shows a lab technician analyzing a blood sample. Image courtesy of nita lind

Image shows a lab technician analyzing a blood sample. Image courtesy of Flicr user: nita lind

Researchers are calling this new device the “NanoVelcro” chip. The way that this device works is that when blood is passed through the chip, small hairs coated with antibodies matching those of cancer cells trap cancer cells, allowing for them to be isolated and examined. The researchers reported that this new device was able to isolate single cancer cells in the blood. Dr. Tseng and his research team from UCLA believe that this device will help doctors analyze and determine the specific cancer a patient might have, the genetic characteristics of the person’s cancer, and the type of treatment that the patient should receive. Also, this new method of detecting cancer cells will help detect cancer much earlier, potentially saving millions of lives.

Oncologist providing radiation therapy to a cancer patient. Image provided by Flickr user: Tiptimes

Oncologist providing radiation therapy to a cancer patient. Image provided by Flickr user: Tipstimes

With this new advancement, we will be better able to detect cancer cells in the blood and prevent them from spreading to other organs in the body, which has been a major problem in the treatment of cancer. Also, by taking blood samples throughout the treatment of a cancer patient, doctors will be able to more accurately determine drug resistance and change treatment accordingly.

Below is a short video explaining how cancer spreads through the body, and the major problems with early detection.

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So, with new technology and advancements, it is becoming easier and easier to detect and treat cancer. This new device will help treat millions of people and save their lives. This is a major break through considering the fact that so many people either develop or are directly affected by this disease.

– Gagandeep Gill